Roof total weight limit (Snow Load)

[JacobM]

Hi,

We're using our 2018 Grand Design 312 BHTS for winter camping this year.
It will be setup at a ski hill for the entire season.

Is there a total roof load limit with respect to snow load, either for the roof or for the slide-outs?
We're debating adding some foam to create a roof pitch over the slides, but aren't sure if this is necessary

thanks!

[Country Campers]

My preference would be to not allow very much snow on the main roof and certainly not very much on the slide roofs. The weight can add up pretty quickly. My main concern is the thawing and freezing of the snow which could lead to more roof issues than you would want. Getting a little ice under the AC or around a vent would cause some severe damage. Plenty use their RV during the winter months and hopefully they will be along to offer some better guidance, d2reid .

Brian

[d2reid]

6 winters at ski resorts has given me an non-science based opinion of RV roof management in the winter. I saw a TT in Whistler that had a collapsed roof, so it can happen. But that was a pretty extreme situation.

They had a huge snow dump, about 3 feet, then it rained, then it froze. Then it happened again. The owner of the TT had left it parked at the RV park for the winter, unattended. Most of the owners there kept their roofs clean. But Whistler is famous for it's heavy wet snow, aka Cascade Concrete.

As for me, I clean the snow off the top of my roof; shovel the walk, shovel the drive, sweep the snow off the roof and slides. Typically a foot of new snow just adds nice insulation, nice light fluffy snow that doesn't weigh much. But where I stay it will warm up above freezing and melt a little. Water being denser than snow weighs more, so the fluffy snow gets saturated and is heavier, then it freezes. Ice expands when it freezes. So the melted snow creeps into cracks and crevices then expands. And it drips off the slides and the roof and causes ice on the steps, the sidewalk, under the RV and around the tires and jack stands.

Being 13 feet up on a slick roof is no picnic. You have to be real careful with your footing and you have to watch out for your plastic things on top, they get brittle in the cold. I use a stiff bristle broom on an long extended paint handle, it allows me to keep the force of pushing deep snow low so I tend not to slide as much, not to mention it's easier to get the snow off of the slides.

Many folks in the RV park do not do this and appear to have no issues. I think it mostly depends on the moisture content of your snow. Big snow dump then rain is the worst.