Functional and fashionable

By Emma Peterson. 

These companies are raising awareness of not only the structural importance of snow guards, but the aesthetic value of them. 

Recently, Karen Edwards got the chance to sit down with Brian Cross, Rocky Mountain Snow Guards’ VP of sales and marketing, and Shawn DeAngelo, the western region sales manager at S-5!, for a Roofing Road Trips® episode about the initiatives of their companies to raise awareness of the importance of snow guards. 

Snow guards are at their core a safety product. Brian explained, “Essentially, what snow guards do is provide products to people that keep snow up on their roofs until it turns into meltwater and stop the snow from sliding off in dangerous ways.” When Brian talks about snow sliding off dangerously, the most common examples are snow avalanches. That’s when all the snow that has built up on the roof slides off in one giant sheet. When this happens, it can cause damage to any property beneath the roof, as well as poses a threat to any people in the area.  

There are a variety of different systems for retaining snow on a roof and avoiding those dangerous avalanches. Shawn explained, “At S-5! we have five or six different snow retention systems. But they are basically attached or mounted with a bracket or a clamp that goes into the metal roof or that attaches onto that seam of the roof.” The reason why there are so many types is that snow retention is all about engineering. Shawn elaborated, “You have to engineer and design these systems to work and last the life of the roof. Things like the type of roof you have, its slope and its location (which determines how much snow it has to handle) are key to designing a successful system.” 

However, even with how crucial snow guards are to wintertime safety, they are too often an afterthought. In fact, there are hardly any building codes or regulations requiring them. Brian elaborated, “I've heard of two situations where the code requires it. Most of the time it's really left up to the contractor, the homeowner or the specifier to go through and determine if they need it.” 

In order to help raise awareness of the importance of snow guards, Rocky Mountain Snow Guards is hosting a contest for contractors to show off their work using snow retention systems. Brian shared, “We call the contest ‘Show us your snow guards’ and it asks installers and contractors to send us photos of their installed systems.” Not only is this contest a celebration of the craftsmanship that these contractors possess, it also is a great showcase that snow retention is not just functional, it also can be fashionable. Brian explained, “A lot of people assume you put things on your roof and it makes your roof ugly and that's not the case. A lot of times it can add aesthetic value and so we're asking for those photos and then we're going through and selecting a couple of winners in each category and giving out cash prizes.” 

Make sure to enter for a chance to win before July 31, 2025! And Read the transcript or Listen to the podcast to learn more about snow retention in general.