Houses are literally BURIED

Snow weighs up to 20 lbs/cu ft depending on the moisture content. If you have 2 ft of snow on a 1000 sq ft roof that's an extra 40,000 lbs of weight bearing down That's not an insignificant amount of weight no matter what the building code says.

Welcome to the Sierra Mountains! This is why you see older Sierra homes with doors on the second story. Growing up in CA this was normal over 20 years ago.

Just think how wonderfully roaring all the waterfalls will be this year and how resplendent the fields of wildflowers! To say nothing of the ease in our drought situation. Thank you, God! It’s gonna be an awesome summer. And my guess is they’ll ski into August

The first thing that caught my eye on the house we bought in the northern Sierra was the standing seam metal roof. We've only had 10% of the snow that has fallen in Mammoth, but I would worry if it didn't slide off from time to time. I don't even mind being suddenly awakened by the thunderous crash in the middle of the night. It's kind of reassuring. Good luck with your battle, there's more on the way.

In the summer, when it's over 80F and you see snow poles on the side of the road, it's hard to believe snow like this can happen. But I've stood at the top of Sonora Pass at the end of May with the road cut through more than 20 feet of snow too. One of my friends has a cottage at Lake Alpine on 4, now I understand the beams we had to install when he closed up for the winter. They go between fittings on the floor to the top of the front and back walls and the centerline of the ceiling. I think they were about every six feet, it was over 20 years ago. After removing and stowing the deck rails the last task was installing heavy shutters on the doors and windows.California is a place of amazing contrasts.

Even here in Maine .. that’s a crazy amount of snow.. I just keep thinking about the Donner Party.. How any of them survived is a testament to their tenacity!! Brave souls then and today!! Keep digging..

You gotta be in good shape living up there! Sure is beautiful. So glad you and your family are healthy and safe.

If it's in the budget, yes, definitely go for a high pitch stand ing seam metal roof! You'll be glad you did. Especially if you plan on staying in the house. Can't shovel like you did when you get older !!!

I work on the western side of the sierra and have been successful with using a 3/8 Rope! To uncover cars and other objects by breaking the frozen surface tension. It works well with two people using it like an old fashioned two maned hand Saw. Try it out on the lower end of a roof trying not to cut to deep where’d you’d run into the vents. Hopefully this method is useful for you. Best of luck to you!

You mentioned in one of your other uploads that you needed to take some of those branches and trees down. Would now be a good time with all the snow pack to cushion the fall and not such a long way down?

Another hint: when you put the metal roof on install ice melters on the edge of the roof and in the downspouts and drip tubes.. itll keep the ice dams from forming on your drip edge and keep your gutters and downspouts clear

The current codes for new roofs are significantly higher than before. I have designed, repaired, and shovel numerous roofs in Mammoth Lakes over the last 52 years. The support post suffer the most in compression due to the low value of Doug Fir peripendicular to the grain at the top and bottom plates Roof beams and rafters also split longitudinally mid-span due to high bending stresses and horizontal shear. The funny thing is to see 100 year old structures still standing, most of which is due to bridging to the ground.

Wow! The Japanese have some very innovative tools for removing snow from their roofs. There are videos of neighbors on roofs using giant slicing hand shovel thingds and something that looks like a massive wire cheese cutter to remove masses of snow. One of their hand snow cutters has a fabric or plastic show chute attached to direct the snow to the ground.

I've lived my whole life of 70 years in Northern NY, and I've seen some huge snow storms, mostly lake effect off Lake Ontario. So it takes alot to wow me in this kind of weather, but I was awestruck at how much snow your area has received. Good job clearing that roof! We are getting ours shoveled Monday, but there's only about 8 inches up there right now. We have a metal roof, but because it's a double wide mobile home, it doesn't shed on its own. Stay safe up there!

Your channel just popped up in my feed, and here I am, watching from the Caribbean, where we talk of 'cold nights' and 'sweater and socks weather' when temps dip to around 20C😂😂

I suspect there is a lot of structural damage to homes in the high Sierra.

I've seen some videos of people clearing roofs over in Europe such as Switzerland which they have unique tools and techniques that they use.

Here in PA we once had three storms in a row that left 3 feet of snow. I took a piece of 2X4 maybe 3 feet long and stapled some poly plastic to it, long enough to reach from the top of the ridge to the bottom edge of the roof. Then I shoveled a path to lay the poly in. It was a simple matter to shovel the snow onto the poly which slid it off the roof in a hurry. Just keep moving the 2X4 along as necessary and you can clean the roof off with less than half the effort.

Praying that your family will be safe during this mad snowfall!!

U had my heart racing when u were climbing the roof ALONE ! Thank goodness those guys were close by incase u fell off that ladder ! Be safe 😊