Snow Damage

Yesterday was the first time since the snow started that I ventured into Consett to do any shopping. As I try to keep a well stocked larder, I was able to buy perishables in the village, combined with travelling to the supermarket at the Metrocentre, in the opposite direction, I could have survived for several weeks had the snowy weather continued. As Consett is in the Pennines and a further thousand feet of elevation from my village, when it snows there it really does snow.

While there I was talking to one of the locals, who told me that the roads were very bad during the worse time of the snow and walking around was traitorous. While I doubt that walking around was planning to overthrow the government, I could understand that it could not have been easy there.

Then I noticed that outside one store there was an area that had been taped off. Initially I thought that it was because of the snow sliding off the glass roof. However I realised that the cordoned off area was actually under the canopy. It would have remained an enigma to me had I not had to walk past latter as I returned. The snow had seriously cracked the glass of the canopy.

The building is relatively new and it has been more than twenty years since we last had significant snow. Thus the builder and possibly the architect had failed to use materials that could withstand snow. Even though it has been several years since there was significant snowfall, any building erected in a town just above the foot hills of the mountains of the Pennines will have to withstand snow. But cost cutting will occur and now the canopy of this building is dangerous.

Equally the picture with this posting tells its own story. I was sitting writing when I saw the snow slide off that roof bringing down the gutter. This has only happened where the wooden fascia boards have been replaced with plastic ones. Again cost cutting, not necessarily by the house owner, that creates costs latter. Looking at the newer buildings though it is possible to see that some of the modern building techniques have added to the problems that people have suffered. Most of the older buildings have what are called snow boards on the roofs. These hold the snow on the roof so that it does not slip off and can melt off. This prevents the sliding snow pulling off loose tiles and slates. This also saves the guttering. The problem is that some of these skills have been lost and most modern builders and roofers just do not know how to create or repair such a roof.

A major part of the problem is that modern properties are all built to a standard design so while it makes them quick and easy to build, at the very least they lack any sort of character. However, it is the lack of building design to match the environmental conditions of the area. In parts of Wales the roofs have a lime plaster render coated on them. This enables the buildings to cope with the winds that prevail off the Atlantic. There were other unique features that enabled a building to survive and last in different areas. But to maximise profits and reduce costs in new build, the major house builders make tacky little boxes. You can look at pictures of new and recent build homes in any part of the UK on the internet and they look identical. These dwelling units are exactly the ones that have suffered the most in the recent snow.

But older buildings have suffered less damage and its almost as though they have just sloughed off the snow.