Hotel Adds Snow Retention System to Ensure Safety

March 29, 2024 at 1:00 p.m.

Editor's note: This article was originally published in Roofing Magazine.

When the construction team completed the new Suburban Studios hotel in Westminster, Colorado, they forgot one important element: a snow retention system.

The four-story hotel was built in 2022 with a beautiful green standing seam snap metal panel roof at an elegant pitch, making it picture-perfect for the structure. However, the original architects and roofers failed to take into consideration that accumulating snow would slide right off the metal roof. And the Denver area hotel gets an average of 65 inches of snow each year.

“One day after the hotel experienced its first big snow, I stopped in to ask the building management staff if they had any issues with snow avalanching from the roof,” says Nick Piontek with On Point Contracting out of Littleton, Colorado. “They emphatically said it was a huge problem and they needed a solution to ensure the safety of their guests. We quickly put a proposal together and won the contract.”

Selecting snow retention

To win the project and guarantee success, Piontek turned to his trusted vendor, Rocky Mountain Snow Guards. The snow retention system company did a free evaluation of the roof and plotted out what type of snow retention products and placement would work best for the roof on the hotel.

After consulting with Rocky Mountain Snow Guards, On Point Contracting installed the S-5! ColorGard snow retention system on the hotel. Photo source: On Point Contracting

Installing snow guards

Retrofitting snow guards onto a hotel roof has its own set of challenges. Since the building is open 24/7, the hotel management team and roofing company both placed the safety of the guests as the highest priority.

On Point Contracting brought in a boom lift and positioned it on the sidewalk to access the building. Areas were cordoned off to keep guests a safe distance away. The pitch of the roof was 4/12 in some sections and 8/12 on the gables and dormers. One worker tied off at the top of the hotel and did the entire installation. Two others followed safety protocols and were on the ground feeding materials up and directing traffic.

“At some points we had management searching for owners of cars in the parking lot,” says Piontek. “The vehicles had to be moved so the boom lift could continue moving around the building. All in all the project went smoothly.”

From the hotel’s perspective, the project was an overall success. “On Point Contracting was very detailed in their work and follow up,” according to Suburban Studios hotel General Manager Mitch Herrington. “Their recommendation for the snow retention system was wonderful. It stopped the snow avalanching and has worked fantastic. We couldn’t be more pleased.”

Piontek adds, “I would encourage other companies doing a commercial install like this to ensure they consult the OSHA requirements regarding commercial roofing projects. They’ll want to review fall protections and safety equipment requirements. Working a hospitality project like this definitely has a different set of requirements than working a residential project.”

“We rely on Rocky Mountain Snow Guards to provide us with accurate layouts and designs, plus exceptionally durable snow guards, bars and fences,” says Piontek. “For this project they recommended the S-5! ColorGard bar-style snow guard with a metal color strip to match the color of the roof.”

“One of the great advantages of the ColorGard system is that 2-inch-wide metal strips that match the color of the roof can be slipped into the face of the bar itself,” Piontek continues. “Rocky Mountain Snow Guards supplied a matching green color strip for this project. It’s an aesthetically pleasing solution to the problem.”