Metal Roof?

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Anyone with any experience/opinions/feedback on a metal roof on a home?

We are in New England, so snow load is a factor.  Our roof is a very steep pitch, so conceivably snow would slide right off.  

What at about heat retention both in winter, AND in summer?

Life?

Maintenace?

Worth the extra cost?

[swamp]

We have one. No issues with it. Spent the extra and got commercial grade. No maintenance at all. We have the snow catchers.  The amount of snow this winter ripped them right off the garage roof and we ended up with a couple tons of packed snow and ice fall in the driveway. 

[justme]

Parents have one on their place in Florida and in Canada. Not there during the winter, but it's been up for at least 8 years and hasn't had a problem. Including this winter where there were feet of snow. No maintenance except there's a really flat part over the patio my parents blow the leaves off of (not sure if that's necessary though).

They put it right on over the existing roof. The place in Canada is old so doesn't have the newer insulation so you can hear the rain hitting the metal roof a lot more vs their home in Florida that was built in 1987. 

[msventoux]

No recent experience.  Had them on the house I grew up in.  Worked great, snow slid right off.  Until a volcano erupted and covered the area in ash, which acted as an abrasive and roughed the surface of the roof up.  Snow never slid off of it again.  Probably not a huge concern in your area though. 

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Life expectancy?

[qofcc]

It should last the rest of your lifetime. My house is going to need a roof in the next few years and I'm definitely going with metal. Costs a little more up front but much more durable

[swamp]

Jul 23, 2014 20:24:17 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

Life expectancy?

We have a 25 or 30 year warranty. 

[chiver78]

I have no personal experience with them, but I've seen a few copper roofs pop up around my city. I know they are pricier than standard shingles, but they do last longer. you know my city, if people here are coughing up the cash to put up copper, it's gotta be worth the price.

how's the rest of the insurance stuff going with your house? I've been afraid to click on your "sharing a rental with a mouse" thread. I know I'm not around much, but please absolutely let me know if there's anything I can do to help y'all out while you're camping out with rodents

[TheOtherMe]

DS and BIL got one last summer.  Theirs looks like regular shingles.  They love it.  They have had so much wind and hail damage in the 5 years I have lived here, part of it was paid for by insurance.  They decided to upgrade to this and suggest I do the same when the time comes.  Say there is nothing better for this neck of the woods and the snow and wind we get.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

They finished demolition yesterday -- for now.

We walk through the house with the adjuster and the demo guys tomorrow so that we can all be on the same page about the scope and extent of the damage.  Demo guys were good -- took close looks at relatively minor damage and opened walls and ceilings to reveal much greater damage.  So far, master bedroom, office, basement, and kitchen are demoed.  

I had a snug, sturdy 89 year old New England Cape.  I want the same thing back, but it will take a ton of communication and monitoring on my part.  The base of my roof was planks, not plywood.  I want planks back, not plywood.  Etc.  

The goal, of course, is to rebuild, but to rebuild with an eye toward maintaining value and addressing resale disclosure requirements.  

Gonna be a long haul.  

[teen persuasion]

We have an older house, c. 1840's, and put on a metal roof last fall.  It was a bit more expensive, but the expected longer life should more than make up for it.  The panels go up faster than shingles, so labor could be less.

You may not be able to do planks instead of plywood for decking, unless they put up battens, too.  We had a single layer of shingles, and understood that they could just put the metal over that, but our roofer insisted on a tear-off.  He said that you want as smooth a surface as possible, since irregularities would show thru, so it was either plywood or battens.

Most of the new roofs we see go up around here are all metal, it is catching on quickly.

ETA:  Just to clarify, our previous reroof in 1995 was when we got all new (plywood) decking.  Previous owners had removed chimneys and badly patched things, so it was necessary, even though I prefer to alter the original materials as little as possible.  This time they just tore off the shingles and underlayment.

[wyouser]

There are quite a few of them in this country. A number of them in the 30+ age range. Owners seem to like them. You do want the blocks over doorways and sidwalks so you won't be buried in snow suddenly sliding off the roof.

[engineerdoe]

Jul 23, 2014 20:05:30 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

Anyone with any experience/opinions/feedback on a metal roof on a home?

We are in New England, so snow load is a factor.  Our roof is a very steep pitch, so conceivably snow would slide right off.  Verify snow is not sliding off on to existing structures (carport or covered patio). Could cause failure in the lower roofs.

What at about heat retention both in winter, AND in summer?    The insulation at the ceiling joists will take care of this not the metal roofing. (unless you are installing rigid insulation on top of the wood decking.)

Life?  About the same as asphalt shingles

Maintenace?  If installed properly very low maintenance.  Also if you don't have a lot of valleys in your roof that helps but that would be the same with asphalt shingles.

Worth the extra cost?  Can be if you have had issues with moss growing on your roof.

Regarding not wanting plywood sheathing:  as long as care is taken to cover it and you actually use plywood and not OSB it works very well for carrying snow loads.  Just know that having a 1x6 roof deck may not be as strong as it once was.  The capacity of wood is lower now than it was when your house was built.

[Chocolate Lover]

Jul 23, 2014 20:17:30 GMT -5 justme said:

Parents have one on their place in Florida and in Canada. Not there during the winter, but it's been up for at least 8 years and hasn't had a problem. Including this winter where there were feet of snow. No maintenance except there's a really flat part over the patio my parents blow the leaves off of (not sure if that's necessary though).

They put it right on over the existing roof. The place in Canada is old so doesn't have the newer insulation so you can hear the rain hitting the metal roof a lot more vs their home in Florida that was built in 1987. 

If it holds the leaves then the moisture they retain could possibly do some damage. Maybe not to a really good metal roof, but my carport's (cheap) metal roof has a few pinholes that have rusted through. This was not built to any great standard though, so a good one may not have those issues.

[resolution]

We put on a standing seam metal roof a few years ago. I think it is a 75 year roof. We have gotten a lot of compliments on it. We have a very steep pitch and had to go back and add a second row of snow birds to stop the snow from sliding down onto the gutters. I was concerned it might be too loud on the second floor when it rains, but it isn't any louder than the old asphalt shingles.

We also had the gutters redone and added gutter guards. The gutter guards are awesome and we don't have to clean out the gutters anymore.