Structural loading for snow on a roof is normally given in pounds per square foot (PSF) plus increases for drifting if there are sidewalls above the roof, etc.

No one can tell you much without knowing the size, number of floors, the spans involved, the shape of the roof and the code stipulated snow loading.

The difference in cost compared to other houses would not tell you much because it might be due to lower labor rates, steeper roofs and smaller beam spans in the mountains.

I believe in our county the snow load is also measured in lbs/sq ft. It's just they give it in lbs and the sq ft is implied (it's been a few years since I first looked up the term in the RCW, I can look it up again if need be.)

The house is two stories in a 40'w x 36'd, there is a studio attached to one side that is one story and 16'w x 32'd

The original roof plan calls for a gable roof (although I don't have specific measurements, I could probably get them though if that would help?)

I understand labor costs can vary, I'm more concerned with material costs right now. Is there a way to get any idea of what that might be, if I'm able to supply certain information?

I worked for an architect in Aspen CO many years ago and the ground snow load was 75 PSF. We took advantage of designs that reduced the cost of supporting the roof load. If the ground snow load is really 230 PSF you live in an unusual corner of the world. I recommend hiring a local architect who knows how to design a house for such extreme weather conditions.

It's at the top of Snoqualmie Pass (I90 through the Cascade mountains.) I'm home now and was able to pull up my notes from my call to the county. They said "235lbs for the ground, and 217lbs for the roof." Was I mistaken? (Honest question, newbie is trying to learn).

They do get a fair bit of snow up there, around 400" of snowfall on average every winter. (Falling amount, not base).

I'm not familiar with any architects who specialize in that area. Is there a site online where I could look something like that up?

It appears to be true that the snow loads are that great.

I would want a well established engineer and architect to be working directly for me to design a custom house with not only an appropriate structure but redundant survival systems.

Find out who designed the other houses in the area. If there is a local building department, all of that information is available by asking for the records for specific addresses.

Snow that deep can not only prevent you from getting out but it can cause a back up of CO and other gasses in the house. I would consider a 12 in 12 roof pitch with large overhangs and lots of space for snow to collect or be stored til Spring.

How does anyone even get to the place in the winter or more importantly how do they get out? I was stranded in a ski area once and had to ski to the next town but I doubt I could do it now.

Here is a link that might be useful: snow load maps

The costs associated with that amount of load will be very very large. I also see why the real estate values for the area so much less. It's mountain man territory, not a conventionally inhabited year round space. I can see where someone would be unable to get out of a home there until spring and would need a whole house backup generator along with an aircraft hangar of a woodshed and super efficient wood stove. The costs to live that high are probably double what they'd be lower down unless you are into primitive living.

These firms are east of the pass:

Alpine Design & Inspection Inc
111 N Wright Ave, Cle Elum, WA âÂÂ
(509) 674-5128 âÂÂ
alpinedesignco.com

Montgomery Building Design
122 E 1st St, Cle Elum, WA âÂÂ
(509) 674-5194 âÂÂ
montgomerybuildingdesign.com

SC Design
202 W 1st St, Cle Elum, WA âÂÂ
(509) 607-0300 âÂÂ
stevesenger.com

Stone River Engineering Co
111 N Wright Ave, Cle Elum, WA âÂÂ
(509) 674-5080 âÂÂ
stoneriver.biz

These firms are west of the pass:

Cleary Design Studio
7331 Silent Creek Ave SE, Snoqualmie, WA âÂÂ
(425) 442-6788 âÂÂ
clearydesignstudio.com

Dean Read Architects
8157 4th Ave, Snoqualmie, WA âÂÂ
(425) 888-8615 âÂÂ

Stave Drafting & Design
North Bend, WA âÂÂ
(425) 831-5503 âÂÂ
stavedraftingdesign.com
âÂÂ
Jan Kiaer Architect
230 Ballarat Ave N, North Bend, WA âÂÂ
(425) 292-9105 âÂÂ

Here is a link that might be useful: architects in Washington

Sorry for the delayed reply, we lost power here for quite a while yesterday due to the storms coming through.

