This article touches on managing snow on synthetic slate shingles as observed from our snow guard performance testing facility in Morrisville, Vermont between mid-January – early March, 2020. We will follow up with reports on composition shingles, corrugated metal, slate and tile, membrane and solar panels. Winter conditions in the eastern region of the U.S. Keep reading . . .
Tag: snow management
6 Slate Roof Maintenance Tips for Spring
Brian Stearns, the President & Founder of Alpine SnowGuards, wrote the below back in the Spring of 2006. Brian’s deep roots in the slate roofing industry (he began his career as a slate roofer in the 1970’s) has given him a wealth of knowledge and experience that’s honestly too valuable NOT to share (and re-share). Keep reading . . .
Retrofitting Fusion-Guard to Existing Slate Roofs
Last Tuesday, we officially launched our newest product, Fusion-Guard, a hybrid pad/pipe-style snow guard. We’re often asked all sorts of questions about our products, especially one like Fusion-Guard. It’s new to the industry and new all around. It’s the only one of its kind ever brought to market. A Question About our New Fusion-Guard I received Keep reading . . .
Solar Snow Management for PV Arrays: Expectations vs. Reality
Several Alpine SnowGuards’ customers reached out to us between 2010-2012 hoping we could provide solar snow management for PV arrays. This was an entirely new snow management problem that was evolving right along with the solar industry. This new problem stemmed from solar PV arrays installed on composition shingle roofs that don’t shed “much” snow Keep reading . . .
Introducing Fusion-Guard: A True Game-Changer
It’s here, simple and cost effective. It works on any roof surface. It’s a pad-style snow guard and it’s a pipe-style snow guard. The Fusion-Guard is a hybrid design that should’ve have been invented sooner. A product so revolutionary, I’ve never seen anything like it in the 42 years I’ve been in the roofing business. Keep reading . . .
Buckles & Cornices: Alpine SnowGuard’s Research Continues
Alpine SnowGuard’s research continues with roof snow management details we observed at our in-house performance testing facility: “buckling”. Some roofing materials, especially those that incorporate Polyolefins in their formulation, tend to shed snow and ice quickly as demonstrated in the below video clip and in our previous blog. Buckles: (intransitive verb) to bend or move Keep reading . . .
Snow Guard Performance Testing Facility
As I mentioned in last week’s blog, Alpine SnowGuards constructed an in-house snow guard performance testing facility. It is at our location in Morrisville, VT (10 minutes north of Stowe). We can now accumulate data related to sliding snow conditions on varying roof surfaces. In-House Snow Guard Performance Testing Facility The structure as seen above Keep reading . . .
Slate Roofs & the Importance of “Attic Stock”
A reprint of an article about Slate Roofs & the Importance of “Attic Stock” published by Brian Stearns, the president & founder of Alpine SnowGuards, in Slate Roof Quarterly. The term “Attic Stock” is recognized by too few people in the slate industry. Attic stock is a reserve supply of roofing slate that is left Keep reading . . .
Summary: Snow Guard Evolution (so far)
Over the course of multiple blogs, I’ve shared my opinion about the history and evolution of snow guards, as both the roofing industry and new technology have dictated. As I write and reread these postings, there are several underlying themes. One theme is that, in our quest to find better solutions to problems, change is Keep reading . . .
Snow Guard Evolution from 1981-1985: Part 2
As a slate guy in the early 1980’s, it was my job to find and install snow guards. But, where to start? The internet had not yet been created by Al Gore (who?) and local roofers weren’t interested in helping out a competitor with material sourcing needs. So, I did what so many roofers do Keep reading . . .