# Metal Roof for Home



## Wooden Head (Mar 29, 2012)

I've gathered a couple of quotes to install a steel roof over my sigle layer asphalt shingles. The roof is 32x20. Both have quoted exposed & hidden fasteners. Company A quoted $5900 & $9500. Company B quoted $9900 & $12000.
What should I be looking for here? Material/Fasteners/other?


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## velvetfoot (Mar 29, 2012)

My house is about 7 years old or so and has exposed fasteners, (it came that way).  If I had my druthers, I'd get hidden.  Perhaps will last longer and not as much of a barn look.


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## greg13 (Mar 29, 2012)

Are you talking about sheet steel (pole barn) type roof or the steel "3 tab" type? If you are using sheets I would question the hidden type since I can not see how they would secure the middle of the sheet. A 3' span between fasteners is too much for me. I like the time tested method of sealed screws through the ribs. I have only seen steel 3 tabs, as far as I know they go down like regular 3 tab shingles.


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## semipro (Mar 29, 2012)

We have a metal roof on our shed with exposed fasteners. (Union brand)
I've read that the polymer washers under the fasteners will deteriorate and will someday leak if not replaced. 
The many holes put in the roof for the fasteners obviously are potential leaking points.

I've found that the fasteners allow me to walk on the steeper portion of the roof.  If we didn't have the fasteners that would be real tough.


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## velvetfoot (Mar 29, 2012)

It might also hang onto the snow more.

That said, when the snow lets loose, look out below.


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## Cazimere (Mar 29, 2012)

I did my home and shop roof myself 3 years ago. Used exposed fasteners.


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## Highbeam (Mar 29, 2012)

I ripped out my metal roof because the exposed fasteners leaked. Caused ceiling damage and other nastiness. Don't do it. The little gaskets will not last and you will have leaks from them. The look is not very classy either. I built a pole barn and used the exposed fasteners only on the side walls. It takes practice and care to be sure that the gaskets are properly compressed. Not too much and not too little. The roofers don't care about long term watertightness.

I actually don't even like metal roofs and only use composition now.


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## flyingcow (Mar 29, 2012)

In the process of pricing out metal roofing. I will probably go with a standing seam roof. No fasteners exposed. pricey, but good.

Look at gauge, warranty, warranty on fading, and of course try to get some referrals from your contractor. Be careful with warranties, some aren't worth the paper they're written on. And of course, if you're in snow country look to see where the snow will land. I've got a 35x75 garage with metal roof. There's some serious snow falling off that roof.

oh yeah. I'd stay away from roof vents and go with vents in the eves and vents on each end of house.


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## Jack Straw (Mar 29, 2012)

I think going with a metal roof depends on the age of the house. On older homes I think they look great (standing seam). I have seen people put them on modern homes and most times they don't look right.


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## Reggie Dunlap (Mar 29, 2012)

I prefer standing seam to corrugated metal, but it's around twice the cost. There are standing seam roofs around here that are over 50 years old. 

As mentioned on corrugated roofs the neoprene washers deteriorate over time causing leaks.


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## FanMan (Mar 29, 2012)

Both of those quotes seem awfully high!

I just priced out materials only for a metal roof (galvalume, standing seam, exposed fasteners, from Ideal Roofing) for my house, about 2000 square feet.  Was something under $2500, and it's easy to do (_much_ easier than shingles since it's one single piece peak to eaves and 3' wide).  I did my two car garage roof a few years ago; did it myself with no help at all in two [long] days.  The way the numbers worked out, doing the metal roof myself cost about the same as hiring a contractor to put shingles on.  I'll probably do my house over a couple of weeks, working down the roof a couple of pieces each evening after work.

Getting the right compression on the screw gaskets isn't difficult once you find the right clutch setting on your cordless drill.  I don't know about neoprene gaskets, but the modern ones are EPDM, not neoprene, and it lasts a long time.

My garage is intermittently heated, and the snow slowly slides down like a glacier, curling under as it comes off at the eaves.  It never lets go all at once.


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## peakbagger (Mar 30, 2012)

Many contractors in my area (northern NH and VT) will not install and guarantee a standing seam metal roof unless they install a layer of EDPM underneath (which means stripping the old asphalt. They have had too many call backbacks for leak from metal roofs without an underlying water proof membrane and its impossible to figure out where the leaks start. WIth EPDM underneath any leaks rund down the EPDM and leak out at the low spots. The metal does protect the EPDM from UV so the combination is a long term roof. Stnading seam costs a lot more than steel roofs without fasteners so many contractors do a bait and switch where they respond to a request for a standing seam roof quote and then convince the owner that visible fasterners are just as good and a lot less expensive. Realisitcally few folks live in the same house for 20 years so either should last.

A lot of metal roofs unfortunately are used to cover over existing roofs that look bad. The underlying problems dont go away but are hid. Great if you are flipping a house. 

Another aspect to consider is that many roofing guarantees exclude roof penetrations and the contractor gets the responsibility to guarantee them (not the manufacturer). Good luck getting them fixed when they inevitably fail as contractors have a short half life.

