Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Metal roof on house

Metal roofs are nice, however they aren't as rosy as everyone says. There are considerations.

1. Snow - if you live in a climate where is snows, the run off of that snow can block doors and other access if your roof is pitched towards those items. If you are not there, lets say its a cabin you visit, , it will freeze into a large pile of ice that won't be able to be removed until spring.

2. Cost - sometimes costing more than 3x that of a 50 year shingle install

3. Repairs in winter - if you have snow or ice on the roof and need to get on the roof for any reason, good luck, you will slide right down.

4. little known issue - sometime metal roofs can affect cellular signal or at least degrade the signal to unusable. Keep that in mind if you use your phone in the house and don't have wifi.

metal roofs are good, they will last but be aware of some of the drawbacks.

I put a metal roof on my house when I built the house 26 years ago. I'm satisfied with it. Quick and easy installation for a one man operation. 7/12 pitch. There are things I would do differently but the metal roof isn't one of them. GD

We just replaced the standings seam metal roof with a new one this fall. The old one was installed in the late 1950s. I figure I won't have to replace it.
Most of the old roof was excellent yet, bottom edges were getting thin from condensation problems, which were addressed before replacing with this roof, otherwise it could have lasted 20 more years.
The old roof had a high tin content we suspect, which the new don't have but still at my age it should last longer than me easily. Unless of course a catastrophic wind or fire event happens.


nt I like the sound of a rainy night. It has to rain hard to hear it though, of course my hearing isn't what it her to be.

The new clip on standing seam steel roof is a lot quieter in rain because the new roof has solid wood under it with a tyvek vapor barrier. The old standing seam was just installed over the old cedar shingles. I believe the house was built mid 1800s, and by all accounts from research this is probably only the 3rd roof.

Just replaced our roof this summer. We had shingle, went to metal. 7/12 pitch. My son who is a builder and I put it on ourselves. stripped the old roof. New underlayment, snap lock roofing. 3 bedroom rambler. Just under 1600 sq. ft. The whole job including shingle disposal at the county dump was under $6000.00. We really have to listen to notice the noise difference when it rains. Love the metal. Really glad we went this route.

I used to have a seamless gutter business as a side job.

Barefoot ,hospital socks or wrestling shoes.

Shocked how many would put the sh t on a (presumably) quality house, but I shouldn't be. Wish I could have shingled my shop build, but with the mild pitch I didn't want the weight on it. So I tolerate the shed snow piles throughout Spring.
Sure as hell would never tolerate that with a home.

Most folks living in heavy snow country are aware of what "snow guards" are.
Snow only slides off a metal roof where you allow it to.

my old house had a steel roof and we had a new born baby, and our septic plugged up bad, rather than pull the toilet I figured I'd run the snake down the vent pipe.

So here I am 2 AM in the rain barefoot (to slick for the boots) in my underwear snaking out the line, the horrible neighbors are having a huge fight (I really didn't care) and around the corner come 4 cop cars, One of the cops sees me half naked on the roof and shines his spot on me gets out of his car and says what are you doing? And I got the opportunity to say "chitters Full"

Waited my whole life to say that didn't think I'd be soaking wet in the middle of the night in my underwear saying it to a cop but it almost makes the story better.

So long story short steel roofs are awesome but slick as snot on a glass door knob.

Ding Ding, we gotta winner!

#1 post in this thread....

And they look like hell.

That is a beautiful roof.

Was contemplating a metal roof for my FIL before he passed. Asphalt was not an option.

Metal ....couple other tips , heavest gauge u can aford, dark colors back screws out over time. Standing seam goes up fast and easy, if u have any valleys, use a heavy gauge piece and make it way bigger than normal ..mines 3' up on each side...water and blowing snow will get u..be sure a have the metal bent up to slide over/ cover the 2bys on all the gabbels,ends etc...
Snow brakes are a must for plumbing and doorways, and really long pieces catch helLwith expandtion and contraction !

Aesthetics over function, what ever makes your boat float.

Only needed when a home is poorly designed for it's environment to begin with.

In heavy snow country I've designed my homes to where my doors are in the front and back with the roof shedding snow to the sides of the home. Extended tails on my trusses keep the snow that piles up plenty far enough away from the sides of the house to where it is of no concern. If the property is graded properly for run off, snow and melt down is a non-issue. Some times you have to think before you build.

What a concept.......

Yup.
Having the snow dump in front of the doors is called a design flaw.

No kidding.

I don't deal with any of it, I laid shingle.... into gutters......into French drains.


Not everybody has the option of changing the layout of their home; the flaw is using metal where the application shouldn't be used.

Winter must be different in Idaho than in Montana where my homes are.
Rain gutters here fill with ice and snow and cease to function in the winter months. I think that's why they call them rain gutters instead of snow gutters.
There always seems to be that guy that fights ice on his walkways all winter long from roof runoff.
Heat tapes can be applied for the full length of gutters and down spouts but they cost a ton to keep power up all winter.
Just like the snow blocks, heat tapes seem to be a band-aid for a design flaw.

Our French drains don't see much water once the ground freezes either during the winter months, that is why proper grade is required. Most of our water stays on top of frozen ground until spring thaw allows for it to percolate down through to where my French drains are located.

I just find it easier to design a home to fully self-function through all seasons in the environment it is located in.
A self shoveling metal roof, shedding snow in directions that don't block any doors just always seemed to make sense to me but I don't live full time Montana either.
I'd hate to have to be running to Montana to shovel roofs and check to see if heat tapes were still working.
It might cost me a good days fishing on the bay here in Florida.

The cost of roofers and roofing materials, just here in FL, greatly differs by geography. Joe Citizen can put the same roof on a house in Tampa or Gainesville, by my bud Mannlicher, for $9-10k less than MIA-FTL area.

Thankfully, I have a good roofer that does excellent work and don't have to pay/play into that game.