1st hand snow experience.

[garysol]

We will be experiencing our first Michigan winter this year and our camper will be stored in a locked outdoor storage area that I will not be able to get to very often. I am not planning on covering it, Has anyone ever had any 1st hand experience with roof damage due to snow pack sitting on a roof? I have read thread after read of the possible damages that could happen but I have not read any 1st hand experiences of anyone who actually had a roof cave in or any other catastrophic damage occurring. Anyone have any experiences to share?

[MIKECBROWN]

I shoveled 3' of snow off my 5er the day before leaving for Florida. Hooked up the next morning and it wouldn't move. Dug down through 4 or 5 ft of snow to get to the blocks. Nice and sweaty, crawled into the hole, crawled back out to get a hammer for the frozen down blocks, sweat and snow soaked, in a great mood................ Nice start for a 1500 mile drive!

Remember

BUT FIRST.......

[rskeans]

We're in the SoCal mountains. It is either feast or famine. Been dry for the last several years, but, when we do get a Pacific storm, it is significant.
I kept our slide-in truck camper up here until snow and ice caused a major problem. We would get 2' of wet snow over night. It would try to melt during the day then hard freeze at night. The build up could be in excess of 3'. Then it would start to slide like a glacier. Slide down from the roof over the front cap. Pulling the cap from the roof causing interior leaks. My fix was to not park it at home during the winter. Find a winter storage spot in the valleys, or, just park it in Arizona during the winter.
We have a 5ver now and I can't even get it home. So it stays in Arizona all of the time. Most folks don't have that option.

[greende]

We get a lot of snow here. I just put the 5er nose high when I winterize it. Have not had problems and never cleaned it off.

[OH48Lt]

Leave the front end of the unit a little high. This lets the thaw water run out the back so it won't refreeze.

[colliehauler]

I have a seasonal in Northern MN. There are several people like me that don't see there camper until next spring once they winterise. Have not had any problems in 8 year's. I don't know of anyone else that has had issue either.

[garysol]

n7bsn wrote:

garysol wrote:
..
All batteries including smoke detectors, remotes and main battery are all already removed. Ill just leave the TV's in. If the weather god decides he wants them then it will give me a good excuse to upgrade.... 🙂

The weather god isn't why I was recommending. Thieves often target all the TVs and batteries on units in storage.

Good point......

[MNGeeks61]

Our campground is slightly north of the Twin Cities area. 2-3 years ago we had a 15" snowfall over the course of two days, followed within a week by another 3" of wet snowfall. There were many ShelterLogic-type covers in the campground that collapsed, and my neighbor experienced a cave-in on his camper roof.

Let me state that his camper is a early 1980's model...I wouldn't think any newer models would have a major issue with snow, but in the case above, I'd bet some folks drove up to the campground to remove at least some of the snow from their campers. When I came up to check on my collapsed shelter, I saw probably 15-20 people removing snow from their camper roofs.

However that means at least 300-400 folks that did NOT remove snow from their roof...and I didn't see a ton of RV repair going on in the spring, so perhaps they were all ok.

When my camper was in the open, I'd usually track the weather and keep an eye on snowfall.

[empty_nest]

Mine sits outside all winter and gets it's fair share of snow. Never have a problem. I do, however, throw a blue tarp over the roof. Never really sure what happens when the snow melts with some sunshine and then refreezes. In my mind, it's just an extra layer of protection against any leaks. Probably not necessary, but it doesn't hurt.

[n7bsn]

garysol wrote:
..
All batteries including smoke detectors, remotes and main battery are all already removed. Ill just leave the TV's in. If the weather god decides he wants them then it will give me a good excuse to upgrade.... 🙂

The weather god isn't why I was recommending. Thieves often target all the TVs and batteries on units in storage.

[Milt]

Welcome to the area. I'm just east of you in climax. I have had a trailer that was uncovered for several years with no problem. If your storage is west of US131 it's in the "lake effect" snow belt and will likely get a lot more snow. If there is a really heavy snow it might be a good idea to take roof rake and pull some of it off. My current trailer is under a carport type cover, protection from the sun also.

[cheteckie]

When you park your RV for the winter, make sure it is not level. You want to have one corner lower than the rest of the unit so rainwater and melted snow has a way to get off the roof. That will help with water puddles freezing on the roof and creating ice dams.

[MFL]

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Biggest problem will probably be the fact that when the snow melts during the day and the water is held in place under the snowpack only to refreeze at night. The expansion of the water as it freezes will occasionally cause damage. That is the best reason to keep the roof cleared. The weight will generally not be an issue. Also, be aware that if you have some ice built up on the roof and you move the rig, that ice can cause damage to anything it hits, be it stuff mounted on your roof, or someone or something behind you.

This is the reason I push the snow off the roof. The snow melts at roof level first, when it warms up, then refreezes at night. If it stays cold, snow is no problem, unless really deep, and heavy wet.

The melting snow on the bottom, under the heavy snow on top, does a really nice job of roof cleaning. I use a medium bristle garage floor broom, about 18"s wide, with a 7+ foot handle. The snow just slides right off the south side, with me standing on a tall step ladder, on the north side.

Jerry

[westernrvparkow]

Biggest problem will probably be the fact that when the snow melts during the day and the water is held in place under the snowpack only to refreeze at night. The expansion of the water as it freezes will occasionally cause damage. That is the best reason to keep the roof cleared. The weight will generally not be an issue. Also, be aware that if you have some ice built up on the roof and you move the rig, that ice can cause damage to anything it hits, be it stuff mounted on your roof, or someone or something behind you.

[garysol]

n7bsn wrote:
I would also take the TV and batteries out of the rig and store at home.

All batteries including smoke detectors, remotes and main battery are all already removed. Ill just leave the TV's in. If the weather god decides he wants them then it will give me a good excuse to upgrade.... 🙂