Remeber to look into snow clips, when these roofs got popular there were many injuries and proeperty damage from sudden snow slides. My company used to own a large building with a steel roof and an adjacent property owner had built a small visitor center next to it. At least once a year, there would be a roof slide off the hanger and it would bash in one wall of the vistor center.


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## woodsmaster (Mar 30, 2012)

Personaly I like the hidden fastener look. Price wise I'd probably go with the exposed fasteners. The washers will last a long time. Make sure they use screws and not nails. The fasteners can be replaced but should last over 20 years. It wouldn't cost much to replace the fasteners should you ever need to. Just like shingles you need to have good sheating under your shingles for the screws to grab or you will have leaks. I've put on over 40 metal roofs some hidden some exposed and would recomend them over shingles any day. I've also put on hundreds of shingle roofs. I've had no leaks with either one. When putting metal over shingles it is a good practice to put down 1/4" fanfold insulation to smooth out the surface. As for snow sliding off, If you have spots like above a walk or door you can have snow jacks installed to keep the snow from sliding off.
Those quotes do seem high for that tiny 6 1/2 square roof. Is it steep and cut up ?

 Edit - Like any thing the quality of the job depends on the contractor.


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## woodsmaster (Mar 30, 2012)

FanMan said:


> Both of those quotes seem awfully high!
> 
> I just priced out materials only for a metal roof (galvalume, standing seam, exposed fasteners, from Ideal Roofing) for my house, about 2000 square feet. Was something under $2500, and it's easy to do (_much_ easier than shingles since it's one single piece peak to eaves and 3' wide). I did my two car garage roof a few years ago; did it myself with no help at all in two [long] days. The way the numbers worked out, doing the metal roof myself cost about the same as hiring a contractor to put shingles on. I'll probably do my house over a couple of weeks, working down the roof a couple of pieces each evening after work.
> 
> ...


 
 What is the $2,500 galvinived ? I dont think that is for the standing seam unless you have a vey plane roof. The trim and acceseries are pretty expensive. I Know around here 40 year exposed fastener steel is 80/ square
and that don't includ any valley pans, cap, edging, undelayment, screws etc.etc.... For $2,500 you would be lucky to get just the standing seam steel with nothing else after tax, I believe it is over $100 / square but havn't priced it this year.


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## Reggie Dunlap (Mar 30, 2012)

Peakbagger- I think you mean Ice and Water Shield, not EPDM? I'm a builder and I've subcontracted and supervised the installation of quite a few standing seam roofs and I've never heard of such a thing. The cost of installing EPDM under a standing seam roof would almost double the cost. And EPDM handles UV just fine, Ice and Water Shield does not.

I've never had a standing seam roof leak.


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## peakbagger (Mar 30, 2012)

Reggie Dunlap said:


> Peakbagger- I think you mean Ice and Water Shield, not EPDM? I'm a builder and I've subcontracted and supervised the installation of quite a few standing seam roofs and I've never heard of such a thing. The cost of installing EPDM under a standing seam roof would almost double the cost. And EPDM handles UV just fine, Ice and Water Shield does not.
> 
> I've never had a standing seam roof leak.[
> 
> ...


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## Reggie Dunlap (Mar 30, 2012)

Ice and Water Shield under any roof is a good idea. I don't always do the whole roof, but if the owners are willing to foot the bill I prefer to.

In snow country plumbing vents through a metal roof need to be as close to the peak as possible. And they need to be boxed in with framing in the attic so they don't move.

I've had one of the companies you mentioned price a few standing seam roofs for me. They never mentioned Ice and Water under the metal, but maybe I missed it. On all three jobs they were almost twice the next lowest bid so I've stopped calling them. On one job they quoted $65,000 for a big standing seam roof and the company I wound up hiring did it for $24,000. And they did a really nice job. And the bids were apples to apples, same materials, same installation.


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## woodsmaster (Mar 30, 2012)

Reggie Dunlap said:


> Ice and Water Shield under any roof is a good idea. I don't always do the whole roof, but if the owners are willing to foot the bill I prefer to.
> 
> In snow country plumbing vents through a metal roof need to be as close to the peak as possible. And they need to be boxed in with framing in the attic so they don't move.
> 
> I've had one of the companies you mentioned price a few standing seam roofs for me. They never mentioned Ice and Water under the metal, but maybe I missed it. On all three jobs they were almost twice the next lowest bid so I've stopped calling them. On one job they quoted $65,000 for a big standing seam roof and the company I wound up hiring did it for $24,000. And they did a really nice job. And the bids were apples to apples, same materials, same installation.


