Our roof is going to have to be replaced very soon. We were pricing them out the other day. And then started thinking about the metal roofs.

Does anybody have a newer metal roof? Pros and cons?

I think they look clean and neat.

Just wondering before we have to make our final decision.

By Reds9298 on Sunday, March 12, 2006 - 07:31 pm:

Sorry, I don't know anything about the metal roofs. Those aren't common where I live, but very common in Tennessee where my G'Ma lives. Are you doing it yourself or hiring it out?

We have asphalt shingles, not metal, but we did it ourselves and saved about $7000!!

By Imamommyx4 on Sunday, March 12, 2006 - 10:08 pm:

Dh does alot of repairs around the house himself.
But we have a very steep roof on a two-story house. And he is afraid of heights. He will do repairs on the roof with a rope aound his waist. But there is NO way he is going to do a whole roof. He'll hire it out. We are going to get estimates this week.

My g'ma had a tin roof on their old house. But they have new galvanized and colored metals that are so pretty. I don't think it's my g'ma's tin roof. I know what those were like. And I know what the manufactures say and we've been reading on several good websites. I just want to know people's real experiences with the new metal roofs.

By Reds9298 on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 08:24 am:

I didn't mean to imply I didn't like them Debbie! Just that they aren't common where I live. I see a lot of them in the south and they look very nice.

My DH wouldn't do a roof like yours either

By Conni on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 08:29 am:

We have metal roof on cabin. Love it. Sister has metal roof on her home and it looks great and she loves it. Just make sure you put good quality material between metal and your roof. Whatever they recommend to you- but it will help with sounds... The cabin can be loud when storming with acorns falling, limbs falling, rain, hail, etc... lol But dh did it himself the least expensive way he could i think.

Whenever we build another home (a million yrs from now) it will be in the country and will be either log and stone w/metal roof or cedar siding and stone w/metal roof. We love that look!

My grandmother has a pretty brick home and when they replaced the roof a couple of yrs ago they put a metal roof on. Looks great!

I say if you like the look and can afford it, go for it! Much better then shingles in the long run supposedly.

By Conni on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 08:44 am:

I guess I should add that we have had the roof for almost 10 yrs and never had to replace. Also have metal on roof of boat dock that is about 3 or 4 yrs old- still looks like new. We DO have a dent on one piece of metal on cabin roof due to a HUGE branch falling onto during a storm a couple of yrs ago. It hit so hard it actually did damage inside the cabin- but the branch didnt go all the way thru the roof. If that makes any sense. We have alot of storms. lol !! Just had tornadoes here last night (about 5-10 mi from us) and my parents town 20 min away had golf ball and BASEBALL sz hail. Tractor trailors blown off roads, windos busted out, etc... LOTS of damage in our area last night. Dh and I both got caught out on Saturday afternoon in our vehicles when a hail storm came thru. Brad and I had just walked into paint store it started to rain and then wham big storm blew thru hailed all over my truck. Storm went over and sky was clear. argh... Dh and Blake had driven his little 350Z out to lake to fix broken boat dock stand off and move dosk out some more. He was sitting in the little store/gas station having ice cream cone with blake and storm hit out there. Bam hail was apparently much bigger and all he could do was sit and watch his car and everyone elses get beat up. It is solid hail dings from bumber to bumper!!!

Oh and My sis has been in her home for 12 yrs now i think? and never had to replace.

Sorry to ramble about our storms. lol Too much coffee!

By Imamommyx4 on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 09:55 am:

You're cracking me up, Conni. I haven't had my coffee yet. BTW, you commented that if you can afford it, go for it. Maybe we are missing something. But the metal we priced out vs the shingles we priced out (both good quality, long lasting, etc) was about a $1000 cheaper for the metal. We didn't price out the tar paper for the shingles vs the felt for the metal. We figured that would be a wash. We have some contractors coming for estimates but dh thinks the metal installation should be less expensive due to less labor intensive. We'll see. Plus our insurance will give us a discount for putting good quality metal on the house due to better fire protection or something. Just seems cheaper all the way around.
So am I missing something? Are there costs I don't know about that will come back to bite us?

Deanna--I didn't think you implied anything. I was just answering your question and making sure you knew what kind of metal roof I was talking about. Just matter of factly, ma'am. I was kind of laughing to myself when I was writing that reply picturing dh on the roof. He does NOT like being on the roof!! LOL But you know it's hard to know somebody's tone from typed words. I appreciate any input.

By Conni on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 10:11 am:

Hmmm, I dont know why, but I *thought* it was a tad more expensive then shingles?? Maybe *I* am just a big dodo bird. LOL I have no idea how much they cost. The only reason I said that was because my parents were talking about replacing their roof with metal roof about 2 yrs ago and they said *they* couldnt afford to do it right then. For some reason I took that to mean the metal was expensive. So, just ignore that comment. LOL We had to have our roof replaced in town last yr due to hail damage and it was all covered by ins. It was ALOT of money. Glad it was covered. (over $9,000 for shingles)

I am glad to hear that about the ins discount for the metal. ;) Thanks for sharing.

Anyway, it sounds like you are doing your research and comparing the pros and cons. Good luck with whatever you do.

By Imamommyx4 on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 12:58 pm:

Conni--you were right. Metal is expensive. I told the guy who came to do the estimate. He said it was expensive. I told him what the guy told me when I asked a store to remain nameless to price out a metal roof for our house. He stood there a minute thinking then got an annoyed look on his face and said that I must have been priced galvanized tin. No way could a metal roof cost as low as I was quoted. He said that generally the metal is twice as expensive and the labor is more expensive b/c it is so hard to work with. He said overall a good rated metal with the labor would be at least twice the price of the shingle I told him we wanted. Oh well!

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 09:55 am:

I googled pictures of metal roofs. They look so pretty! Probably if twice the price, though, we would just go with shingles again, when we have to do our roof.

Google Images of Metal Roofs

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 01:33 pm:

Okay Debbie

By Tayjar on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 03:04 pm:

This is the insurance side of me talking. Check with your insurance agent to see what discounts are offered. I know my company offers some pretty good discounts and deals if you go with certain impact resistant shingles. You may pay a little upfront but the discount on your homeowner's insurance over the years can offset the increased price.

And, a word of caution on metal roofs. Insurance companies will often not pay for cosmetic repairs. This means if hail comes through and damages your roof cosmetically but not structurally you will not receive any money for the repairs. Each ins. company handles that a little differently so you would want to check with yours, of course.

I just sat through a very boring presentation on new roofing materials.

By Imamommyx4 on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 10:10 pm:

Dora--I got my original info from a website. But to clarify that after talking to my agent, they don't do discounts for a metal roof. They do discounts based on the UL rating of the roof material. You probably understand this better than I do, but she said something about if the material (metal or shingle or whatever) had a rating of 3, there is a 4% disc and a rating of 4 has a 7% disc. I've got to check into that a little more.

And I never thought about the cosmetic damage part. That's why I love MOMS VIEW.

I think that after finding out the real cost of metal, we are probably going to stay with shingles. It's a decent, nice enough house but not worth that cost.

Thanks for all of the advice.