• 01 | 19 | 15

En Garde!

• By DaVinci Roofscapes
• Weather

The sport of fencing and the equipping of polymer roofing with snow guards share several commonalities, the most notably being the phrase “en garde!” … or in the English language, “on guard!”

While the French shout “en garde” at the outset of a fencing match to warn participants to take their defensive positions, the team at DaVinci Roofscapes encourages you to be “on guard” if you live in a snow-prone area and have composite roofing. Oftentimes when snowfall mounts up on an imitation slate or synthetic shake roof, there can be “avalanches” of snow release when the sun comes out and the roof warms up.

Snow guards to the rescue.

Strategically placed on a composite slate roof or cedar shake alternative roof, snow guards help “break up” the snow as it melts, to reduce the chance of a snow avalanche coming down on shrubbery, walkways and people. Snow guards allow your roof to “parry” (a defensive technique found in fencing!) by helping control snow movement and the rate of the melting snow leaving your luxury roof. When doing their job properly, snow guards should help break down the roof’s snow mass into smaller and safer sections.

While snow guards won’t ever be considered an Olympic sport like fencing, they do display some of the same basic attack and parry techniques as fencing — except their opponent is heavy snow accumulation!

For  more insights on snow guards, see these stories: Got Snow? Better Get Snowguards! and Are Snowguards Really Necessary?