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Call Roger at Boulet Roofing at 725-2069

What's the approximate cost for this?

...a lot of damage can be done to your shingles from improper removal.  
 
 
On a side note...I thought I remember Mike Holmes saying to leave the snow up there.  
 
Anyone know the unbiased scoop?

Leaving snow on the roof causes ice dams to form between the roof and the snow. The weight from the snow will push water through the shingles and the roof will leak into the house. The snow provides insulation and heat will escape through the roof so the snow starts to melt and the freezes causing the ice dam. The roof will continue to melt snow and ice and the weight of the snow pushes that water through the shingles. If you keep the snow shoveled off of the outer edge of the roof you won't have a problem. Only need to do about 1 or 2 feet from the edge unless you have a flat roof.

popgoestheweasel. too much snow will act as an insulator on your roof and if you have a less than satisfactory vapour barrier and insulation .... and ventilation .....in your attic you will get ice damming. It is caused by the warmer attic space melting a bit of the snow that is in contact with the shingles. the moisture runs down until it hits the cold area of the eave and refreezes, over time building up an ice dam that when it melts will run into the attic and house.  
 
In a perfect world you attic temperature should be as close to outside temp as you can get. lots of ventilation in the attic helps get ride of the heat and moisture leakage some homes will have.  
 
another good reason to clear off the snow is the weight of the snow on your rafters and trusses.  
 
you can buy those snow rakes that do pretty good job particularly on a steeper pitch.  
 
I think most roofing companies also offer a service as well.

isn't ice damming occurring because there is a shingle roof and eves trough, where temperature variation causes the ice dam to back up under the shingles. the solution should be to remove the eves trough??

chrisanddave said "isn't ice damming occurring because there is a shingle roof and eves trough, where temperature variation causes the ice dam to back up under the shingles. the solution should be to remove the eves trough?? "

With or without an eave trough an ice dam can occur under the right conditions.

Blue_Guru said "...a lot of damage can be done to your shingles from improper removal.       On a side note...I thought I remember Mike Holmes saying to leave the snow up there.     Anyone know the unbiased scoop? "

yes shingles can be damaged if not removed properly and it depends of the house and winter to leave snow on the roof and Mike Holmes statement shouldn't be applied all over across canada ...where is he from?!! USA?  
The cost varies on the size of house and amount of snow and amount of snow cleared off the ground if you want example deck

1 chance said "    Blue_Guru said "...a lot of damage can be done to your shingles from improper removal.       On a side note...I thought I remember Mike Holmes saying to leave the snow up there.     Anyone know the unbiased scoop? " yes shingles can be damaged if not removed properly and it depends of the house and winter to leave snow on the roof and Mike Holmes statement shouldn't be applied all over across canada ...where is he from?!! USA?   The cost varies on the size of house and amount of snow and amount of snow cleared off the ground if you want example deck "

Mike Holmes is Canadian.

As stated above, the reason for needing to remove snow from your roof is to prevent ice dam buildup and damaging your roof, and your ceiling as the ice melts in the spring through your attic.  
 
Mike Holmes has it right, at least for houses he's worked on! A properly insulated, vapour barriered, and vented roof should have the snow left on. If you're like most of us, though, this might not be the case.  
 
A good guide as to whether you should be removing snow is to look at whether you can see any ice buildup along the eaves, either as an ice wedge along the bottom of your roof or coming down as icicles - this will likely also be in conjunction with a loss of snow from the top of the roofline where it's melted. It's late enough in the winter now that you should be able to see this if it's happening.