# Metal Roofing vs Shingle Roofing



## christysk (Mar 16, 2018)

Hello Members,

Which roofing type will you choose Metal roofing or shingle roofing?

Thank you


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## johneh (Mar 16, 2018)

Metal is a little more expensive 
But lasts a life time .
I have always used shingles 
If I had to do it over again 
(Thinking about down sizing)
I would dig a little deeper into 
my pockets and bought metal 
wood have saved money in the long run


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## Ashful (Mar 16, 2018)

I have a mix of roofing on our house:

1.  True raised seam steel on main house.  It is starting to rust a little at soffet after 25 years.  

2.  Asphalt, on additions, just starting to have a few slide loose from their nails after 23 years.  

3.  Cedar shake on porches and old summer kitchen, looks very aged and covered in moss and barnacles, but still holding up great at 25 years.  

4.  Aluminum penetrating fastener agricultural roofing in barn, still perfect after 20+ years.  

In addition, my old house had copper roofing from 1953, still in perfect condition, and tin raised seam from 1983 also still in perfect condition.  

The aluminum roofing is the cheapest ABM Panels, but maybe not suitable for houses, I usually only see it in barns.  

Asphalt is cheap, and everyone knows what they’re getting.  No elaboration needed.  

If going metal, I’d spend extra for better materials, since labor ain’t free and it’s depressing watching steel rust.


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## Seasoned Oak (Mar 16, 2018)

Have seen a few slate roofs go on recently ,heard they last 100+ years. My own slate roof was on for about 80 years. Probably could have fixed the few loose tiles and got another 50 years out of it. Only reason they were loose is the nails rusted away. The asphalt shingle roof that replaced it is nearing the end of its useful lifespan at about 20+ years. I already replaced (3yrs ago) the north side porch roof that gets very little sun. Its was disintegrating for several years before it was replaced.
Iv notice the BLACK asphalt shingles seem to last much longer. I have one on another house close to 30 yrs and its still watertight and looks great.The worst part again, is that which never gets any sun. Seems to rot.


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## Wooden Head (Mar 16, 2018)

Without question, steel roof. Mine cost me about 20% more than asphalt. Have had it for 8 years without a problem. Mine has hidden fasteners.


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## Montanalocal (Mar 16, 2018)

I replaced my roof about 10 years ago, and went with the 50 year Elk shingles with a class A fire rating.  They are not asphalt, but fiberglass.  They are keeping up very well.  I would never install metal, because it is so slipery, I need to climb my roof frequently to clean my chimney.


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## EatenByLimestone (Mar 16, 2018)

Depends on the situation.    

First, would your house stick out like a sore thumb if you chose a different roof than your neighbors?   No reason to lose property value over this decision.


How long will you be in the house?   If you were going to be in the house a long time, then longevity of the roof comes into play as you don't want to put on multiple roofs, and any additional cost of the metal will be spread out.  If you only plan to be in it for a few years, I'd choose the cheapest option as you'd never realize the benefits of a metal roof.


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## moey (Mar 16, 2018)

I assume Greensboro is NC. In the north a lot of folks like metal roofs because they greatly reduce the chance of ice dams. Where you are that benefit isnt really important.


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## Seasoned Oak (Mar 16, 2018)

The new Architectural Style asphalt shingles seem to be holding up well ,they are thicker and have a longer warranty. About the best looking too.


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## firefighterjake (Mar 16, 2018)

Steel roof for me.

Back in 1995 when I moved into the house I knew we would have to replace the roof . . . and did so around 2000. Went with the 25 year shingles . . . which lasted maybe 15 years.

Opted at that point to go with standing seam metal . . . it costs a bit more, but should last my life time. More over, I have to do very little to any roof raking.

When I did the garage last Summer we opted for steel again . . . this time with the screw down metal roofing to save a bit of money. 

This Summer when I redo the roof on my woodshed I suspect I'll go with steel yet again.


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## drz1050 (Mar 17, 2018)

Another vote for metal roofing here. Ideally copper, but that's only an option if budget is not a concern at all.
Standing seam steel takes a long long time to rust through if it's not that paper thin stuff. I got mine done with 24 ga galvanized then painted panels from Englert. One single panel from the ridge all the way to the eave, so it's almost impossible for it to leak. The thicker the gauge, the better.


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## peakbagger (Mar 17, 2018)

Galvalume roof with Kynar coating installed over ice and water shield underlayment on a wood or plywood deck (no chip board). If plywood is used, increase the thickness over the minimum. 

