Snow Guards in Northwest Arkansas

Why snow slides at all

Snow does not need to be deep to come off a roof in one piece. It happens in three stages, and the result lands on whatever is below the eave: the gutter first, then the shrubs, the steps, the car or a person.

1. It bonds.Wet snow packs together into a single layer instead of loose flakes.
2. It freezes.A cold night turns that layer into one solid, heavy sheet.
3. It lets go.Afternoon sun warms the roof underneath, a thin film of melt makes the surface slick, and the whole sheet slides at once.

Asphalt shingles usually have enough texture to hold snow in place until it melts. Smooth or steep surfaces don’t. That is the whole question in a nutshell: what is your roof made of, how steep is it, and what sits under the edge?

Does your roof need them?

Matching metals matters on a metal roof

Metal roofs come in aluminum, copper, galvanized steel and galvalume. Put a guard of a different metal on one and rainwater forms a bridge between the two, which starts corrosion at every fastener. An insulator between them helps but doesn’t stop it, because the water still connects them. So we either match the guard to the roof, or use clear Lexan guards bonded to the panel with an adhesive made for outdoor exposure. Lexan is the least visible option and the kindest to the roof surface. If you have copper accents or copper gutters, we keep the metals consistent all the way down.

Where we place them

• Above front entries, side doors and garage doors where people pass under the eave.
• Over decks, patios and any outdoor space people use in winter.
• Above driveways and parking pads.
• Where an upper roof would dump its load onto a lower roof or a lower gutter.
• Along long, smooth runs where a slide would rip gutters and hangers off the fascia.

Snow guards hold snow; they don’t melt it. If your trouble is ice forming in the gutter itself on a shaded eave, heated gutters are the better match, and some roofs benefit from both. If a slide has already bent or torn a run, we can handle that through gutter repair while we are there. Snow guards are one of several exterior solutions we install from our Springdale base, for homes from Bentonville to Eureka Springs and Fort Smith.