 
The new synthetic underlayments work great and are about the same price as #30 felt and a lot cheaper than ice gaurd on the whole roof. Thats what most use in hurricane areas so I'm sure it would work great any where. Putting Ice gaurd on the whole roof is a waste of time and money in my opinion, unless it is a low slope roof then the ice gaurd would be my choice. If there is already felt and shingles that dont leak that you plan to overlay an underlayment other than foam should not be needed. I've did many roofs like this standing seam and ribbed and nerer have had a leak. If you go over shingles with ribbed steel it is a good idea to put the screws in the rib to avoid apperence problems ( oil canning ). I put a standing seam roof on my smoke house with no underlayment and it don't leak.


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## Wooden Head (Mar 31, 2012)

woodsmaster said:


> Personaly I like the hidden fastener look. Price wise I'd probably go with the exposed fasteners. The washers will last a long time. Make sure they use screws and not nails. The fasteners can be replaced but should last over 20 years. It wouldn't cost much to replace the fasteners should you ever need to. Just like shingles you need to have good sheating under your shingles for the screws to grab or you will have leaks. I've put on over 40 metal roofs some hidden some exposed and would recomend them over shingles any day. I've also put on hundreds of shingle roofs. I've had no leaks with either one. When putting metal over shingles it is a good practice to put down 1/4" fanfold insulation to smooth out the surface. As for snow sliding off, If you have spots like above a walk or door you can have snow jacks installed to keep the snow from sliding off.
> Those quotes do seem high for that tiny 6 1/2 square roof. Is it steep and cut up ?
> 
> Edit - Like any thing the quality of the job depends on the contractor.


 When I wrote 20X32 that was the demension for each side. It is a steep roof but only has one bumpout for the small roof over the side entrance.
thanks


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## gfreek (Apr 8, 2012)

Have had ribbed metal roof for over 10 years.  Due to poor install, it is rusting thru from the under neath.   I was told that incorrect nails were used to fasten the battens to the old roof, that were never nailed to the roof rafters, battens were rough cut lumber, now the the rough cut is rubbing the finish off the back, the nails are coming up( popping thru the metal) or causing the metal to rust thru.  The flashing around the sky lights was done wrong resulting in leaks.  The installer came back once, never repaired anything and said that the way its to be, just call him when I see a rust hole and he will replace the panel,  blah blah blah,yea sure.... Hired someone to remove the damn skylights, replace rusted metal sections, and other sections found .  . .


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## ISeeDeadBTUs (Apr 8, 2012)

Standing seam is expensive, put is quite simple to install, except for valleys. No panel penetrations. As someone else pointed out, when the snow releases, it will break whatever gets in its way.

If you want to do it right, get the roll out PV. Generate your electric, plus cool your attic. My steel is bleck, and it's a bi+ch in the summer


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## woodsmaster (Apr 8, 2012)

woodsmaster said:


> What is the $2,500 galvinived ? I dont think that is for the standing seam unless you have a vey plane roof. The trim and acceseries are pretty expensive. I Know around here 40 year exposed fastener steel is 80/ square
> and that don't includ any valley pans, cap, edging, undelayment, screws etc.etc.... For $2,500 you would be lucky to get just the standing seam steel with nothing else after tax, I believe it is over $100 / square but havn't priced it this year.


 
Was in menards the other day the hidden fastener steel is $130 / square. The expose fastener was $80 / sq.


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## Highbeam (Apr 9, 2012)

It is not as simple as setting the clutch on your nut driver correctly to guarantee proper and consistent squish on the screw gaskets. That is typical crap that a roofer will tell you. The biggest thing is that the wood is of varying densities under the roof so one torque setting is not sufficient. The other is that as the battery wears, you need a higher clutch setting. Not sure why, but my modern 1/2" dewalt is this way.


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## semipro (Apr 9, 2012)

Highbeam said:


> It is not as simple as setting the clutch on your nut driver correctly to guarantee proper and consistent squish on the screw gaskets. That is typical crap that a roofer will tell you. The biggest thing is that the wood is of varying densities under the roof so one torque setting is not sufficient. The other is that as the battery wears, you need a higher clutch setting. Not sure why, but my modern 1/2" dewalt is this way.


 
+1
I experienced this when putting the metal roof on my shed.  The clutch setting alone won't get the right compression on the washers
Although the my newer tools with Lithium based batteries don't slow slow down.  They stop without warning.


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## Wooden Head (Apr 10, 2012)

Well, got a couple more quotes for standing seam roofing. One was $12,500 and the other was $11,990. This is on a 12/12 pitch, 15.5 squares, 2 vent pipes with a small gable over a side enterance. Thoughts?


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## FanMan (Apr 10, 2012)

semipro said:


> +1
> I experienced this when putting the metal roof on my shed. The clutch setting alone won't get the right compression on the washers


 
Guess it depends on the drill... mine (a 14.4V Rigid drill/driver) worked quite well, except on the ridge cap overlaps that had to be predrilled anyway.


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## semipro (Apr 11, 2012)

FanMan said:


> Guess it depends on the drill... mine (a 14.4V Rigid drill/driver) worked quite well, except on the ridge cap overlaps that had to be predrilled anyway.


 
No drill can compensate for the different torques required in different density wood (think knot versus non-knot).


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