Roof Snow Removal in Elkhorn

Inside the city limits, yes. Omaha annexed Elkhorn, and on January 12, 2007 the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the ruling that left Omaha's annexation ordinance in effect (City of Elkhorn v. City of Omaha). So an Elkhorn address inside Omaha builds under Omaha's residential code.

That code's climate table sets a ground snow load of 25 pounds per square foot and marks ice barrier underlayment as required, which its own note reserves for places with a history of local damage from ice damming.

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normal at the Valley NWS station, where the National Weather Service office for Omaha sits, is 31.8 inches a year, with February the snowiest month at 9.5. That is more than Eppley Airfield's 27.1, which is the number most Omaha forecasts are measured against.

Inches are not pounds: the guide to how much snow a roof can hold explains how wet, packed and iced snow weigh.

Elkhorn is no longer a Census place of its own, so the Census Bureau's figures for its ZIP code area, ZCTA 68022, are the closest count: the American Community Survey (2019 to 2023 five-year estimates) puts the median year built there at 2009. About 73 percent of the area's homes were built in 2000 or later, nearly half of them since 2010, and only about 17 percent before 1980.

A new roof is built for the code's load, but stacked storms can pass it: the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety says 2 feet of old snow under 2 feet of new can weigh as much as 60 pounds per square foot. On a newer house the bigger risk is often an ice dam, which the University of Minnesota Extension traces to heat from the house warming the upper roof, and a builder or manufacturer warranty usually wants the damage documented. We photograph what we find.

Our crews steam ice dams off the eaves and clear the gutters below them, so the next melt can drain and nothing is chipped off a roof that may still be under warranty. The ice dam removal page covers the ice, and the ice dam leak guide covers a leak tonight.

By hand, from the ground where possible. OSHA says falls cause most of the deaths and serious injuries in rooftop snow removal, which is why it advises clearing from the ground whenever possible and why we would rather you did not climb up. The roof snow removal page covers the work, from the warning signs of too much snow to the free roof check afterward.

Elkhorn is served from our Omaha headquarters at 5634 S 85th Cir Ste 204. Office hours are 9 to 5, and during storms and emergencies we take night and weekend calls. Call us at (402) 291-8888 or book a free assessment: roof, gutters and siding in one visit, photographed, with a free estimate in writing. The Elkhorn page covers our year round work there, from the new subdivisions to the older blocks near the original town center.