I spoke to a seasoned veteran in second home ownership this last weekend to ask his opinion on the best way to heat the home and keep the snow off the roof. I was thinking maybe I would add a propane furnace to keep the home at a minimum heat during the winter - just enough to keep the roof warm, hoping the snow would melt and slide. Our neighbor who has had a cabin up a the lake in Idaho for 30 years says he never heats his home in the winter. But he does have a steeper roof so the snow just slides off. Since our home is in the middle of a bunch of trees I'm thinking the roof pitch is our problem. I did heat the home for a few weeks after shoveling off the roof and a new snow storm came and the heat really didn't make a difference.
So here is what I think I need to do:
Increase the roof pitch from its 4 or 5/12 pitch it must be now, up to an 8 or 9/12. Replace the old metal roof with a new standing seam concealed screw roof while also removing the turtle vents and replacing them with a good ridge vent. I was thinking about adding a roof over the deck and possibly enlarging the front porch with a carport area, but I am wondering if it's such a great idea to add valleys to the equation of an already problematic snow situation.
I was pleased to know that my neighbor has his cabin set up pretty much the same as our mountain home for winterization. There is a low point in our crawl space to drain all the pipes and winterize the home with RV antifreeze. Then I just have to be sure all the traps have antifreeze in them and make sure the water is off and pressure tank in the well house is drained.
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