Enough Snow! (how much, house, weddings)

[mistyriverranch]

I'm officially sick of it and a little worried. On Christmas two of my friends woke up to find their indoor CoverAll riding arenas collapsed. These were expensive steel framed buildings, one larger than an NFL football field covered with that white fabricky material. Poof. Gone.
Than yesterday, another friend lost her HUGE arena in Spokane...a very heavy duty steel building. She and her daughter were getting ready to ride when they heard a crack and the building "imploded". Thank goodness they weren't hurt.
Last year, my daughter's dressage instructor in Spokane lost her wooden arena and is shoveling frantically this year to keep the new one intact.
I'm kind of wondering if the building code is not quite what it should be for these structures. None of them had flat roofs and the Coverall arenas can't be shoveled.
Maybe it's a conspiracy by the local horses because they want their winter vacations back?

[IdahoEagle]

You forgot to mentioned that the schools were in session for one day before they canceled them for at least two days. On the plus side my husband brought home a dozer and built a great sledding hill in our yard for our boys.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by mistyriverranch

I'm officially sick of it and a little worried. On Christmas two of my friends woke up to find their indoor CoverAll riding arenas collapsed. These were expensive steel framed buildings, one larger than an NFL football field covered with that white fabricky material. Poof. Gone.
Than yesterday, another friend lost her HUGE arena in Spokane...a very heavy duty steel building. She and her daughter were getting ready to ride when they heard a crack and the building "imploded". Thank goodness they weren't hurt.
Last year, my daughter's dressage instructor in Spokane lost her wooden arena and is shoveling frantically this year to keep the new one intact.
I'm kind of wondering if the building code is not quite what it should be for these structures. None of them had flat roofs and the Coverall arenas can't be shoveled.
Maybe it's a conspiracy by the local horses because they want their winter vacations back?

I'm guessing you can't put the melting rods on the Coverall arenas either? If so it might help... last time I saw anything odd with an arena roof was during an earthquake when I saw the thing lift off and set back down!

Can something like this be used? Roofmelt, chlorine tablets, tablet, ice dam, roofmelt tablets, de icer, Urinal Screens, Straight-N-it and See-a-fence

[3~Shepherds]

Seems to me that some things are just not meant to be up all year long. I remember when I had my horses, winter came and I rode in the rain and snow and whatever else the winter brought or I just didn't ride. Now like mistyriverranch said "the horses want there winter vacation back".

These buildings and awnings seem to be more for California weather, I always think of how much I have to take care of an out building or such before I put it up. Winter can be brutal and shoveling is only so much fun!!

[mistyriverranch]

I don't think they can use rods or the roofmelt on CoverAlls because of the "fabric". They are supposed to shed the snow and they have a steel frame.
The one huge one has been up for several years and was fine last year. This year we had snow and then those REALLY cold temps and it seemed to morph the bottom layer of snow into a layer of ice that just glued itself to roofs. A friend of mine in Calgary told me that their CoverAll type of indoor soccer stadium also collapsed and the enginners were contributing it to this ice that prevented the snow from shedding.
I think I'll just keep my horses on their winter vacation and stick with my outdoor arena, snow covered as it is.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by mistyriverranch

I don't think they can use rods or the roofmelt on CoverAlls because of the "fabric". They are supposed to shed the snow and they have a steel frame.
The one huge one has been up for several years and was fine last year. This year we had snow and then those REALLY cold temps and it seemed to morph the bottom layer of snow into a layer of ice that just glued itself to roofs. A friend of mine in Calgary told me that their CoverAll type of indoor soccer stadium also collapsed and the enginners were contributing it to this ice that prevented the snow from shedding.
I think I'll just keep my horses on their winter vacation and stick with my outdoor arena, snow covered as it is.

Yeah, I just ran a search on those Coverall arenas to see what they are like. I didn't realize they were fabric until just now.

[mistyriverranch]

The great thing about the "fabric" is that they are incredibly light and airy inside. Not dark at all. The bad thing of course is the whole falling down thing.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

I hate to say it, but they don't seem like a good idea for our area. I know a number of people that use carports that are similar, a metal frame with fabric roof, most that haven't been shoveled have collapsed. I've seen a couple that have a very steep, curved slope on the roof, kind of like those old Russian churches, they have shed snow and survived. The roof has to be at least 12:12 on those, maybe more. Kind of like a A-frame.

Were the ones that collapsed heated? Perhaps enough heat would have kept the snow from sticking and allowed it to shed off...not sure. Any idea if they are rated for snow load? Seems like they wouldn't get a building permit if they wern't. I'm curious because I want to put up some kind of structure for the RV, tractor and some attachments, a fabric roofed structure would be a lot less expensive than a pole barn.

It's unreal when you think about roof loads. Even a 2000 SF house with a 40lb/sf snow load is carrying 80,000 lbs (the weight of a loaded semi-tractor trailer). I can't imagine the weight on somethign the size of an NFL field.

[mistyriverranch]

They were definitely engineered for the snow load. These were pretty heavy duty permanent structures. One cost over $300K to build. Here's a link to a picture: Twin Willows Equestrian Center

Hey Toyman...my daughter went to prom at a facility at Jewel Lake a few years ago. She said it was beautiful out there.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Originally Posted by mistyriverranch

They were definitely engineered for the snow load. These were pretty heavy duty permanent structures. One cost over $300K to build. Here's a link to a picture: Twin Willows Equestrian Center

Hey Toyman...my daughter went to prom at a facility at Jewel Lake a few years ago. She said it was beautiful out there.

Misty, that must have been at the large converted barn on the East end of the lake, he has a nice place and something going on there all the time. They do weddings most weekends, and are really nice people. Our place is behind the lake, we're on a bluff, not down on the water. The layout of our property doesn't give us good driving access down to water level. Doesn't bother me, we have still have the view. Where is your place?

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of those arenas, that site you posted looked beautiful. I hope no one (and no critters) were hurt. That looks like about a 7:12 pitch, I'd guess that would have shed snow most years. My neighbor has a metal roof on his house, part of it is around 12:12, snow even stuck to it this year. Did the steel structure buckle and collapse, or did just the fabric fail?