The type of attachment system is important. Mechanically seamed or snap lock seams with the roof attachments completely covered. Forget exposed metal fasteners with resilient washers, eventually the washers fail.

Its pretty rare for a steel roof membrane to fail, but the devil is in the details and that is where a good installer following manufacturers recommendations makes the difference. I have run into several perfectly good roofs that had to be ripped off due to bad details. Rotting of the roof deck from water coming back up from the lower edge due to poor drip edge details or ice damming in gutters seems to be a popular failure. Roof penetrations also are a weak point in any roof.  Oatey style rubber roof boots have a limited life, far shorter than the surrounding roof and replacing them can screw up a good roof job.

I know a few builders that will minimize roof penetrations by running the stack vents up under the roof deck to the ridge line and will install center chimneys along with making sure that underground power is installed so there are no electrical risers going up through the roof. While on the road over the last few weeks where there have been heavy snow falls I see many examples of snow slabs held up on the roof by roof penetrations. The lower part of the roof is clear but penetrations are holding the upper section of snow from sliding. I some cases it will snap off the stack vents but no matter what it put a lot of stress on the flashing details. 

Many claims have been made about the Tesla Solar Roof, the claim is its a 100 year roof but few if any details on the system have been released. I highly suspect that the roof may last 100 years but the actual PV is another story.


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## semipro (Mar 17, 2018)

^I agree pretty much with all of what @peakbagger said but feel that the self adhering Ice and Water Shield is overkill given the quality of now available synthetic underlayments (e.g. Grace Tri-Flex). Don't even consider using tar paper fro underlayment.
As with most things, the devil is in the details with things like how you stack vents are handled.  In general you want to rely upon gravity for sealing rather than sealants.

Edit: the roof I'm currently replacing with metal is a 50-year fiberglass shingle roof that started leaking a and falling apart at about 30 years.  Composition shingle warranties are probably a good indicator of value relative to other composition shingles but I wouldn't bet on the roof lasting out the warranty period.  OTOH, metal roofs have well demonstrated their longevity.

Edit: federal tax credits may also apply


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## EatenByLimestone (Mar 17, 2018)

In all fairness, a roof that first pays for itself, then lasts an additional 80 to 90 years, isn't a bad deal.


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## Ashful (Mar 17, 2018)

I’m surprised to see so many recommendations for raised seam steel.  Yes, mine may last 80 years, but it will look so ratty before half of that time has passed, that I will replace it.  My steel roof is actually installed over an old cedar shake roof, that from the underside I can see, appears to actually be in good shape.  Neither here nor there, and I don’t know if those shakes are 100 or 250 years old, but interesting to me.

The only way I’m doing raised seam again is if it’s something better than steel, likely copper in my case, but you should at least consider galvalume.  Regular steel roofing sucks for longevity.

Surprised no one has mentioned synthetic slate, yet.  Extremely popular, here, the new house behind mine just got it.

Natural slate can last 100’s of years, but traditional nails rust out after 75 years, and they start falling.  Repair with stainless nails, and your great-great grandkids will admire your work.


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## EatenByLimestone (Mar 17, 2018)

I've been on raised seam roofs that were coated with bedliner or something similar.  It was nice to have a bit of additional grip up there.


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## peakbagger (Mar 17, 2018)

semipro said:


> ^I agree pretty much with all of what @peakbagger said but feel that the self adhering Ice and Water Shield is overkill given the quality of now available synthetic underlayments (e.g. Grace Tri-Flex). Don't even consider using tar paper fro underlayment.
> As with most things, the devil is in the details with things like how you stack vents are handled.  In general you want to rely upon gravity for sealing rather than sealants.
> 
> Edit: the roof I'm currently replacing with metal is a 50-year fiberglass shingle roof that started leaking a and falling apart at about 30 years.  Composition shingle warranties are probably a good indicator of value relative to other composition shingles but I wouldn't bet on the roof lasting out the warranty period.  OTOH, metal roofs have well demonstrated their longevity.
> ...



I will buy that, I am used to ice and water shield as it self heals so well, I havent mucked with the apparently available replacements. As long as the underlying underlayment can act as secondary waterproof shield and can self heal as a way of routing any leaks down and out the lower edge of the roof I expect it would work fine.

I do dread an upcoming 30 year asphalt fiberglass reinforced shingle replacement on my south exposure in the next 5 or 10 years as I have PV and SHW panels int the way. It has 100% ice and water shield coverage so I expect I will remove the panels from one side and store them  on the other side rather than rigging them back down off the roof. I have never stripped a roof with ice and water shield and wonder how easy it will be to bust them off with shingle shovel as one thing good with tar paper is that the shingle shovel slides right under the paper. 

