Pretty soon people from down South are going to come up to New England for the winter instead of New Englanders going to Florida for a few months. I heard it snowed in the panhandle and they closed school because of 3 inches. I guess they don't know what to do with the white stuff.

 

Good idea Moose. A lot of these structures are not designed for that kind of load, as you pointed out.

I would be careful with the salt:

"Use of too much salt may leave a whitish calcium residue on the shingles, although this will eventually weather off. Metal flashings, eavestroughs and downspouts are typically galvanized to prevent corrosion, however, a salt-water roof runoff could corrode these metals or affect paint finishes".

In addition, runoff from use of salt or other de-icing products may also impact your fine shrubs and plants....Just something to think about.

 

Good point. There are other melting agents that are not as corrosive as rock salt but I can't come up with the names at this moment. Another thing I've seen growing in popularity is metal roofing. I built my 24x16 garage with a metal roof and am extremely happy with it. Snow doesn't stay on it for very long. Slides right off. Kids used to think it was fun to stand underneath and wait for it to slide off and bury them up to their waste. And you don't have to worry about ice dams forming and melt water coming into your house.