Snow Retention 101 - The High Cost Of Low Priced Snow Guards
By Howie Scarboro, National Sales Mgr., SnoBlox-SnoJax
Have you been shopping around for Chinese snow guards? I’m guessing your answer is no, but unfortunately you don't have to look very far to find them these days. Of course you won’t see a “Made in China” label on them; those labels are most certainly removed when they are repackaged here in the United States. They are removed in order to keep customers from knowing the truth about what they are buying.
We recently received an email solicitation from a Chinese manufacturer wanting to sell us polycarbonate and metal snow guards. The products they sent were easily recognizable. They are currently marketed here in the U.S. by several major suppliers. That prompted us to start paying more attention to who is selling what these days.
Cheap foreign imports are beginning to fill the catalogs and websites of some snow guard suppliers in the U.S. I can certainly understand why these suppliers have decided to go the "Low Price Route". After all, there is constant pressure from contractors to get the job bids down, and constant pressure from the Chinese manufacturers to send samples and quote FOB Shanghai. But is it really worth it just to get the price of the jobs down by a few dollars? How soon we have forgotten about toxic Chinese drywall, recalled pet toys, poisoned pet food, toys with lead paint, poisoned toothpaste. All were goods imported from China by American businesses in order to increase profits. No one would argue these products were better than others; just cheaper. You can blame the Chinese, but speaking only of snow guards, you should also take a close look at who is importing them and why. Without willing buyers, these types of products wouldn’t be penetrating the U.S. roofing market at the rate they are.
Sadly, there are always going to be American companies looking for the cheapest product they can take to market. The glaring problem with that strategy is that snow retention systems are more than just a toy or a light fixture. They are a combination of safety equipment and insurance policy for the roof. They prevent people from being injured and/or possibly killed by heavy packs of snow and ice that can suddenly break loose on the rooftop, and they provide the only form of protection from costly damage to gutters, vents, vehicles, and landscaping.
Though it’s a big one, product quality is only one part of the equation when it comes to snow guards. Regardless of where they are made, what they are made of and what they cost, if snow guard systems are improperly designed or poorly installed, they are destined to fail. If you’re thinking you can simply buy the cheapest guards and put down a row or two, then take my advice and save your money because it will not work!
The public is largely uninformed when it comes to being sold imports of questionable quality…and that’s being kind because many of these products are made of inferior materials, have never been tested and carry no manufacturer’s warranty. Are these products really a better value, or are they just a few pennies cheaper? The answer seems pretty clear.
Even setting aside issues of product quality, nobody will dispute that a snow retention system will require an adequate quantity of guards to effectively hold the snow and ice. So in considering the overall system cost, you have to think more than just initial installation cost. If the guards don’t last and have to be replaced, “cheaper” guards in the short run will ultimately wind up costing more over the long haul.
While snow guards are used much more frequently today than 10 or 20 years ago, their correct use remains a mystery to some. Almost as often as we see cheap Chinese knockoffs, we see horrible installations with too few rows/guards, misaligned hole placement, poor product design, and improper layout patterns. Oftentimes it is the same people providing customers with inferior products that are then suggesting dangerously deficient system recommendations. So again we have to ask, what is the price of cheap foreign made products? The real cost, all things considered, is the loss of American jobs, an influx of low-grade products and a glaring liability issue!
What kind of design time, engineering, and testing do you think has been done in China to ensure quality standards? What about something as simple as UV testing to ensure the product will hold up in the sun without discoloration? Speaking only for SnoBlox-SnoJax Inc., we have invested 35 years of testing, engineering, innovating, and learning in order to bring polycarbonate snow guards to the market that will hold over 6,000 lbs. We know what our products can do and can prove it. When looking for snow guards, you should expect as much of any supplier.
And it is based on our knowledge and experience that we offer the following suggestions to contractors, building owners or design professionals when choosing polycarbonate snow guard styles and systems.
• Forward front mounted face
• Horizontal screws holes close to the face for the best possible leverage points
• Versatility to straddle a minor rib or mount in the flat
• Premium manufacturing materials for a lifetime expectancy
• Third party, professionally published test results
•Project specific snow guard layouts and solid warranty
Howie Scarboro is the National Sales Manager at SnowBlox-SnoJax. SnoBlox-SnoJax was founded by the late Jack McMullen, a building contractor who invented the very first polycarbonate snow guard in 1976. His son Brion, who has always been in charge of marketing, continues his father’s legacy by developing innovative, field-proven, professionally tested snow guards for metal roofs. After 30 years, snow retention remains the company's main business, though it now also offers a number of complementary products such as gutter guards, snow guard attachment products, non-penetrating rooftop mounting clamps and vent stabilizers. With questions for the author, email howie@snojax.com. To learn more about the company’s products, visit www.snoblox-snowjax.com.
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