Ice and Snow Damage Roof Repair

Atlanta's 2014 'Snowpocalypse' ice storm was a reminder that Georgia commercial buildings are not designed for significant ice load - and that ice damage to commercial roofs often is not obvious until months later when the thaw reveals what happened. We assess and document what ice events actually did to your roof assembly.

Atlanta's commercial buildings are designed for the climate they are built in - which means they are not designed for significant ice or snow load. Georgia's ASCE 7 ground snow load for Atlanta is 0 to 5 pounds per square foot, compared to 40 to 80 pounds per square foot in northern states. Commercial roofs in Atlanta are typically designed to the minimum code snow load, which provides little margin for the periodic ice storm that exceeds that design threshold.

The January 2014 ice storm - locally known as 'Snowpocalypse' - produced ice accumulation conditions across the Atlanta metro that Georgia buildings were not designed for. The event paralyzed the city for several days, and the combination of ice weight, freeze-thaw cycling, and ice damming at drain locations produced structural and roofing damage that was not fully recognized until the ice thawed. Several documented partial roof deflections and collapses occurred on older commercial and light industrial buildings across Cobb and Fulton Counties during and immediately after the event.

We assess ice and snow damage on Atlanta commercial roofs with particular attention to the mechanisms that are specific to this climate: ice damming at drains and parapet wall penetrations, freeze-thaw cracking at seams and penetration flashings, membrane delamination from ice load on older systems, and structural deflection in buildings where the ice load exceeded design capacity. If your building was affected by the 2014 event or any subsequent winter storm and has not received a systematic documented assessment, the condition may be materially different from what the last pre-storm inspection showed.

The January 28-29, 2014 ice storm - nicknamed 'Snowpocalypse' by Atlanta media - produced approximately 2 to 3 inches of ice accumulation across the metro following an initial snow layer that sealed roads. Ice load at 2 inches of accumulation reaches approximately 10 pounds per square foot - double to triple the design snow load for most Atlanta commercial roofs. Buildings in the northern suburbs - Cobb County, Cherokee County, north Fulton - received heavier accumulation than the urban core.

The roofing consequences were not uniform. Well-maintained roofs on sound structural decks with adequate drainage performed without significant damage. Older commercial buildings - 1970s and 1980s warehouse and light industrial on the south Cobb and northwest Atlanta corridors - were the most vulnerable. Roofs where drain bowls were already partially clogged with debris experienced ice damming that amplified the weight loading. Roofs where the membrane was already aged and brittle experienced cracking at seams and flashings from the freeze-thaw thermal cycling.

Buildings that received post-event patch repairs without systematic structural and moisture assessment may have carried latent damage for years. The most common latent condition from the 2014 event is insulation that was compressed or delaminated by ice load and never properly replaced - compressed polyiso loses significant R-value and creates drainage low points that produce recurring ponding after every subsequent rain event. The 2014 event is now over 10 years in the past, but its consequences are still present in Atlanta commercial buildings that did not receive comprehensive assessment and repair at the time.