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A few days ago, a snowstorm dropped more than 6 inches of fresh powder on my house. Nothing major in these parts. But the latest winter weather forecast is calling for much more this weekend — we could be in for a 2-foot snowfall, with brutal cold temperatures mixed in for good measure.
As a native New Englander, I’m prepared. We have shovels, sand and a guy who comes to plow our long driveway. But what really captures my attention is overhead. In winter, I’m obsessed with my roof — and with a simple tool that’s become an indispensable ally in maintaining my house properly during cold weather.
My roof rake.
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It’s not much to look at. Sixteen feet of aluminum pole with a perpendicular 22-inch-wide blue plastic blade at one end. But it makes all the difference in keeping melting snow from turning into streams of water that leak into the house. That’ll damage walls, ceilings, light fixtures and anything else that’s under the drip, drip, drip. Over time, it could develop into a mold problem.
Inside your house, leak detectors are handy gadgets for all kinds of water mishaps, but prevention is always the better policy.
If you live in an area that’s in the path of snowy winter weather, pay attention to the buildup on your roof. In one sense, snow on the roof is a positive thing. It indicates that you have sufficient insulation in your ceiling and attic to prevent warm air from escaping, as well as proper ventilation to help keep the roof cool.
But that snow will melt, producing runoff that heads downhill to your eaves and gutters. And that’s where the problem begins.
Watch this: I Drove an EV This Winter in Sweden to Prove It Could Be Done.
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The right way to use a roof rake
I’ve been using my roof rake after every snowstorm, even the minor ones, for many a snowy winter here in central Massachusetts.
I had to learn the hard way. Before I bought my roof rake, I went after the ice dams themselves, after they’d already become way too thick, and water was dripping, sometimes fiercely, into the house. I was outside on a ladder, in the cold, whaling away with a hatchet. Not the way to go.
Remember to wear heavy gloves when you’re roof-raking. The aluminum pole gets really cold to the touch.
Jon Skillings/CNET
How to shop for a roof rake
Like leaf rakes, roof rakes don’t have a lot of variety. A typicalroofrake comes with four 4-foot lengths of aluminum pole that you attach end to end to get the full length, plus the short blade attachment. (Mine has three 5-foot lengths, along with the blade segment.) The width of the blade ranges between approximately 17 and 24 inches.
The 16-foot length I have is enough for my house, a raised ranch, even on the side where the ground slopes away and I can get just the first foot or so of snow at the edge of the roof. If you have a taller house or you really want to clear way up high, you could always get additional sections. The blade section of my pole angles toward the roof, which is helpful.
Some rakes have little wheels on the bottom of the blade to avoid scraping directly on the shingles. Seems like a smart design.
Other roofrakes aren’t actually rakes at all. Instead of having a blade, the business end is open, with prongs holding one end of a plastic slide that runs parallel to the pole. You push into the snow, and the slide provides a slick runway for the snow to fall to the ground. I’ve never tried one of these, but having spent enough time wielding a standard roof rake, I have my doubts. It seems best suited for powder.
Prices for roof rakes typically range from $50 to $60 and can get to about $200. Years back, I bought a very basic model, and it’s still going strong — an excellent investment.
Gone are the days when I actually went up onto my roof and tried shoveling in addition to raking. In fairness, that was a legendary winter. In 2015, New England experienced four major snowstorms in less than a month, dumping about 90 inches of snow during that short span. No one could keep up.
But short of another “Snowmaggedon,” I know my roof rake will continue to serve me well. Whenever a snowstorm wanes, the two of us will head outside to start the clearing.
