Metal Roofing – Cookroofing

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Metal Roofing 101- Everything You Need to Know About Metal Roofing

Whether you are thinking of upgrading your home roofing system or it is time to replace your worn-out roof, chances are that you are considering metal roofing. Although asphalt shingles and wood have been the most popular roofing materials, they fall back in comparison to the benefits metal roofs provide.

From unparalleled durability and longevity to cost-effectiveness and aesthetics, installing a metal roof offers many benefits.

Before we talk about different metal roofing profiles, let’s discuss the benefits of installing metal roofs in your residential home or commercial buildings.

Benefits of Metal Roofing

Metal Roofs Are Eco-Friendly

Since we are moving towards a sustainable environment, it is important to be mindful of the environment. One way metal roofs stand out from most other types of roofs is in the aspect of being eco-friendly.

Most metal roofs are made from recycled materials and can be recycled again when they outlive their usefulness. They can also be installed on top of an existing roof, which helps to cut down on wastes. In terms of production, there are fewer emissions released when making metal roofing..

Finally, metal roofing reflects more light from the sun, which means they help keep your home cooler. This is great for people living in warm areas as it means big saves on energy bills since you will not have to crank up your AC.

Longevity and Durability

In terms of durability, metal roofs hold the upper hand by a greater margin. Wood and asphalt shingles have a lifespan of about 15-20 years. While this may seem a long time, it is a short period considering that your house will be in good shape for several decades.

With metal roofing, you will get a service of 50-70 years, not mentioning that maintenance cost is very minimal.

In addition to being fire-resistant, metal roofs are also resistant to high winds, and their interlocking installation makes them impermeable to pests and leaks.

Also, because of their high-reflexive nature, a metal roof is normally an ideal choice for areas that experience heavy snowfall as the snow melts easily. So, if you are tired of having to scrape off your roof after every heavy snowfall, a metal roof might be your ideal solution.

Aesthetically appealing

The most common metal profiles are aluminum, steel, zinc, copper, and tin, with steel being the most durable and most popular. The style options are endless, and you can even have their shape and texture mimic the look of other materials such as wood.

In terms of metal roofing colors, you can have your roof painted in any color you can imagine. Besides, a copper roof is a preference for many people thanks to the stunning green patina it develops over time. And although it most expensive metal roofing, many homeowners install copper roofs because of their natural beauty in the long run.

Low Maintenance

Not only does a metal roof last for many decades, but the upkeep needed is also minimal. Clearing debris, keeping the gutters clean, replacing old gaskets, repainting, and resealing every 20 years, are the only major things you will need to worry about when you install a metal roof.

Unless your area has extremely poor weather that lasts for months, you should not have to worry about corrosion or rust since metal roofs are designed to be impervious to water and dry out at a faster rate than wood. However, make sure not to allow debris to pile up on your roof or in your gutters as they can cause moisture to pile up, which can cause rust or corrosion over time.

Now that you are convinced of choosing a metal roofing over asphalt shingles, thanks to the above benefits, let’s talk about the options you can consider.

Types of Roofing Materials

For most people, when the phrase metal roof’ is mentioned, what comes to mind is a steel roof. However, this is an umbrella phrase for a variety of materials. Depending on your location, the first thing you should consider is the type of metallic roofing materials that suit weather conditions in your area. Every material has its pros and cons, and we will be talking about that in our descriptions.

Let’s get started

Steel Roofing

There has been a huge development in steel roofing in the last half a century, with recent steel roofing options having the ability to mimic zinc, copper, and other pricey metal roofing options. This is made possible through paint systems that make it look like the natural patina of zinc, weathered steel, or copper. These solutions offer ideal solutions for remodeling roofing systems and often come with a lengthy warranty.

The main advantages steel roofing material offer over other metal roofing materials is its affordability and flexibility of use. This explains why it is the most preferred metallic roofing material for both residential and commercial projects, and the trend looks to continue.

As a green material, steel is highly recyclable and easily accessible. You can use it in areas with harsh weather conditions as well as areas that experience heavy hailstones and high winds since it is among the hardest roofing metal options. It is also ideal for mountainous areas with high snow volumes.

Overall, we can say that steel is a highly flexible roofing option for both residential and commercial roofing needs thanks to its diverse range of uses, durability, cost, and availability.

There has been a huge development in steel roofing in the last half a century, with recent steel roofing options having the ability to mimic zinc, copper, and other pricey metal roofing options. This is made possible through paint systems that make it look like the natural patina of zinc, weathered steel, or copper. These solutions offer ideal solutions for remodeling roofing systems and often come with a lengthy warranty.

During the initial creation process, steel requires a lot of energy as compared to most other metals used in roofing today, such as zinc. However, its recyclability and availability mean that most of the steel used today is made from recycled materials rather than new creations. In fact, it is currently the most recycled material, making it an eco-friendly material to work with.

Another major advantage of steel roofing is that it is the most affordable when compared to other roofing metals. This explains why it is the most popular metal roofing material.

There are three major types of steel roofing;

Galvanized Steel: This is the most common type of steel roofing material and is created using a layer of zinc to protect the inner layers of steel from corrosion. The zinc coating helps to extend the lifespan of the steel panel by slowing down the corrosion process.

Galvalume Steel: This is similar to galvanized steel, but instead of using zinc coating, Galvalume uses a combination of zinc and aluminum. The combination of the coating makes it a superior option to galvanized steel as aluminum coating provides a smoother spangle that creates a uniform appearance and better surface protection. On the downside, it is vulnerable to cut edges and scratches.

Weathering Steel: Although originally designed to be used in heavy steel industries such as bridge construction, weathering steel is also used as a roofing material. This steel roofing material is designed to have the outer layer intentionally rust so as to protect the inner layer of steel. It is important to mention that weathering steel does rust intentionally, and thus it is not designed to be used primarily as a steel roofing material in residential buildings. It is often used in accent roofs.