Its odd I was there when the house went in and finished it myself plus built the garage myself a year later and have lived here long enough that I need to start worrying about roof replacements, didnt think that would happen.


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## Highbeam (Mar 17, 2018)

For reference, three tab shingles cost 30 cents per sf and is a homeowner job.  the cheapest face screwed metal costs 1$ per sf plus all the custom bits. That’s material cost in the pnw.

I was going to go cheap with metal on my woodshed but going metal was triple the cost!


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## drz1050 (Mar 17, 2018)

Ashful said:


> I’m surprised to see so many recommendations for raised seam steel.  Yes, mine may last 80 years, but it will look so ratty before half of that time has passed, that I will replace it..



Why not repaint it?


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## 3fordasho (Mar 22, 2018)

I have a 60x104 pole shed with exposed fastener steel roof, built in 1984.  I purchased the place in 2014 and soon discovered the roofing nails with the rubber washers under the head all leaked.  Pretty much rained inside as much as out.  The white paint on the roof steel was all but gone leaving only galvanized finish. This heats up much more than white, causing more movement and more nails coming loose. After many weekends on the roof, pulling loose nails and replacing with screws/rubber seals and repainting the entire roof white, it is 99% leak free.  Maintenance free it is not.  Also the foam seals at the ridge all dried up and went away resulting in a strip of snow on the floor right down the center of the building.


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## maple1 (Mar 22, 2018)

I will never buy asphalt shingles again. From my experience & similar of neighbours & others I have talked to - I would expect to get no longer than 1/2 of their rated life out of them. We had 30 year shingles and they needed replacing before that. I put it off until year 15 but likely shouldn't have, had one leak develop. They just seemed to disintegrate, even with properly vented attic & proper installation. They were quite exposed though, lots of wind.


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## coutufr (Mar 22, 2018)

Galvalum + fasterners without the washers


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## maple1 (Mar 22, 2018)

Why no washers?


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## peakbagger (Mar 22, 2018)

My house had 20 year shingles when it was new but they were starting to look "shabby" around 18 years on the south exposure. I stripped it and covered the entire exposure with ice and water shield before putting 30 year double tabs shingles. The bummer was I had the chimney ripped down to the roof line due to "issues" and the contractor did a great job on the chimney but was hard on the shingles.

The north exposure was looking good at 25 but I had them replaced. My garage roof had 20 year shingles and they are still looking good after 25. I do plan to replace them one of these years.


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## Seasoned Oak (Mar 23, 2018)

Iv got a black standard 3 tab shingle roof on approaching 30 years . Still good. Also have a few architectural asphalt shingle style roofs on 10 to 15 years (black also) and still look like new. About $80 to $90 a square for those.


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## Dobish (Mar 23, 2018)

when we do our garage project, we are looking at a metal roof.. i'm excited, but now my wife wants to tear our roof off and do it at the same time... not going to happen!


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## EatenByLimestone (Mar 23, 2018)

Lol, who wants to place bets on whether Doobish`s wife gets her way or not?


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## Dobish (Mar 23, 2018)

EatenByLimestone said:


> Lol, who wants to place bets on whether Doobish`s wife gets her way or not?


given that the ashpalt roof is only 5 years old, we just installed solar panels, and 2/3 of our roof is a flat roof that probably needs to have the sheathing replaced when we tear it off, i'm guessing she doesn't 

She gets the pretty new roof on the garratage...


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## coutufr (Mar 23, 2018)

maple1 said:


> Why no washers?



The installer says he pays extra to have it without the washer. The way they screw it it is water tight and there is no washer that will desintegrate itself in 30-40 years from now that will require to retight or change the screws.


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## coutufr (Mar 23, 2018)

Dobish said:


> when we do our garage project, we are looking at a metal roof.. i'm excited, but now my wife wants to tear our roof off and do it at the same time... not going to happen!



I had the metal roof installed on top of the old asphalt roof. There’s a air gap between both roofs


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## EatenByLimestone (Mar 23, 2018)

Dobish said:


> given that the ashpalt roof is only 5 years old, we just installed solar panels, and 2/3 of our roof is a flat roof that probably needs to have the sheathing replaced when we tear it off, i'm guessing she doesn't
> 
> She gets the pretty new roof on the garratage...




Sounds like it would be rough to put a new good 9n the house then!


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## maple1 (Mar 23, 2018)

coutufr said:


> The installer says he pays extra to have it without the washer. The way they screw it it is water tight and there is no washer that will desintegrate itself in 30-40 years from now that will require to retight or change the screws.



