Sunday 16 March 2014

Has Spring sprung yet?

I cleared some of the snow off the roof of my house on Thursday. Probably about 2 elephants' worth of snow. It was a good 2+ feet thick in places and you just know that weighs a ton or two.

I have a thing called a roof rake. And for those who don't live up here in the Great White North, you probably have no idea what I am talking about. But after months of snow accumulation, the warming of spring makes all that snow become even heavier. And the ice build up underneath, along the edges of the roof just above the eavestroughs, can lead to ice dams that back ice up under the shingles, which leads to damage to the wood sheathing and water leakage inside the house.

So some of us clean the snow off before that happens. Or, like my neighbour just to the west (with the metal roof), the sun will warm things up and all that ice and snow will avalanche off, taking eavestroughs, downspouts, soffit and fascia with it. I watched it happen on Thursday as I worked on my roof. They will have lots of repairs to do when the snow is gone.

A roof rake is a 8" x 24" piece of slightly curved plastic attached at a right angle to an extendable aluminum handle. It reaches out to 16.5 feet when fully extended, which gets right to the peak of my bungalow's roof. Not all that controllable at that length, but I made due.

The biggest issue I had was the snow in the yard was halfway up my thighs. And not in a good way. (Never mind, boys!) So I could basically only stand in one spot while I dragged the rake down repeatedly, pulling snow off. That meant a lot of twisting and turning of the upper body while my legs were stuck in the snow. Which of course meant that the next day, my back was very unhappy.

It also meant when I lost my balance and fell backwards, it was really difficult to get back up because my bum just kept sinking into the snow! Having bad knees is very inconvenient at times like that, let me tell you.

It was nice and mild that day... we hit a high of +3C. The sun was out and the birds were chirping everywhere. So after work, I went out and started slogging away. After about 2 hours, I had done the front and back sections. Because I have a hip roof, there are four sides. The east side is where I park so I left that one alone, and I just couldn't get at the west side because my neighbour (they of the avalanche) had put up a snow fence to block drifting into their parking area out back.

And of course, when I cleared the back, a good portion of it fell in front of the back door (which is the one I use all the time ~ the front has been buried all winter) and along the walkway. So I had to clear that away so I could get back in the house! That, I swear, was one of those elephants.

We've had more snow and more cold this winter than in recent memory. In Winnipeg, the frost line is down to 9' underground in areas, and there are over 1100 homes with frozen water lines. The city is frantically trying to thaw them but it all takes time.

Next year, I will start on the roof clearing much earlier and do it as the stuff builds up so spring clearing is less arduous.

But Spring really is on the way. The first Canada Goose was spotted the other day, and if they are on the way back from down South, you just know warmer weather is on its way too!


12 comments:

  1. Wow! That's a lot of weight to pull off the roof. I hope you did not stress your shoulder.

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    1. Everyone worries about my shoulder but me. It has not given me any issues since the surgery, for which I am very thankful, and the surgeon told me to go ahead and use it for anything I wanted. So yeah, that snow was a lot of weight, but my back paid for it way more than my shoulder! :-)

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  2. Hail to the Goose ! I am glad to see that you dig yourself out of that snow. Heavy stuff - so called "Dachlawinen", roof avalanches, can do nasty things to passer bys and innocent cars.

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    1. I hear you on the roof avalanches, Mago! Luckily, my neighbour's avalanche was on a side of the house where there was only more snow, no parking and no walking. Mine is no where near as bad as theirs was!

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  3. Where will it go when it melts?
    Yes, I'm also hoping your back and shoulder recover swiftly.
    Sx

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    1. Hopefully not into my basement! My repair to the foundation crack is dry, and as it warms up I will have to move snow away from the house, but other than that, the melt water eventually soaks into the ground or runs into the river. Which is only about 4 blocks away from my house, so I don't anticipate any problems. :-)

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  4. Yikes! I am DEFINITELY a southern gal. :)

    Spring's coming for sure....there were a dozen Robins in the front yard yesterday. Of course today is cold and rainy, but I'll just keep my eye on those birds.

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    1. No robins here yet. You could always come for a visit if you want to really experience true winter, Hope. ;-) The snow is piled so high, you can't see around it at intersections. Walking to my truck after work today, some yards had the snow piled so high in the yards you could barely see the houses. It's getting to be perfect snowman and snowball fight weather though... Right around the freezing mark is when the snow sticks together perfectly.

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  5. Wow! You did a lot of work! I hope your are resting and enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. My only experience with bad snow was the blizzard one year when I lived up in the East Coast. The whole city shut down for a week. And the roads were buried with snow up to car door windows. I lived in a building where the maintenance did the snowplowing and clearing. I applaud you for all that work you do to keep your home in top shape. And I hope you and your neighbors don't suffer any more serious winter hazards.

    I'm glad the birds are coming back. But I do have mixed feelings about those aggressive, loud Canada geese; I much prefer them far away; I find the best way to experience them up close is when they're roasted and served at the dinner table.

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    1. Yeah, if you're not used to snow, it is paralyzing. I remember living in Vancouver (west coast of Canada, not Vancouver, Washington) and it snowed about a foot. The entire place ground to a halt. No one out there knows how to drive in it, for one, and they don't plow the roads for another, so watching people dig their cars out was funny because they couldn't drive anywhere anyway! ;-)

      I hear you about the tasty goose, but I rather like them. It's fun to watch them hatch their clutches and then see how the goslings grow. They can't fly during that time (the adults) as they molt their feathers, so all the geese are pedestrians for a while. Makes for slow traffic sometimes when they decide to cross the road! I've seen 2 - 3 adults with about 15 youngsters head to a field on the other side of the road... all in single file.

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  6. Do you ever just sit and do nothing?

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    1. Sometimes. :-) Pat, it takes me a long time to get these projects done because I take days off. Although I post the progression of the project, it is not a daily affair as I am just not able to keep up that pace. I'm getting a bit slower as I am developing some arthritis, especially in my hands. But I keep plugging along because somebody has to do the work! I can't afford to hire anyone to do this stuff. And I do enjoy the challenge!

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