Building a House with Wood

[Harvey]

He used a 1/2" decorative gravel. But you can use anything around that size that you like the looks of.

Some guy on YouTube said use at least 1 1/4" so you could hit it with a leaf blower and the stone would stay put.

 

[Ripitz]

I use local 3/4 washed.

 

[Sick Bird Rider]

Are they fairly foolproof? Like they always prevent a big slide?

How do I figure out the likelyhood of total snowfall exceeding the roof's capacity for weight?

You don't need to figure that out, the person who designed your roof truss system should have already done that. Telemark Dave's job is designing and engineering roof truss systems, he explained to me once that if your house is built to code (in our region at least), it will hold WAY more snow than you'd ever get. In our area, the code specifies a 10 foot column of snow per square foot. He also told me a metal roof spreads the load out more evenly, so adds to the strength.

We have a metal roof but no snow stoppers. I think I'd rather deal with the roofalanches than worry about snow piling up. Of course, it depends on where the snow will land. In our case, the slides all land at the side of the house, and don't get in the way of anything. A snow pile in front of your garage door, for example, would be a real drag.

 

[tirolski]

It there were gutters this year, they'd be on the ground.

I suffered some roof damage on the lower roof. Need to add snow stoppers (what are they called?) to the upper roof.

Roof damage...?
Avalanche from the upper roof to the lower roof?
Was it due to:
Ice?
Snow?

Log blown down from a tree?