Tin roof-worth the extra money?

Just bought a house that needs a new roof-seller is coughing up about 70% Wondering how much xtra is metal and is it worth it?
We will live in the house probably for 10 years.
Thanks

If it’s installed right they don’t leak. I lived in a house with a terrible install and it leaked in a different spot every time it rained. They also block cell signals so using the cell phone is near impossible unless you go outside or near a window. If you’re only gonna be there 10 yrs, I’d use shingles.

We put a standing seam roof on our place 18 years ago, zero issues so far and I we get fine cell reception. It has been a good value for us, came with an “80 year” warranty, whatever that means. I’d imagine if you’re in an area with marginal reception, the roof would force you outside. The only negative I could see is the noise with a hard rain or any hail.

I think the cost of steel went back down, not sure, you’d probably need to check on pricing. We had the installers that did the houses @ the Jackson Meadows development outside Marine on St. Croix, so they were pretty experienced when they did our place.

I recently built a cabin up north. My contractor talked me out of the metal roof for 1 very good reason. If the slope of your roof will shed snow in front of your garage door, you are likely to see a big pile of compacted snow and ice right in front of your garage. Maybe not as big of a deal if you can clean it up when it does slide off the roof, but potentially an obstacle that will have to wait until spring to melt before you can get into or out of your garage.

Jim Stoeckel wrote:

I recently built a cabin up north. My contractor talked me out of the metal roof for 1 very good reason. If the slope of your roof will shed snow in front of your garage door, you are likely to see a big pile of compacted snow and ice right in front of your garage. Maybe not as big of a deal if you can clean it up when it does slide off the roof, but potentially an obstacle that will have to wait until spring to melt before you can get into or out of your garage.

Putting snowbirds over the areas you don’t want the snow to slide will alleviate that issue.

I’m assuming you’re talking about a steel roof?

If you’re truly planning on staying for 10 years or less, I’d avoid a steel roof. For my sibling’s build a little over a year ago the cost of steel was substantially more than shingles. Steel is a great long term investment when it’s a building you plan to stay in and the design supports it.

Cost wise would need to know exactly what you are calling a metal roof as there is a pretty broad spectrum of what people call metal roof. A quality standing seam roof with no exposed fasteners, existing roof torn off before the new is installed and quality underlayments used can easily cost 4-5 times a shingles roof, but you are getting what you pay for (so long as it’s installed by people who know how to do it right). On the other hand the paper thin Menards exposed fastener barn panel junk thrown down over the old shingle roof with no underlayment isn’t worth the paper they wrote the quote on when it comes to installing it on a dwelling. Nearly all metal roof designs are a hydrostatic design meaning they shed water and are NOT watertight by themselves, this is why substrate and underlayments (and the details of the panel installation for that matter) are very important.
For ten years if you would really like something other than asphalt I’d take a look at metal shingles like the EDCO arrowline and compare it to pricing of another asphalt roof. They will run less than a standing seam, and there are roofs that standing seam just looks stupid on whereas a metal shingle is more aestheticly appealing. Roofs like the EDCO though are very much a water shed system, making the prep and underlayment that much more critical.

Yes, absolutely the snowbirds do help. Just take into account your roof pitch, as they may just be a waste of time.

About 15yrs ago I used menards panels on my garage roof and sides and have no problem with leaks. No problems with the panels. I removed the shingles and put new tar paper down and screw the panels down. And I am an idiot when it comes to roofing so the stuff can’t be too bad. Unlike some of the asphalt shingles that started falling apart shortly after putting them on. Sure like how the snow slides off the garage and now the house!

we put metal roof over 1 layer of shingles over 20 years ago on house and all is still fine, we left the shingles on to help with the sound and it does to a point. if we turn off tv and are quiet and it rains very hard we can here it, but its not bad and the metal is still holding its color

I put it on my house 2 years ago. Cost wise it was actually $500 cheaper going with steel over shingles. Materials cost more but the labor is so much less. They laid it right over my existing shingles and haven’t had a problem. I would never go back back to shingles

Recently did a garage roof and went with steel. After pricing everything out it was basically even when I figured in tear off time and a dumpster to haul off the old roof. I laid 1x4s over the current shingle roof only because it had a bit of a wave to it that I wanted to even out and then fastened the steel to that. After my first experience with steel I’ll never do a shingle roof on any of my buildings or house. Last forever, easy install and haven’t noticed any leaks. My in laws have steel on their house and we notice no adverse effects in cell reception or noise when it rains.

Heard a guy say not to lay steal over existing shingles because of screw lenghts or something(?) Some cost savings and noise reduction could happen if you could do that.
So far I have heard that steal costs way more, about the same and less that asphalt!
Keep the comments coming
Thanks

Zach Peterson wrote:

Recently did a garage roof and went with steel. After pricing everything out it was basically even when I figured in tear off time and a dumpster to haul off the old roof. I laid 1x4s over the current shingle roof only because it had a bit of a wave to it that I wanted to even out and then fastened the steel to that. After my first experience with steel I’ll never do a shingle roof on any of my buildings or house. Last forever, easy install and haven’t noticed any leaks. My in laws have steel on their house and we notice no adverse effects in cell reception or noise when it rains.

I have heard you should not have an air gap under the steel. It creates a space for condensation. Been told to screwing it directly to the sheeting is best. I’m no expert but have been told by 2 roofing company guys.

I put steel on three buildings two years ago. Last springs heavy snow tore one of the boots over the roof vents. I put some clips on the roof to help with that problem. american family gave me 15% discount on my home owners insurance with qualifying grade of steel.

Just make sure you nail it enough or it may end up at the neighbors…Same concept applies elsewhere…

Coming from a home builder. It’s very important to install correctly. This was from today with 50 mph winds. My customer saved 20K on this package hiring their own roofer over my roofer’s standing seam package on a million+ home. I had the home owners write the check and sign off on it after I got a valid certificate of insurance and indemidy agreement from their person. You get what you pay for in life. Hard lesson to learn.

Attachments:

1. 

   Roof-Damage-112719.pdf
   

Make sure you get quotes on the price difference for class 4 impact resistant, and then call your insurance agent and ask how much a Class 4 roof will save you, it can be a pretty significant amount.

carphunter wrote:

Coming from a home builder. It’s very important to install correctly. This was from today with 50 mph winds. My customer saved 20K on this package hiring their own roofer over my roofer’s standing seam package on a million+ home. I had the home owners write the check and sign off on it after I got a valid certificate of insurance and indemidy agreement from their person. You get what you pay for in life. Hard lesson to learn.

That looks barely thicker than tin foil ?

For a variety of reasons went with regular shingles-very pleased with the price and the quality of the work done-like that he has had the same crew for some time now.