Hmm, wonder how they get them water tight without washers?


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## coutufr (Mar 23, 2018)

The way they install it (I think they put it at an angle and screw them tight) and maybe the kinda asphalt coating on the galvalum shingles makes it tight enough so water doesn’t get below. Also below that there’s a air space and a membrane and then the old asphalt shingles. It is Garanteed 50 years to the original owner.


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## drz1050 (Mar 23, 2018)

I've seen the screws installed without washers, then just a dab of silicone on top. Maybe not the prettiest, but worked well


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## coutufr (Mar 23, 2018)

drz1050 said:


> I've seen the screws installed without washers, then just a dab of silicone on top. Maybe not the prettiest, but worked well



Silicon they used when they installed the chimney 2 years ago. There is no silicone and no washer nothing 
	

		
			
		

		
	






	

		
			
		

		
	
on the screws


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## jeanw (Mar 24, 2018)

coutufr said:


> I had the metal roof installed on top of the old asphalt roof. There’s a air gap between both roofs


   Dang Id be scared it be too much weight.... and how can one see if any damage to the roofs sheating?Thats just my HUMBLE opinion as a little old lady homeowner. We already made sure roof torn off...I listen to lots of home imp  programs esp radio. Never TV anymore.
 and read lots of HomeImp forums. Each of the houses. we lived in and owned ... I (BOSSEY WOMAN)made sure it was done !   Im def not Martha Stewart. I like Durability...so the next HO doesn't call me "CHEAPSKATE" or"half-a..."er


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## peakbagger (Mar 24, 2018)

In my opinion, when you are installing a new roof, you are installing a roof system. Any legitimate roofing system is going to come with recommendations for fasteners, installations and details. If you decide to ignore them, you do so at your own peril and any warranty is null and void. If you don't like the system, pick another one. Hidden fasteners are the way to go, exposed fasteners just introduce too much long term potential for leaks.


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## jeanw (Mar 24, 2018)

peakbagger said:


> In my opinion, when you are installing a new roof, you are installing a roof system. Any legitimate roofing system is going to come with recommendations for fasteners, installations and details. If you decide to ignore them, you do so at your own peril and any warranty is null and void. If you don't like the system, pick another one. Hidden fasteners are the way to go, exposed fasteners just introduce too much long term potential for leaks.


ter get moving Hubbing is trying to do some unflattering since its cold out today
 but peak bagger how do you put hidden fasteners on a regular metal roof? 
  Regular  metal one here was installed with screws in the flat part...
 Hubby was up there with them  on the roof making sure they did it half way right and finished it .esp around the chimney .
It was an unusual hot early April days
 now purgatory house we paid for the hidden seams( I mean standing seam  installation. costs 3 times or more...
Just a saying  yall.  thanks y'all 
I better get a moving and do some decluttering of this place


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## venator260 (Mar 30, 2018)

Seasoned Oak said:


> Have seen a few slate roofs go on recently ,heard they last 100+ years. My own slate roof was on for about 80 years. Probably could have fixed the few loose tiles and got another 50 years out of it. Only reason they were loose is the nails rusted away. The asphalt shingle roof that replaced it is nearing the end of its useful lifespan at about 20+ years. I already replaced (3yrs ago) the north side porch roof that gets very little sun. Its was disintegrating for several years before it was replaced.
> Iv notice the BLACK asphalt shingles seem to last much longer. I have one on another house close to 30 yrs and its still watertight and looks great.The worst part again, is that which never gets any sun. Seems to rot.




My house in Pittsburgh had a slate roof. The longevity depends on the quality of the slate. Our house (and pretty much all of the houses in the area) had used PA Black slate, which was estimated to last from 70-90 years. We replaced it after 83 years. The roofer had said that most of the street probably had slate roofs at one time (the side build up in the early 30's); we were the last holdout.

Several slate types are predicted to last 150-200 years or more. If the wife and I ever build, I'd like to sell her on a slate roof; one of the ones that last. We'd be long dead, but I like the looks and the idea of building something to last. Our current house will need a roof in a few years; our garage roof looks terrible, but I think I'll start patching if it leaks to limp it along and do both at once. We like the idea of a metal roof, but a local contractor who does them said it would be difficult with the way our roof is designed. 

http://www.slateroofcentral.com/identify.html - A page of slate types.


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## drz1050 (Mar 31, 2018)

With the way your roof is designed? The only roofs that don't work well with metal are flat roofs, but if that was the case you wouldn't have shingles either...


