Have you ever been higher than the level of a roof, either a metal roof or even a stone roof, and seen those interestingly shaped little bars or spikes projecting from that same roof, and wondered what they were? Perhaps instead of these, you have seen short sections of bar or strips of metal placed across long stretches of the roof. Sometimes those spikes mentioned above have a decorative or ornamental appearance to them.

Though these interestingly little fixtures of metal and stone roofs are sometimes whimsically decorated, they are not there for their visual allure. They actually serve a very important purpose for public safety, which may become evident once their name is revealed. These little fixtures are known as metal roof snow guards, or just snow roof guards, if neither they nor the roof is made of metal.

Then the question that remains, if you are still unsure of their purpose, is what do these little metal roof snow guards protect from, specifically? To answer this, you need to understand the interaction between either snow and ice, and a gently sloped, often smooth metal roof.

When snow accumulates on a roof surface, at first, it may stick. It may even melt partially on top of the roof and then aggregate into a sheet of packed snow or ice. Eventually, when the temperatures warm up enough, that sheet of ice or snow is going to want to detach from the roof and slide off of it. This presents a very serious public safety concern when the conditions align. People can and have been seriously injured from snow and ice sliding and ultimately careening off of roofs.

Snow guards, when strategically placed along the length or a metal roof or situated at staggering intervals, prevent snow and ice from sliding off of the roof in large pieces. In fact, when the snow and ice melt and then refreeze, often they will refreeze around the snow guards which form a “snow retention system,” thereby locking them in place. When this happens, often the snow and ice melt almost entirely into water before they drain from the roof.

In short, metal snow roof guards help buildings manage snow loads and help to prevent damage to passersby or to the ground beneath them. For this simple reason, snow guard systems are a useful and necessary component of roof slopes across the country.

If you’re looking for yourself or even for a client, and you would like to see a colorful catalog of different styles of snow guards, including aesthetically pleased types of snow guards, visit John Stortz & Son on their website, Stortz.com. Among their inventory of the highest quality hand tools and roofing tools in the industry you will come across a wide selection of snow guards in addition to their other products offered.

They’ll even help you select the right snow guards for your given application or scenario. If you’ve never installed them before yourself or are not well familiar with the system, give them a call at 888-847-3456 and speak with a representative; they’ll help you find what you need.