ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Gary Collins of Orchard Park says he knew he should call a professional snow removal company when he started to see some stress cracks forming in his foundation.
“It got me worried,” he said.
After more than 6.5 feet of snow fell over the weekend, Collins said he worried about how his roof would handle it.
“I just don’t have the strength and fortitude to do it. There’s four of them up there,” he said, referring to the workers.
And up there on the roof is Thomas Fenley of Majestic Custom Carpentry, who says clearing snow is two-fold.
“We try to clear snow not just because of the weight but because it’s going to leak throughout the house,” he said,
He says you should clear snow right away because of the weight, and later in the week there could be ice jams.
Fenley says if you’re experiencing a lot of heat loss and poor ventilation, be on the lookout for leaks in your home. He says if you’re seeing cracks in your foundation, you should also have the snow removed immediately. The weight of one shovel of snow is about 25-50 pounds, times that by an entire roof.
Some businesses, like Braymiller Lanes in Hamburg are dealing with a collapse.
“It’s been in my family about 100 years,” said Howard Braymiller. “Kept it running the whole time—business was booming. I put my whole life into this place,” he said standing by a collapsed bowling ally.
Experts recommend getting up on the roof if it’s safe to do so, or hiring trained professionals to remove the snow.
Roof rakes are flying off the shelves at the local hardware stores, and experts say if you’re going to use them, don’t get too close to the shingles because you can damage the roof.
