You’ve seen pad style snow guards grace the rooftops of many buildings. But, did you know they offer a great source for snow management? They also lend a classic look to any roof. It’s true! With such a diversified product line, we can provide the right pad-style snow guard for your roof and individual taste.
Let’s back up a minute. We believe it’s important for you to know where we’re coming from and the history behind our products.
The History Behind our Products
You might be interested to know Alpine SnowGuards wasn’t always our name. Brian, our president and founder, started the company under the name Vermont Slate & Copper Services (VSCS). He worked for two decades as a slate roofing contractor. Brian consulted on slate roofing jobs as far away as Japan. And, he is the co-author of The Slate Book, establishing his place as an authority in the industry.
As VSCS grew, Brian noticed something. Snow guards he purchased for roofing jobs weren’t holding up to heavy snow loads in other areas of the country. They would fold, crush, and eventually fail. So, he began making his own line of snow guards. They were rugged enough to withstand the load and the elements. That’s his original snow guard design pictured above!
Not only did his innovative designs work, other roofing contractors paid attention. They began to ask where he got these new, rugged snow guards. They wanted to purchase them for their own roofing jobs! And so began our transition into a snow guard manufacturing company. It became a full-time venture in the late 1990’s, a natural transition given experience gained during the VSCS days.
It All Started with Pad-Style Snow Guards
Now you know how we went from slate roofing contractor to the leader of the rooftop snow management industry. It all started with pad-style snow guards, and with good reason. Pad-style snow guards, especially in copper, were the top choice for slate roofs. They add integrity and a timeless, historical element to roofs. They’re simply beautiful and simply put: They do the job they were engineered to do, manage snow.
Our traditional pad-style snow guards are designed specifically to add friction to a frictionless surface (like slate). They do this by managing the snow and ice in a way that allows a slow, controlled melt. This helps prevents a sudden roof avalanche, which can put many things in harms way. People, pets, landscaping, vehicles, gutters, plumbing vents, lower roof sections, skylights, you name it. If anything is in the area immediately sounding a building, and a roof avalanche occurs, the results will not be pretty.
Our pad-style snow guards provide increased strength and durability thanks to our “fish head” design, which will not unfold, and will maintain aesthetic integrity. They are available in several finish options (including the best-selling copper), as well as many color options.
Practical & Cost-Efficient Solution to Manage Rooftop Snow
If you’re looking for a practical, cost-efficient solution to managing rooftop snow with a classic look, you’ve come to the right place.
Take a look at a few solutions from our product line-up, featuring pad-style snow guards for nearly all roof types, new or retrofit!
Pad-Style Snow Guards for Slate & Synthetic Slate
When you think of slate roofing, you most likely think of old houses, churches, libraries, and a wide variety of historical places. The beauty and life of a slate roof deserve snow guards that will enhance the slate, not detract from it.
Alpine’s pad-style snow guards are designed for use on slate and/or synthetic slate roofing. With a strap length of almost 16” and a pad area of a robust 2 3/8”, the PD10 provides a low-profile, while minimizing the disruption of slate patterns by allowing a secure mechanical attachment to structural roof decking. They’re also visually stunning.
Most Sought After Solutions
PD10’s and PD10R’s are our most sought-after solutions for managing snow on natural slate roofing.
Pad-Style Snow Guards for Corrugated Metal
Corrugated metal roofing can be tricky, and we’ve designed pad-style snow guards that can’t be tricked. With solutions available for corrugated metal and through-fastened roofs, your options are our PD30 and our PD80.
The PD30 can be soldered or through-fastened (recommended) and are also available in many finish and powder-coating color options, allowing you to match or complement the roofing material.
Looking for something different? Our PD80 is a popular style that’s unique “saddle” design holds back snow and ice while allowing melt off and rain flow through.
Snow Guards for Standing Seam
Alpine’s pad-, pipe- and fence-style snow guards for use on metal standing seam roofs run from simple to sophisticated, while maintaining the integrity of your roof, providing a beautiful element to your building, and most importantly, managing rooftop snow accumulation. They’re also referred to as “Clamp-to-Seam” snow guards,
Our standing seam snow guards utilize oval-point set screws, so they attach directly to the seam, won’t penetrate the roofing material, and will not void roofing manufacturer’s warranties.
The ASG33G snow guard is extruded and milled with a uniquely shaped “flag” that provides visual interest combined with functionality, and can be powder-coated to match the roofing material.
Like the PD80 (above), our PD82 utilizes the “saddle” design, which was designed to hold back snow and ice while allowing melt-off and rain to flow through. For use on vertical standing seams, the PD82 has been used for applications from residential to commercial.
Snow Guards for Composition Shingle / Cedar Shingle
Alpine’s line-up of snow guards for composition & metal shingle roofing includes traditional pad-style designs as well as wire loop snow guards.
Our PD40 snow guard is the most widely used pad-style for shingle roofing, with a strap length of 6 ½”, and our fish-head design, the PD40 is the ideal size for most composition shingle applications.
Another option that’s used quite often is the PD50 snow guard. The PD50 can be used on slate, synthetic slate, composition shingle, cedar shingle, and tile roofing. At 18” in length and a grooved front pad, the taller profile is a great solution for managing snow accumulation.
Snow Guard Calculator
You can use our convenient Snow Guard Calculator to estimate how many pad-style snow guards you’ll need for your project.
Snow Guards for All Roof Types, Including Solar
Check out our entire product line and discover why Alpine SnowGuards is the leader of the rooftop snow management industry. We design, engineer and manufacture snow guards for all roof types, even snow guards for solar panels. We manufacture many custom snow guards, too!
It’s also important to note that our solutions that can help a building qualify for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) credits through the U.S. Green Buildings Council (USGBC®).
We keep snow in its place
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Alpine SnowGuards designs, engineers, and manufactures snow management systems from our facilities in Morrisville, VT. We work closely with leading roofing contractors, engineering firms, developers, and roofing manufacturers to ensure we deliver quality products that do what we say they’ll do. Alpine SnowGuards can help a building qualify for LEED® credits.