Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Raking the Roof

Quite a few of you expressed interest in the roof rake - one of those tools that is unique to those of us living in a snow belt.  Well, tonight I was surprised when Kilowatt arrived home from work early.  I asked him why he was so early, and his reply 'because you are home tonight, and I have to go up and rake the roof.'

I hear these words about once a year, and they never cease to cause me extreme anxiety.  Our house is a Gambrel, meaning two stories in the front, but three in the back as we have a walk-out basement.  So there is no way to rake the back roof from the ground.  

Raking roofs is serious business.  Not only can you get the dreaded ice dams with accompanying leaks -- if you have a flat or low slope roof -- it can collapse from the weight of the snow.  Typically this is more common in commercial buildings, but it can happen to houses too.  So tonight while I'm praying and typing, I can hear the rake, as see the snow falling out my office window.  

Yesterday, my neighbor had a guy with a shovel on her roof - but her house is a ranch - 1 story.  Right now I'm wishing our house was only one story.  

2 comments:

Hula Girl at Heart said...

Yikes. That makes me nervous. We've had a fall from a roof around this house, and it's not pretty.

dkuroiwa said...

First of all....thanks for coming over to my place for a bit. I'm assuming that you're from HulaGirl and any friend of hers is a friend of mine!! (Buffett fans Unite!!)

This snow? Yeah...though I grew up in Colorado I have spent the last a7 years here in Nagasaki, before that almost 5 in So.Texas...no...I know not of what you speak...have vague rembrances of, but that's it!
Holy hell that's a lot of snow!!
I'm not sure I'd be able to stay in the house knowing that loved ones were up on the roof...I'd have to go to a movie or something!
Have a great day!! Stay warm!!! or...I hope you pick a good movie!!