I’m Scott Ricks from Bayfront Roofing and Construction. One question we get asked quite often is, should I use metal or shingles on my roof? I answer this question at least weekly. The easy answer is, use the product that you like best. I always start with a question of why, why do you want metal as opposed to shingles? If the answer is, because I love the way metal looks on my home, or I love the way a good metal roof looks on a country style house, or I’ve always wanted a metal roof, because I just love the way that rain sounds on a metal roof in the summertime, those are all the right answers. These are great reasons to want metal, but often my customers feel, because they’ve spoken with a contractor who only installs metal roofs, that metal is far superior and the longest lasting roof possible.
Well, we sell it all. I sell tile, I sell commercial. I sell shingles, and I sell metal. I have to say, I don’t think that is true. Metal is a great roof. I personally have metal on my roof, because I live out in the country, and I wanted a metal roof that looks like a nice country home. That is the look we were going for. That is why we chose metal, but not for any other reason. Not because I feel as though that’s a longer lasting roof. As a matter of fact, our shingles include lifetime guarantees. Metal is often referred to as a lifetime roof, but no one’s offering any customers lifetime guarantees on their metal roofs. Especially down here in South Texas, on the water, where metal really takes a beating.
We worked Harvey, which was a huge Hurricane. We did numerous roof replacements after the Hurricane and plenty of those roofs that we replaced were metal. They didn’t fair any better than any other type of roof in the storm. As far as hail rating is concerned, you can get shingles with just as good, if not better hail rating than metal. As a matter of fact, metal in your insurance claim has a disclaimer for hail, calling it cosmetic. So if your roof gets all beat up and it looks like someone took a bag of quarters to it, you still don’t have an insurance claim, because it’s all cosmetic. So metal and shingle have the same fire rating, and are pretty much the same Windstorm, Hurricane, and Impact rating. It’s a matter of what look appeals to you. What look is going complete the aesthetic, that you want for your house.
Now of course, price is a factor. Sometimes we get asked, is metal roofing cheaper than shingle roofing, because back in the old days, on the farm we would use agricultural panels, which were very inexpensive. But today with the cost of steel as it is, it’s definitely not a cost saver. We can’t really build to that level, the way we used to on the farm anyway. Most residential homes have to have wood sheeting and underlayment and all these other components that go into roofing such as shingles or clay tile. You’re not saving any of that when you do a metal roof. So at the end of the day, with today’s prices in metal you’re paying almost double for a metal roof as opposed to a shingled roof. You’re not getting any greater warranties than you would with a shingled roof, and you’re not going to have any better benefits, as far as longevity, with that metal roof. If you’re going with the look of a true Standing Seam Metal roof, easily identified by the large bends on them, they’re double locked usually. We take a robot, we turn those seams over and we turn those seams over again. This becomes the only permanent style roof that you can purchase. This means that the roof cannot be taken off and it can’t be repaired. Once we double lock those seems they are permanent and we do have to destroy that panel to remove it. We have to have a starting place and a stopping place. As a result, repairs on a metal roof can be extremely expensive. If you only have two sides to your roof the front side and the back side, and you’ve got a leak on the front side, I’ve got to take the front side off from one end all the way the other so that I can get to that leak. Which leads us to a whole bunch of other factors that I would love to go into as far as how we do our metal roof differently here at Bayfront, but that’s a story for a different day.
Do you want a metal roof because it’s beautiful, and because when you’re sitting on the porch, you can hear the rain hitting it, and it sounds like its own type of music? A great reason to purchase a metal roof. If you think it’s gonna be cheaper, terrible reason, and if you think it’s gonna last longer, well that’s yet to be seen. We would love to answer any of your questions regarding any style roof that you’re considering. We can cover any style that you want on your home, whatever works best for you. Let us get you the roof that’s going to look appropriate for your house. Let’s get you the roof that’s going to be the one that you want, and want to gaze at everyday. The one that’s going to fit your financial requirements.
