Sable Homes’ roofing system designed to handle West Michigan’s snowy winters

Drive around West Michigan and you’ll see rooftops of homes and businesses blanketed with snow, and in some cases, icicles dangling from the gutters. The 42.2 inches of snow Grand Rapids has seen thus far this season has some people wondering how will all this snow affect their roofs.

At Sable Homes, our roofs are designed to handle the tough West Michigan winters. While many may think a roof is just the shingles on the upper exteriors of a structure, the materials underneath are what actually keeps your home warm during the winter.

Underneath our homes’ lifetime shingles, we use Oriented Strand Board (OSB) sheeting made specifically for roofing. Our engineered trusses are manufactured and ordered locally by Standard Lumber or Zeeland lumber, and accommodate the different levels of snow load engineering.

In our homes, you’ll notice our roofing system holds snow, rather than melt off, because we insulate that space between the trusses and the roofing materials with R-34, which is 20 inches of insulation. Icicles hanging from the gutters or the eaves of a house is typically an indication of poor roof insulation as a lot of the home’s heat is escaping through the roof. If you see icicles on your home, we recommend having your attic insulation inspected.

Looking to build a home in 2021? Contact us and we can help you design and build a home that not only fits your lifestyle, but is also well insulated to keep you comfortable all year long.