Why Plastic Snow Guards Fail — And What to Install Instead

Individual plastic snow guards are cheap, easy to install, and everywhere on metal tile roofs across Ontario. They are also one of the most common snow retention failures we are called to fix.

This is a real case from Uxbridge, in the northern GTA. The homeowner had rows of individual plastic snow guards installed on a metal tile roof. After a few winters, most of them had cracked or broken off. Snow was sliding off the roof slopes uncontrolled — to the point where the family stopped using their side entrance during winter because it was not safe to walk under.

The problem: broken plastic snow guards

Why individual plastic snow guards fail

Individual plastic snow guards fail for three structural reasons:

• Point loading. Each small guard tries to hold back snow on its own. Snow load concentrates on a few square centimetres of plastic instead of being distributed. Under a real Ontario snow load, that point stress exceeds what the plastic can carry.
• UV degradation. Plastic becomes brittle after a few years of sun exposure. A guard that held in year one cracks in year three — right when the snow load hits it.
• No continuous line. Individual guards leave gaps between them. Snow finds the gaps, breaks free in sections, and the sliding mass shears off the guards around it one by one.

The result is what we saw in Uxbridge: a roof that looks protected but isn’t, and a sudden failure the first winter the snow load is heavy enough.

The solution: ORIMA LE3 tubular snow guards

We removed the broken plastic guards and installed ORIMA LE3 tubular steel snow guards — one continuous row on each roof slope.

A tubular system works differently from individual guards. Instead of dozens of separate points, two continuous steel tubes run the full length of the roof. Snow load is distributed evenly along the entire line and transferred into the roof structure through brackets spaced at 1.2 m. Nothing concentrates on a single weak point.

ORIMA LE3 is designed specifically for metal tile, corrugated, and shingle roofs. It is tested to 5 kN/m static load (SS 831367) — 500 kg per linear metre — and made from hot-dip zinc-galvanized, powder-coated steel that does not degrade under UV like plastic does. The system carries a 50-year warranty.

Plastic vs tubular — the honest comparison

Individual plastic guards have one advantage: low upfront cost. That is the entire case for them. For a low-snow region on a short, simple slope they may last. But in the GTA and northern Ontario — where snow loads run 1.4 to 3.0 kPa and freeze-thaw cycles are constant — they are a false economy. You pay once for plastic, watch it fail, then pay again to remove it and install a proper system. The Uxbridge homeowner paid twice.

A tubular steel system costs more upfront and lasts the life of the roof. On a metal tile, shingle, or standing seam roof in Ontario, it is the correct choice from the start.

This comes up often

We are called to replace failed plastic snow guards regularly across the GTA. If your individual guards are cracking, breaking off, or letting snow slide where it shouldn’t — a continuous tubular system is the fix. We assess the roof, calculate the layout for your slope and local snow load, and install a system that holds.

The ORIMA LE3 system used on this project: ORIMA LE3 Steel Tubular Snow Guards for Metal and Shingle Roofs

Our snow guard installation service: Snow Guards Installation in Ontario

Not sure how many rows your roof needs? Snow retention calculator