Recommended roof slope in the north east (NY, NJ, MA etc)
Recommended roof slope in the north east (NY, NJ, MA etc)
(OP)
Is there any recommended roof slope for regions with significant ice and snow loads? It a 2 to 12 a recommended roof slope? If so, where is such recommendation?






RE: Recommended roof slope in the north east (NY, NJ, MA etc)
Your roofing contractor can also help with details and design considerations
RE: Recommended roof slope in the north east (NY, NJ, MA etc)
Your question reminds me of growing up in 1950's South Carolina, were there is rarely any ice or snow. As kids we would marvel at the extra-steep roofs used on local "Pure Oil" service stations (now part of the Phillips 66 company). Apparently Pure Oil used one plan for their traditional stations, no matter where located in the USA. This photo of a former Pure Oil station, from the web, shows the benefit or the time tested way to minimize roof problems:
www.SlideRuleEra.net
www.VacuumTubeEra.net
RE: Recommended roof slope in the north east (NY, NJ, MA etc)
RE: Recommended roof slope in the north east (NY, NJ, MA etc)
For most commercial roofs, very low slopes are still the norm. There was a time when "dead level" was an acceptable roof system....but that was when coal tar bitumen was the waterproofing medium of choice....no longer so. Newer and "improved" materials cannot withstand the dead level condition, thus the general code requirement for at least 1/4" per foot slope.
For structural design, as boo1 noted, it really doesn't make any difference....you can design for anything. In general, the higher the slope, the lower the cost of roofing....interestingly enough, the higher the slope, the lower the structural cost as well (with some exceptions!)
RE: Recommended roof slope in the north east (NY, NJ, MA etc)
6/12 and under you can walk on them
7/12-9/12 premium charge for labor
10/12 up double charge for labor
Materials required increase with slope increase
Again talk to your building dept and a roofer
RE: Recommended roof slope in the north east (NY, NJ, MA etc)
Not often found below the Mason-Dixon line. Boston got hammered with multi-foot blizzards this past winter; and those snow loads collapsed several building roofs made with low slopes from "standard plans". The NY-NJ area could get the same next winter.
RE: Recommended roof slope in the north east (NY, NJ, MA etc)
A confused student is a good student.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, PE
www.medeek.com