Aluminum Roofing

Metal is a great premium roofing choice to get an updated look. Metal looks sleek and stylish, it comes in many different colors, and not only does it look sturdy – it actually is more durable than asphalt shingles. If you’re going to upgrade to metal, hopefully you’re considering a standing seam metal roof. The other much more common kind – exposed fastener metal roof, or “ag panel” (for agricultural panel, so-called because it’s often used on barns, chicken houses, etc) – is somewhat inferior. It has thousands of holes in it where the screws hold it down, and it’s not held together as well as standing seam. See our metal roof page for more information about metal roofs in Springfield, MO and Branson.

There are other metal options, from metal shingles, to corrugated roofing. There are also weathering steel panel options. Contact us if you’d like to explore unique options.

If you do go with metal roofing, make sure you update your insurance policy if necessary. A lot of policies don’t cover cosmetic damage to metal roofing. If your beautiful new, expensive metal roof is hit with severe hail and looks like a country road sign, you may have to live with that for the next 40 years if you don’t have cosmetic damage coverage.

The outer layer of aluminum material reacts with oxygen, thereby forming a layer of aluminum oxide, which effectively protects the inner layers from further corrosion. This process is quite similar to that of weathering steel, but in a faster period and with longer protection time.

Due to its natural patina that forms over time being thought of as not aesthetically appealing, an aluminum roof is normally coated with paint.

This means that the cost of maintaining aluminum roofing is higher as compared to other solutions. In terms of cost, aluminum roofing cost lies in between the price of steel and copper.

While aluminum is great for use in coastal regions, it is not ideal in regions that experience high winds, hailstones, and harsh environmental conditions because it is thin. This means that it can experience damage within a short time. However, this can be rectified by choosing the right roofing design that minimizes damages.

Copper Roofing

If you don’t want all these hassles, you can use lead-coated copper as an alternative to pure copper. However, keep in mind that this will cause the risks of lead-related effects.

A copper roof is preferred by many because of the attractive blue-green patina that forms when it is exposed for 8-15 years. How long a copper roof takes to complete the process of producing a green film on its surface depends on air components in a region. For example, salty conditions in coastal regions will increase the process.

Copper is regarded as one of the most aesthetically appealing metallic roofing options. Unfortunately, you will have to dig deeper into your pocket to have this roofing material installed. Copper is the most expensive among the three most popular roofing materials- copper, aluminum, steel.

Rarely installed on an entire residential roof, copper is mainly used to accentuate areas where a touch of elegance is needed, such as over dormers or bay windows.

Copper roofing is mostly installed on historic buildings, cupolas, church steeples, etc. to make them outstanding.

Other times, copper roofing is used in conjunction with other roofing materials to act like a flashing material. However, it should not be used alongside steel or aluminum roofing as it speeds up the rate at which other metals deteriorate through galvanic action.

Also, with time copper can stain other metals, concrete, and brick due to water runoff that wash its patina residue. Therefore, it is important that you install a copper roof with this in mind to ensure that water coming off a copper roof is channeled off the building.

The patina formed acts as a barrier against corrosion, and this is one of the reasons copper roofing is extremely durable. While copper can be treated to slow down or increase the speed of building the blue-green film, most homeowners prefer to buy the pure form of copper and allow it to weather naturally. Copper roofs are extremely durable and can sometimes last up to 100 years.

Due to its association with ‘wealthy and classy people,’ there has been an emergence of coating technology that makes aluminum or steel roofing to resemble copper. Finishes are available from those that look like new copper to those resembling fully weathered copper. Therefore, you can have an option to have your steel or aluminum roof resemble copper at a lower cost.

Zinc Roofing

Zinc is another great metal roofing material that is particularly used for commercial buildings and roof renovations.

A zinc roof is extremely corrosion-resistant and offers more advantages over other metal roofs, such as having self-healing abilities. A scratched zinc roof can recover given time, which makes them have a low maintenance cost. Even in a harsh environment, you will not have to worry about the damages inflicted on it as it tends to heal with time.

In terms of being eco-friendly, zinc roof takes less energy to produce as compared to most other metal roofing systems because it has a lower melting point. On top of this, zinc is recyclable, which means there will be no waste once the roof outlives its usefulness. Nevertheless, its longevity is the real advantage when it comes to being eco-friendly. This is because it can sometimes live for over a century if fitted in a normal environment

On the downside, zinc suffers from the chalking effect, which makes it less aesthetically appealing over time. Also, it is not cheap. In fact, its price is comparable to copper. This means that it has to be installed by experienced experts.

Besides, like other bare metals, it undergoes patination process and forms a blue-grey appearance, which is not impressive. There is a chalk residue left in areas where water flows, which many people find unappealing. This means that it must be repainted after several years.

Another downside is that it is very soft, which means that it can get easily damaged by hailstones or high winds, but this can be minimized by having a creative shingle or panel design.

Tin Roofing

Copper is regarded as one of the most aesthetically appealing metallic roofing options. Unfortunately, you will have to dig deeper into your pocket to have this roofing material installed. Copper is the most expensive among the three most popular roofing materials- copper, aluminum, steel.

Rarely installed on an entire residential roof, copper is mainly used to accentuate areas where a touch of elegance is needed, such as over dormers or bay windows.

Copper roofing is mostly installed on historic buildings, cupolas, church steeples, etc. to make them outstanding.

Other times, copper roofing is used in conjunction with other roofing materials to act like a flashing material. However, it should not be used alongside steel or aluminum roofing as it speeds up the rate at which other metals deteriorate through galvanic action.