Metal Roofing near you

EPA's cool roofs compendium chapter puts numbers on the range. Traditional roofing materials have a low solar reflectance of 5 to 15 percent, which means they absorb 85 to 95 percent of the energy reaching them, while the coolest roof materials have a solar reflectance above 65 percent and absorb and transfer 35 percent or less of it. Metal sits across almost the whole range: about half of the products on the ENERGY STAR Roof Products List as of April 2008 were metal roofing products for steep-sloped roofs, with initial solar reflectances from roughly 20 to 90 percent. Cool-colored metal products use infrared-reflecting pigments and, EPA notes, have high durability and long life.

There is a catch worth knowing before you assume bare metal is the efficient choice. The same EPA material points out that bare metal or metallic-surfaced roofs have high reflectance but low thermal emittance, and emittance is how readily a surface gives up the heat it did absorb. Reflectance and emittance are two different properties, and a painted or coated panel can outperform a bright mill finish on the second one.

EPA also reports what a reflective roof does at the meter: in air-conditioned residential buildings, solar reflectance from a cool roof can reduce peak cooling demand by 11 to 27 percent, while in cold climates reflecting sunlight can raise heating energy use in winter, a penalty EPA describes as typically offset by summer cooling savings. If reflectance is part of your reason for choosing metal, ask for the product's rated values; the Cool Roof Rating Council runs the program that lists and labels roofing products with their solar reflectance and thermal emittance.

The failure mode specific to metal is corrosion, and the Park Service guidance is unusually clear about why it happens. Corrosion from galvanic action occurs when dissimilar metals, such as copper and iron, are used in direct contact, and it can occur even when the metals are physically separated, because one reacts chemically against the other in the presence of an electrolyte such as rainwater. The classic examples given are a copper roof decorated with iron cresting, and steel nails used in copper sheets. Where the situation cannot be avoided, a plastic insulator between the materials can prevent it, and the fasteners should ideally be a metal sympathetic to the ones they join.

Coatings are the other vulnerability. Iron rusts unless it is well painted or plated, and tin plating or galvanizing is durable only as long as the coating remains intact; once the plating is worn or damaged, the exposed iron rusts, which is why any iron-based roofing material needs to be undercoated and kept well painted. Sheet metals of all kinds also deteriorate by pitting or streaking from airborne pollutants, acid rainwater, acids from lichen or moss, alkalis from lime mortars or portland cement washing down from adjoining features, and tannic acids from adjacent wood sheathing or shingles made of red cedar or oak.

That last item explains a surprising number of premature failures: a metal valley below a cedar roof, or a copper gutter under an oak-shaded slope, is being attacked chemically as well as physically. It is also why a bid should say what metal the fasteners, flashings and drip edge are, not only what the panels are.

Compare assemblies rather than materials. A standing-seam roof and an exposed-fastener roof are both metal and behave differently over twenty years, because one has no fasteners through the weather surface in the field and the other has hundreds of gaskets. Similarly, a metal roof and an asphalt roof are only comparable when the deck preparation, underlayment and flashing scope are the same in both quotes.

In a hail market, weigh the ratings against the finish. IBHS requires metal panels to meet the UL 2218 Class 4 impact rating for the optional Hail Supplement, but impact resistance is about the panel keeping water out, not about it staying unmarked; cosmetic denting is a separate conversation to have with your insurer before you buy. In a wind market, the panel's tested design pressures and the edge detail carry more weight than the gauge quoted on a brochure.

LokalMatch handles the introductions for either path: describe the metal roof once, including the roof shape, the current covering and whether you are after standing seam, panels or metal shingles, and roofing companies working in your area contact you. Those pros pay for the requests they receive. LokalMatch does not install roofing, does not set prices, and does not vet, rank or recommend any company, so compare the panel and fastener specifications, the flashing metals and the warranty terms yourself.

Arizona shows how the same work can sit in two categories. Its roofing classification, issued as R-42 for residential work and C-42 for commercial, covers installing and repairing roof tile, shingles, shakes, slate and metal roofing systems along with the weatherproofing and roof accessories, such as flashing, valleys, gravel stops and sheet metal, that the job requires. Its sheet metal classification, R-45 for residential and C-45 for commercial, separately covers sheet metal, cornices, flashings, gutters, leaders, duct work, skylights, metal flues and metal roofing systems. Either may be the right license for a metal roof, so the question to ask is which one the company holds.

Elsewhere the structure differs again. In Virginia a contractor license has two halves doing different jobs: one is tied to how large a contract the firm may sign, the other to the kind of work it is permitted to perform, and the Board for Contractors licenses tradesmen separately from firms. Washington registers contractors rather than examining the trade, and gives homeowners a verification tool for checking that a registration is active and that the contractor is bonded and insured, along with a Homeowner Recovery Fund for eligible homeowners when a project goes wrong.

Permits sit on a separate track from licensing and are local almost everywhere. A re-roof in metal frequently brings a deck inspection before the panels go on, and that inspection is the one independent look anyone will get at the part of the assembly you will never see again. Confirm with your building department which inspections apply and that the company doing the work is named on the permit.