Эксперт по ремонту жилья объяснил, как установить защитные барьеры от ледяных завалов на крыше

Houseworks: Rooftop ice guards can stop tragedy from happening Home improvement expert Steve Maxwell answers reader questions We independently select everything we recommend. Buying through us may earn us a commission, which supports our work. Rooftop ice guards Q What’s the best way to stop ice and snow from sliding off our metal roof in winter? I’ve seen physical ice guards installed on roofs to stop this slide, and I’ve heard of coatings that can be applied to make the roof rough enough to prevent sliding. What’s involved? A You’re wise to address this issue before something tragic happens. Physical ice guards are by far the most common approach, but installing them correctly isn’t straightforward, especially if your roof is wide. Ice and rooftop snow weighs a lot, and you need a solution that will work year after year without breaking off. Any building supply outlet will be able to provide ice guards designed to be fastened using weatherproof roofing screws. Measure a couple of feet up from the eaves, set the guard in place, then secure the guard with screws driven into small, pre-punched holes. The process is easy to understand, but how many rows of guards do you need? Are they recommended for your width and slope of roof? Where to locate them on the roof? What’s the snow load in your area? You’ll need solid answers to these questions, so ask your supplier. Observation is another planning approach that’s worthwhile. Are there houses similar to yours in your area with metal roofs? How many rows of guards are used? What brand? Learning from others in your area is a great way to narrow the options. ———— River rock weed control Q Should I put landscaping fabric under an area that’s currently grass but with plans to pave it in river rocks? I don’t want weeds coming up between the stones. A I’ve used landscaping fabric in applications like yours before, but it didn’t do much good over time. I don’t bother with it anymore in jobs like these. Eventually soil and sand gets blown into the spaces between the stones and weeds start growing on top of the landscape fabric. Weeds are certainly persistent. Start by removing the sod from the area you’ll be covering with stones. This does wonders to stop grass from regrowing. If all the sod is removed you might not have anything growing between the rocks for a few years, but eventually weeds will appear. If you don’t want to use a broad spectrum herbicide every year or two to kill them, consider flaming. This involves lightly singeing the plant, but not burning it to a crisp. This works best with young broadleaf weeds, but it will certainly weaken other types. You may have to do some pulling by hand sometimes, but if you keep on top of it, there’s never much work. ———— Q What’s the best way to pour a concrete foundation on bedrock for a small cottage addition? We’re working on flat limestone that’s completely solid but the surface still has undulations, a bit of a slope and stepped sections. How can I get wooden forms to follow these contours? A I live on a Canadian island where bedrock is a part of many homebuilding projects, and I’ve built three structures directly on bedrock. The approach I’ve found works best is insulated concrete forms (ICFs) resting right on bedrock without a separate footing. ICFs are pre-made assemblies with an inner and outer wall connected with plastic webbing. Normally these are used because they offer built-in insulation because the foam remains in place, but foam is also easy to scribe and shape so it follows the rock. You won’t get a perfect fit, but you can fill any gaps with a little spray foam shot into the space. Whenever I build like this I also tie vertical lengths of rebar directly into the rock, with pairs every 24 inches, anchored using epoxy. Steve Maxwell has been building things big and small since the early 1980s. Visit him online at baileylineroad.com for thousands of made-in-Canada articles and videos on renovation, homebuilding, woodworking, metalworking and outdoor living.