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## maple1 (Mar 31, 2018)

drz1050 said:


> With the way your roof is designed? The only roofs that don't work well with metal are flat roofs, but if that was the case you wouldn't have shingles either...



Lots of hips & valleys, etc.,  would make metal sheets more difficult though.


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## drz1050 (Mar 31, 2018)

For the ribbed metal roofing, yeah that'd be a pain.. not an issue with standing seam though.


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## venator260 (Mar 31, 2018)

drz1050 said:


> With the way your roof is designed? The only roofs that don't work well with metal are flat roofs, but if that was the case you wouldn't have shingles either...






maple1 said:


> Lots of hips & valleys, etc.,  would make metal sheets more difficult though.




This, I think, is the issue. We have a former that contains a bathroom, and the front has a peak built in running perpendicular to the main roof, so there's a few hips and valleys on the roof. We were talking about cost, and he seemed to think just re-shingling (with the newer architectural shingles) would be significantly less money than the metal roofing systems they install.


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## festerw (Mar 31, 2018)

My plan was to do a reshingle, asphalt came back at 4450 for 30 year warranty, screw down metal was 4600 for 50 year, and standing seam came back at 12000 for 50.

I had planned on standing seam but not for 3x the cost.  Should be noted I only have 1 vent pipe and just a normal peaked roof so there wasn't a whole lot of cutting involved.


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## drz1050 (Mar 31, 2018)

Standing seam was a little over double the cost of shingles for me, but with my roof design (6:12 slope, then halfway down the roof drops to a 2:12- very condusive to ice dams) and my area, I got the metal for the peace of mind to never have to mess with it again.


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## OhioBurner© (Apr 3, 2018)

I was debating on a good standing seam metal roof for my next house, am hoping to do as much of the building and finishing as possible, but have never installed standing seam with hidden fasteners. Is the installation fairly straightforward? difficult? The house will be designed with efficiency and longevity in mind, minimizing installation complexity and hopefully preventing future issues by just a simple rectangle with no seams and minimum roof penetrations if any. Are there typically any underlayment requirements? I know on my current home with standing seam roof put on in '07 they did not, but it was a homeowner job and who knows what corners they cut. I know they covered up fire damage with it and didn't even make any attempt to fix any of it, even the small furring strips that were burnt through (no sheathing, just the thin little strips and quite a few were charred and some burnt through!).


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## drz1050 (Apr 3, 2018)

I put Grace ice & water shield under mine, but pretty sure that was overkill. I like overkill.

There are two main camps of standing seam- the snap together panels that a homeowner can do, and the true crimped standing seam that you need a metal forming machine and specialized crimpers for- not DIY'able.  I got the latter, I haven't seen the snap together panels in person so can't speak to them, but it's hard to imagine them being as strong as a good double fold crimp.


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## firefighterjake (Apr 5, 2018)

I've got the snap together standing seam roof . . . or at least it's the metal roof with hidden fasteners. Roof was put on maybe four or five years ago. We've had plenty of wind storms, rain and snow and so far so good. The only negative I have had is that I need to put in a cricket above one of our vents as it keeps getting pounded by the snow zipping off the back roof.


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## OhioBurner© (Apr 10, 2018)

drz1050 said:


> I put Grace ice & water shield under mine, but pretty sure that was overkill. I like overkill.
> 
> There are two main camps of standing seam- the snap together panels that a homeowner can do, and the true crimped standing seam that you need a metal forming machine and specialized crimpers for- not DIY'able.  I got the latter, I haven't seen the snap together panels in person so can't speak to them, but it's hard to imagine them being as strong as a good double fold crimp.



Hmm I didn't know there where two very different types. I'm curious which I have, will have to do some research to see if I can identify the difference between the types. When I bought the house they claimed the roof was new and had warranty by some company but I've lost the paperwork. But about 8 years later (this past year) I was talking to a realtor who was friends with the p.o. and their realtor, and said they did the roof themselves and she helped them a little. There are a couple of minor leaks I can't explain, one over the great room that only leaks in a real bad storm, maybe once every other year but always the same spot. There is nothing visible up from the roof. And on the other side of house when its storming bad I see a couple drips running down the underside of the metal, I presume the wind is driving the rain through the seams on the ridge cap, I'm not sure if this is usually sealed up somehow? But it's definitely not air tight, when working up in the attic in the dark you can see tiny specs of light shining through some of the seams near the ridge, so I figure a tiny bit of wind driven rain getting in is unavoidable. House is drafty enough it all dries up, but now I am sealing up under the roof with foamboard between the trusses, hope I'm not going to trap too much moisture. There is still the gap created by all the furring strips at least, but it is not technically vented.


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