毎日の家の革新はひっくり返る

This past weekend’s snow storm through the eastern parts of North America reminded me of a timely tip I had seen frequently regarding roofs but not decks.

In case you are outside North America you may not have heard but we received a massive 36 hour plus snow storm all the way up the east coast. In the Toronto area we are approaching an all time record for snow in a winter since 1938 - 39.

And, in our area many of the stores have run out of slow blower machines and snow shovels. Usually this is the time of the year that they start to go on sale to clear them out and make way in the retail stores for spring gardening tools.

Lastly, the county in which we live is running low on salt. No, not the kind used in cooking; rather, the kind applied by dump-truck like vehicles on our roads to help melt the snow. Yes, there is an environmental impact but that issue is for another posting.

So, we have had a lot of snow, even for Canada!

We focus on shoveling the white stuff from our driveways and road ways and sidewalks and the like so we can move around. Heck, our family even has to shovel a patch in the back yard so a certain little family member can ‘do her business’ out the back!

With this much snow some home owners focus on trying to remove the snow from their roofs when it is so much that there is a risk of the roof caving in. Not likely, but it has been known to happen.

What about the deck in the back yard?

Below are some pictures of the snow on our deck. And, by the way, we have a walkout basement so the deck which is off of our kitchen in the back of the house is about 9 feet off of the ground.

Now, we did not have the deck built; it was here when we bought the house. We would have placed a little more support on the deck if we were having it built. But, even with the greatest support, having that much weight on the deck, in addition to the barbecue, deck chairs and table which stay on the deck year round can’t be good.

Even if the deck is only a foot off of the ground, one would think that having that much snow can’t be good for the wood in the long term.

And, what if you actually did want to use the barbecue to cook dinner? Yes, us folks here in Canada have been known to want a barbecue hamburger, steak, chicken, fish, and so on in the winter too! Yum! But, how can you do that if there is 2 feet of snow on the deck?

Perhaps that is the best reason of them all to not let a large pile up of snow sit on the deck too long. Once the sun hits it, it will start to harden and then you won’t be able to use the deck to cook dinner until after the spring thaw!