First off, thank you for the list of engineering firms! I'll ask around on Monday to see what they think of my situation and if I'm crazy or not. ;)

As far as living at the Pass goes, it's not too bad. :) It's mostly a bedroom community with about 400 people who live there year round. Most folks work down in the lower elevations (like Seattle). The roads are plowed quite regularly and some folks even have heated driveways so they don't need clearing. The HOAs collect money to help plow the local streets.

My husband and I do enjoy "mountain man" living, so even if it is a bit more primitive with some aspects, we consider that something of a bonus. I already have a couple of huskies and a dog sled, so you can see I'm well on my way already, lol.

The couple of times there have been really bad snow years (600") the most I've seen it stop up there is a couple of days (we'll stop for a week down here with anything over 1ft). Although listening to a friend who lives up there talk about shoveling off their *roof* was somewhat eyebrow raising, heh.

I didn't think about gasses collecting, thank you. I will inquire about that!

If you want to visually see how a roof may be designed for substantial wet snow loading, Google the HGTV 2014 Dream House. This year's is built at Lake Tahoe, and uses doubled and spaced glue lam beams with metal tie rods and connectors to create an interesting vaulted space. If I understand correctly, your area's snow load may be greater than Tahoe's.

Good luck on your project.

Thanks everyone! Here's the update (for that future googl'er in the same position who yells at their screen "Cuzsis! What did you find out?! Help meeee!")

I was able to talk to both an architect and a builder and I think I found my difficulty. Building at the Pass is unique as we all know by now. However, there are certain tricks of the trade that people who have been building up there for a while can use to save both materials and money while still meeting code requirements.

If, however, you are unfamiliar, the typical engineer might over-engineer attempting to reach those code requirements, resulting in more expensive housing in terms of both architecture and materials. (ie: using steel beams and girders, which you really don't need to use if you know what you're doing.)

And I think that's what I might be facing.

Which leaves us in an interesting position.

It seems entirely true that working with our current company, building in the Pass is a no-go as it will be much too expensive.

However, there seems to be potential in building up there if we go with someone like Alpine (listed above) and Eric H. (their builder contact). But at that point we'd be throwing ourselves off the deep end with no one to hold our hands and walk us through everything, which is kind of a scary proposition when you're working with that much money.

I don't get it. Are you saying that someone told you that you don't have to meet building code? Or that someone has a way of building that no one else knows about?

What "tricks of the trade" beat the heavy snow load?

No no, they would still meet all the code requirements (guy I talked to apparently used to be an inspector). But not all houses have to be built the same way, roof pitch is a big one, as well as the material. This can change what your "snow load" is per sq foot. Which jives with what I've seen up there.
I didn't ask for intricate details because I was a non-customer taking up his business hours. I was grateful he even took the time out to talk to me.

You can be sure that if there is a cheaper and better way of engineering for that massive e load that a builder somewhere would have made it a standard practice and sewed up the market. And made a killing. It's just math, and there is no cheat to that.

Or is the original builder/engineer unfamiliar with the market and would be using inefficient, inelegant and expensive methods to build instead of these specialty builders who have knowledge of the area and know what they're doing? For example, an engineer unfamiliar with extreme snow load might be tempted to do a more conventional pitch with a lot more steel? Or an extreme pitch but with odd ways to prevent people from getting smushed by sliding snow?

I think I'm happiest in the lowlands...I honestly didn't get more than 1000 feet above sea level until I was in my 20s...

This post was edited by robotropolis on Tue, Jan 14, 14 at 0:36

Holey schmoley! That's a heck of a lot of load to deal with! Please keep us updated with this project. It's not everyday that you see something like that take shape!

@ Hollysprings; My impression was that it's what Robotropolis said. It's the difference between asking a 7th grader to make you a kitchen cabinet and a master cabinet maker. One of them is probably going to get done faster with a more efficient and better product.

@livewireoak: Will do! We did just get info from a real estate friend of ours who knows of an already built house up there that she thinks will work well for us! We're going to see it on Saturday, so who knows? :) (Probably will need an outbuilding/detached garage so I'm keeping my contacts list handy.)