The upside to the downslide

by anthony_capkun_2 | 23 October 2026 3:31 pm

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Newly built hotels are “low-hanging fruit” for Colorado contractor Nick Piontek. Because building owners are looking to save costs, they often don’t include snow retention on their metal roofs.

Once operational, hotel managers quickly discover the problems of snow avalanching onto walkways, entrances, and parking areas, and they’re relieved when Piontek comes knocking on their doors.

“A few years back I watched as the Littleton WoodSpring Suites was built near where I live,” says Piontek, founder and CEO of On Point Contracting. “I asked the head project manager if he wanted a snow retention quote for the metal roofs overhanging the pedestrian walkways. It was summertime, and he declined. He just wanted to get the job done.”

“Once the project was completed and experiencing its first winter, I could tell there had been avalanching in sections. I walked into the lobby and asked the hotel manager if he was having issues, and his answer was immediate: ‘Yes! It’s a huge problem! Can you solve it?’ They knew the liability issue and wanted a fast resolution.”

Snow retention solution

Piontek had his game plan in place for the hotel property. As he routinely does, he started by gaining aerial images, data, and measurements. He turned these over to Rocky Mountain Snow Guards—a provider of snow retention systems—who provided him with an optimal layout and quote. The system that was specified included S-5! clamps, selected for compatibility with the retention system and roof profile.

The three-day project required a 50-ft boom lift to reach the hotel’s cupola to add the snow retention system. Shortly after completion, the area had another snowfall.

“The hotel manager sent us straight to their sister property, the Suburban Studios in Westminster, to install the same snow retention system,” says Piontek. “When a customer hires you for a second building before the first winter’s even over, you know you solved a genuine problem.”

Why hotels?

Hotels are almost the perfect storm—in a good way—for a contractor to build a retrofit snow retention business.

First, they tend to have large, simple metal roof planes that look great and shed water beautifully. However, that same slickness means snow lets go all at once. Second, the people underneath aren’t the owners. They’re paying guests who didn’t sign up for a snow hazard, so the liability exposure is huge.

Third, hotels have entrances, drive-up canopies, parking, walkways, and HVAC equipment lined up right under the eaves, which is exactly where the snow wants to land. And fourth, many of these buildings were value-engineered when created, so snow retention was left out to save money.

Put this all together and you’ve got a building with facility managers who are highly motivated to fix the situation as soon as they understand the risk. Talking with the hotel manager directly can lead to getting the job commitment quickly.

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“Whether it’s a hotel or another commercial project, the vast majority of the time we see that snow retention was not in the original roof system design,” says Piontek. “We almost never get a call before there’s a problem.”

“Someone got scared by a near-miss, a snow slide took out a gutter, landscaping was damaged by an avalanche, or a property manager realizes the liability they are carrying. It’s all retrofit opportunities.”

“Structures with metal roofs, in particular, are chosen for looks and longevity,” Piontek continues. “No one upstream asks ‘Where is all that snow going to go?’ This leads to people calling our company when a snow retention solution is needed.”

Piontek says he’s lucky in that his snow retention system supplier engineers the system based on snow loads for the area in which the project is located.

Getting the sale

Piontek and his team also work on residential properties. He discusses the issues with the homeowner, walks the property, gathers satellite measurements, then shares all the information with his supplier for a takeoff.

“Whether it’s a commercial or residential client, while meeting with the property owner I bring samples to show them how the system works,” says Piontek. “I want them to feel how heavy-duty the products are by touching and holding them in their hands. That’s a huge part of educating people because it builds real value in what you’re selling. They need to see for themselves that what we’re installing isn’t flimsy and that the attachment method will hold.”

From Piontek’s perspective, the number one mistake a contractor can make is to make guesses about a snow retention system.

“Snow retention is engineering, not decoration,” says Piontek. “If you under-spec or put the bars in the wrong location, you get failures. A failed snow guard is worse than none because now you’ve got hardware coming off the roof, too.”

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The second mistake is buying on price and ignoring whether the product was actually tested for the snow load in that region. The third is choosing the wrong attachment for the panel, which can create leaks or void the roof warranty.

“The fourth, especially among property owners, is treating it as optional until something breaks.”

Down to the details

Some property owners are concerned about adding snow retention to their existing roofs, afraid of compromising roof warranties. Those concerns can be addressed by selecting the correct attachment products, including non-penetrating clamps for standing seam or other manufacturer-approved products for everything from composite tiles to asphalt.

“Standing seam is my favorite roof to retrofit because of clamp-on technology,” says Piontek. “The challenge is more about the age and condition of the roof. I always check the seam profile to ensure it matches an approved clamp, look for oil-canning and any prior movement, and document that for the customer before work begins.”

In all cases, Piontek says the roof panel type determines the attachment method. “The system is only as strong as what it’s anchored to.”

The whole ballgame

Here’s something else to consider. A snow retention system that’s fine in a mild climate might get overwhelmed in Montana, Wyoming, or where Piontek works in Colorado. According to him, snow loads swing wildly between the Front Range and the High Country.

“Snow load and climate are the whole ballgame,” says Piontek. “The snow retention plan has to be built around the ground snow load, the roof pitch, the panel type and the size of each roof facet.”

He sees his role as the one who inspects, measures, and knows the building. He then turns all of that over to the “engineering brain” at his supplier, which creates the plan with exact quantities and installation diagrams tailored to that precise roof design and region.

“This is a true partnership all the way around that ends up in a successful install.”

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Kathy Ziprik is a public relations specialist for building product manufacturers. Her client base includes roofing, snow retention systems, and decorative concrete solution products.

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This feature originally appeared in the October 2026 edition of Metal Construction News, which you can find in our Digital Edition Archive.

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/articles/building-your-business-with-retrofit-snow-retention-projects/

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