Questions about building snow roof over deck

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So you look at risk and reward.
You can go higher at the house if you go into the gutter height with the soffets removed the rafters are hung off the house.
The problem here is the waterproofing joint between new and old as the snow will slode down the old but stop on the low slope and water could back up there.

You can build with posts above the posts on the deck.
With out the footing we have an unknown, it may never heave but if it moves it not only works the joint between house and rafters but it work the roofing joint too.

I am not say you shouldn't or you can't I just like it when we understand what could go wrong. So if you want to build it I will still help where I can.
 
What do you think about the 2.83/12 pitch I would need to have on the deck roof? Like I said, if that won't work the project is not feasible...

BTW: There would be about a foot drop between where the snow slides off the edge of the existing roof and where it hits the deck roof. Maybe that might give it a bit more inertia?
 
My deck as I noted is free float and not attached to the house. And for what it’s worth in the Erie climate it moves up and down less than an inch. That is with a 6000 lb hot tub sitting on it. The roof I built covered pergola is attached only to the deck and not the house roof. It was built to keep rain and snow off the hot tub mainly and has a gap of about 6” between the roof and gutter. Mine happens to have only 1” of drop over 10’ away from the house and is covered with steel roofing. It has stood fine for 2 winters and sometimes has several feet of snow on it. The system worked well and the house roof being shingles held its snow.

This summer we had the whole house done in steel and my fear like yours is 2’ of snow coming once and taking out the lower flat roof over the tub. The other plan and It might still happen is to put just in that area the snow holders.

The gap between the roofs bridges over with snow and hasn’t been a problem.
 
SidecarBob said:
What do you think about the 2.83/12 pitch I would need to have on the deck roof? Like I said, if that won't work the project is not feasible...

BTW: There would be about a foot drop between where the snow slides off the edge of the existing roof and where it hits the deck roof. Maybe that might give it a bit more inertia?
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't know what surface would be on that low slope or how the snow would move. My fear would be a pile of snow from the roof sliding down and just sitting there.
It could over load the roof or if it sat there until melt, would it cause a great big Ice dam.

Have you seen other roofs like this in the area. Others around you have the same snow load and melt problems even if they don't have metal shingles.
 
The Skylift would solve the snow from the sky, not the snow from the roof. The snow guards would keep the snow on the roof. You'd need to do both.

Your deck is way under-engineered by today's standards. No way could I have 4x4 posts, and no joist hangers, unless the deck is resting on a beam and the rim joist away from the house, is just there to keep the joists in place.
 
Re Skylift: My problem isn't the snow that falls from the sky onto the deck but the stuff that slides off of the roof onto the deck.

Re snow holders: I just plain don't like the idea.

Re pitch: The deck roof would have straight ribbed steel roofing panels with the ribs running in the direction of the pitch. I believe that this would be at least as slippery as the steel shingles.
 
Skylift is great for rain most of the time but when the wind blows the snow around , they don't do much and would still allow snow to fall on the deck. But sometimes they are the answer, like when it is shade you are looking for.

I have a standing seam on a little roof over a door, it is about a 5/12 and the snow sat there until it warmed up and then took the gutter off.
If you see a problem with snow not sliding on the low slope I guess you could add a little heat from below, like a bar b cue or something like a long pull stick you could work from the back yard.
 
It slides off the house roof really well (& really fast when it starts moving) so I was hoping the inertia from the snow coming off the roof would make it move off the deck roof. I wonder if one of those cable heaters they sell for preventing ice dams could be installed under the steel to help make it move better?

I don't remember if I mentioned but this is on the south side of the house so the snow always comes off that side of the roof first.

I just realized that I can't lower the deck to get a steeper pitch either because there are 2 windows below the deck and the joist attached to the wall is about half an inch above the tops of their frames.
 
One morning last April I woke to a few inches of snow on the deck. An hour or so later I heard the avalanche and saw this

Apr 7 2017 10.54 AM.JPG
 
Going with a lower pitched roof is less than ideal. Have you thought about doing a reverse gable roof to cover the deck? You also really need to know what you're dealing with respect to footers under that deck. You'll definitely need decent footers, probably 48" down and larger posts supporting the deck.
 
I know what a gable is but what is a "reverse" gable?

As I mentioned in the first post, the soffit of the house roof is only 89" above the floor of the deck. That means that adding a gable over the deck would require modifying the house roof significantly and that is way beyond the scope of this project.
 
Reverse gable: A roof that is perpendicular to the main roof of the house. If you have a single story house it would intersect up on the roof and there would be a valley between the house roof and the porch roof.

Given the headroom with your house roof doing a lean-to roof is going to be very difficult. With only 89" at the edge of the house roof, you're starting out at less than 8' before you add anything over the deck.
 
I've never heard it called that before. But as they say "You learn something old (but new to you) every day..."

See "Question #1" in my original post. I figure the lowest that is reasonable is 72" to the top of the roof at the outer edge of the deck, which would produce about half the pitch of the house roof.

As I said before, if this can't be a quick & simple project that I can do on my own it isn't going to happen.
 
SidecarBob said:
I've never heard it called that before. But as they say "You learn something old (but new to you) every day..."

See "Question #1" in my original post. I figure the lowest that is reasonable is 72" to the top of the roof at the outer edge of the deck, which would produce about half the pitch of the house roof.

As I said before, if this can't be a quick & simple project that I can do on my own it isn't going to happen.
Click to expand...

IMHO a roof with only 72" at the top so probably 66" under the roof would reduce the value of your house. If I were a buyer I would immediately assume I'm going to have to tear it off and redo it. Either do it right or don't do it all.
 
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