WHEN YOU LIVE IN MINNESOTA, not only do you have to shovel snow from sidewalks and driveways, but also from roofs. That is if too much snow accumulates on your rooftop and/or ice dams form.
Typically every winter, we face those problems, which require my husband to haul out the ladder and climb atop the south facing house and garage roofs to shovel away snow.
Sunday afternoon, when the air temp was at a relatively comfortable level for winter, he scooped snow from the house roof. I am always watchful of his movement, lest he slip and tumble off.
Thankfully this section of our roof is sloped only slightly, unlike the sharp-pitched section covering the rest of the structure. When he scales that two-story high area to clear leaves from gutters or to adjust the rooftop TV antenna, I’m nervous. I’ll admit that. He’s not young any more. But even youth doesn’t protect from falls. The last time our roof was shingled (due to defective shingles), I didn’t have to lobby, much to my surprise, for hiring professional roofers.
I digress.
But there are days I wish we lived in a rambler.
© Copyright 2016 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Through numerous roofing projects myself and with friends, I too have arrived at that very notion about living in a rambler. Steep and complicated roof lines are move expensive to build and maintain.
Quite true. However, when the kids were growing up, I did like having their bedrooms upstairs.
Basement work too
We finished a basement waterproofing project this past fall. It was a tremendous amount of work. But worth it for the results.
Nothing says Minnesota better than having to shovel your roof.
There you go. Written by Almost Iowa.
He may want to invest (relatively short money) in a roof rake.. They can be extended to about 16′ in length and may save him a tumble.. We got one a few years ago, then lent it to someone and needless to say it broke. They replaced it with a jury-rigged one that weighed about 35 lbs. made out of a wood dowel a, piece of 24″ pine held together by a hose clamp. So we went to Home Depot the following year and bought another one. It works well on shorter roofs, but the higher ones, well not so much.. Good luck.
I think our neighbor has a roof rake. For now the climbing of the ladder and shoveling snow from the roof seems to work well. Snow slides off the steep part, thus no need to work on that section.
Oh … be careful Randy
Yup, that’s what I think and say.
I LOVE the snow scoop – a grain scoop. Up North, everyone used grain scoops to shovel snow. I brought one with me when I moved South. Well, down here they make fun of me and tease me about my grain scoop snow scoop. But who is laughing when we do get a big snow here, and those wimpy little plastic deflector-types can’t do the job? Me. 😀
We have three types of snow shovels: The grain scoop shovel to shovel heavy wet snow. A metal one to scrape away snow and ice close to the surface. And a large plastic one to move large quantities of light snow. That covers everything. Let them laugh at you. You are the smart one.
Haven’t had enough snow this year to require that chore, lucky me! But there are a number of roofs around town with a snow blower parked on them waiting for the snow and thus the need to clear said roof!
I have yet to see a snowblower parked on a roof. But I’m sure they are used on roofs in Minnesota, too.
Oh my goodness!! I think I would hire someone to do that. Yes, I KNOW I would hire someone.
For now he can manage this task.
The joys of homeownership in the Midwest.
Yup. Oh, joy.
We’ve never had to remove snow from the roof, but our roof is very steep and, of course, we don’t get as much snow as you do. I’m wanting a ranch house for other reasons, like a first floor bedroom and laundry. Boy, does that sound like easy living!
I, too, would like my laundry on the main level.