Busting common MYTHS about Metal Roofing!

I'm pushing 80 and I inherited a 100+ year old house with detached garage that my grandmother build in about 1911. The house has asphalt shingle roof that has been replaced many times. The garage roof is galvanized corrugated metal and it is still there and holding up well after 100+ years of neglect. It does have a dent where a large tree limb fell on it decades ago. Looking up from the inside of the garage you can see bare shiny metal that looks like it was put up yesterday. As far as I can tell, the metal roof looks like it has another 100+ years of life left in it.

I have installed a few metal roofs as a GC. On my own house I did the south and west sides over one weekend with just minimal fastening. Planed to finish it the fallowing weekend. Had a storm roll in that turned into a tornado during that week. turned into an accidental side by side comparison. Metal side was louder but only noticeable if you really listened as you walked from room to room. The wind was strong enough to pull a few shingles off of my leeward side and chunks from several neighbors roofs. Metal roof half was unaffected by the storm.

I installed a standing seam black metal roof (22 gauge) on my house and new 3 car garage 12 years ago. No issues even in hail storms. Since I installed it myself the price was lower than had I went with asphalt shingles on both structures and a contractor do the work. Sure it was completed overnight but I've been very happy with the outcome. And it looks good.

10 years ago I replaced my asphalt shingle roof with stone-coated steel tile (Metro) in a tile pattern. A British expat in my neighborhood (even after hearing me explain the material) calls mine "the house with the lovely slate roof". I was able to get a low-e color that reflects even more heat away, plus the benefit of the air gap and an additional radiant barrier on the deck below it. We have had 3 or 4 massive hailstorms since & my roof is fine--looks great and no problems at all. Everyone else has had their asphalt shingle roofs replaced at least twice. Moreover, you can stand to be in the attic in summertime & my electric bill was cut by almost 2/3! And I got a 25% homeowner's insurance discount. Yes, it was 3x the price of an asphalt shingle roof. But it has (by my accounting) paid itself off and I still have 40-years of life in it that I'm absolutely certain I will get. The only downside to it has been that it is difficult to walk & contractors must know what they are doing to not deform the tiles if they have to get up on the roof (must walk on the front edge like clay tile, as it is on battens). I absolutely recommend it.

Have a house acquired in the mid-'60s that is three blocks from the ocean. Shake roof rotted out in a decade. Replaced with a tile-look metal roof. Fifty years and the roof is still fine.

Being a remodel/renovation contractor, myself, I have installed numerous metal roofs in place of asphalt shingles. I highly recommend it to my clients. Once I explain all of the benefits & potential money savings to the customer, it’s a “no-brained” for them. I really enjoyed the videos that you produced on the installation on your home. Very informative—I’ve actually used those vids, when explaining what we were going to do on the jobsite. Thanks for the great content—love the BUILD show👍

As a child sleeping in the attic I loved the sound or rain on the roof. That noise is very quieting to this day.

Thanks, so much, for this video. The information and concerns you've addressed here goes a long way to answering pretty much all questions I had about metal roofing. One thing to note - Environmental impact on your property for asphalt vs metal: I had an asphalt roof replaced on my home a couple of years back after a high wind storm ripped through our area. The next SEVERAL rains after the new shingles were installed generated a whole lot of yellowed, oil-contaminated water runoff and absolutely crippled the plants our garden, most of which are grown for food, for well over a year. My plants are back to a more normal growth state now but I would not have even considered replacement with asphalt if I had been aware of the possibility for long-term contamination of my property.

The airflow through a metal roof during warm times draws air from the lower area outside and lets it escape from the roof top, which is a huge advantage in keeping it cool. I hope the more modern designs keep that thermo-dynamic in mind.

I didn't know about the solar clamps, thanks for sharing!

Thank You. On our farm we have several buildings with metal roofs that are 60 years old or more and they are just as effective as they were when new

Most of the roofs in Finland are metal. Lots of manufacturers and different variations. They typically last 40- 50 years in harsh climate; frost, snow, ice in the winter, hot summers with temperatures to 95 F. I had my roof done some 25 years ago, "snap lock" type. Factory paint is still good, no maintenance needed at all. Yes I can hear the rain if it rains hard, but I´m so used to it that it doesn´t bother me. Get a metal roof and you can forget it for the next 40 years.

I have a stone coated, metal tile roof. When I tried to have solar panels put on it, I had 2 companies void the contract after their installation department found out what my roof was. One of those companies, even went so far, as to suggest that I replace the section of the roof that would be right under the panels, with asphalt shingles. I told them to kick rocks. Eventually, I found a solar company, that are also roofers. They were able to do the job. They have a 'U' shaped bracket. They remove a shingle, screw the bracket to the roof deck with one leg of the 'U' laying down, then reinstall the shingle, in between the legs of the U. They mounted their support rails to the 'U's, then the panels to the support brackets. That is a great setup, that doesn't involve any penetrations of my roof, but apparently, there are quite a few solar installers that are not yet aware of it.

Great video. I built a log home last year and we chose a metal roof. I’m happy with that decision so far.

Hey Matt, I haven’t been able to be on your channel for several months due to severe illness. What a perfect video to return to you and your channel as a retired General Contractor myself and installing many metal roofs myself solar is the one major question I have had in my mind while deciding how I wanted to handle it. You have given me the answers I need instead of a ground mounting system like I was going to use you brought up the newer clips that’s my answer now i can install on the roof and save my yard from that big nasty ground mount. THANKS!! I am an old time carpenter that just isn’t fast to change into the newer stuff always you and I have had limited discussions on this subject in the past that being said I haven’t ever had a noise complaint from the couple hundred metal roofs my company installed over the years. Anyway I enjoyed another fine video from you keep up the great work!

"Corrugated iron" is the traditional metal roof in Australia. Comes in many different colors these days. I love the sound of rain on a metal roof. I suppose it would become bothersome if it rains a lot.

I agree with your method about adding solar: wiring and prepping it during construction is easier and cheaper in the long run. And using that first year's worth of power bills is the best way to size the system 👍

My favorite room in my grandmother's house was the upstairs bedroom. I could hear the sound of the rain on her metal roof. I've always loved that sound, it would put to sleep. She of course had the old fashion tin roof.

My husband moved into our current house in 1974, it had a metal roof. Since that time it's been resealed, had a couple panels replaced, and had the screws redone. I had lived all my life in a shingled roof house. I will never do that again. This roof has been tough as I could ask. We had trees come down all over the neighborhood and most people had trees inside their house. Our metal roof held up in spite of the fact that it shook the house when it came down, and we simply had to replace a couple panels and have it resealed. It was amazing. Because it was built so long aga, we do have a light sound when it rains hard but it's not loud and I find it relaxing. Great video, blessings.

Loved the metal roof with the Slate look!