How much more does a good metal roof cost? I found a farmhouse that’s on a few acres. It needs a roof, and metal roof would look much better. Just didn’t
Want to have sticker shock when the estimator came out. Thanks!
Well, you may never have to re-roof with metal, but here, even the 30 year shingles get regularly blown away and need to be replaced every two to six years.
Don’t forget to account for that.
Get more than one bid.
I had to fight with the builder to get metal.
He had a special deal with the roofing company on shingles.
It was cheaper than metal, but I didn’t want to have to, like with the old house, be picking up pieces and re-roofing all the time.
I would never ever even consider shingles, but go with metal up front.
Not all metal roofs are the same, be sure they quote you the same on the bids.
Here, standing seam is the best for houses, unlike barns, that use a different type.
When we re-did the roof on our house, the metal actually came in cheaper. Another thing we liked was that the shingles did not have to be removed, the metal was fastened on over top. This eliminated the need for the shingles having to be taken to the land fill, saving money and being environmentally friendly!
Here in Florida metal is at least three times more expensive.
Materials cost is about double over better quality shingles. It takes a lot less labor with metal.
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We also lose shingles all the time and have metal on the shop, upper bunny house and the new run in will have metal. We even lose shingles off my MIL’s old garden shed that we had brought up here. If you are at all windy metal becomes a better value over constant shingle replacement.
Metal roofing (Steel not Copper) here in Texas as Bluey said the insurance companies like and provide discounts on the insurance
Be aware steel metal roofing is sold in various gauge thickness… and may be stated as a nominal measurements which INCLUDES the paint for most all manufactures… so a metal panel that is 29ga may be marketed as 28ga or 27ga Nominal.
Also… from the mill the marketer (roofing line customer) can specify what minimum thickness is required as measured 1 inch in from the edge of each side of the steel. Galvanized steel (for example) has a 3% crown in the center of the coil so the center will be 3% heavier or thicker than the edges
My insurance break on having a metal roof is 10%.
That is impressive on the cost of insuring a whole house, so it must be worth it for the insurance companies, that have to keep re-roofing so many other than metal roofs.
Metal doesn’t burn as easily as shingles, so I’m sure the insurance companies love that! It’s good to know that maybe I can get an insurance discount. Thanks, everyone!
I just reroofed a run in shed. The materials cost was $1500 for shingles or $2500 for metal.
[QUOTE=Lord Helpus;6890438]
I just reroofed a run in shed. The materials cost was $1500 for shingles or $2500 for metal.[/QUOTE]
Just think that with metal, you may never again have to re-roof.
I am looking here at $36 for about 36 square feet of metal roofing, or $100 per square. That is pretty much the exact same cost as for asphalt shingles*, labor excluded. Not sure why you all are seeing more expensive roofing for metal where you all live.
with required 15# felt underlayment, roofing nails, shingles, drip edge, etc.
When I did my previous house it cost about double and a little more for metal. There are two ways to do metal, one is directly on the roofing felt (mine had the old nasty shingles removed for weight, and because they were awful), and the other is raised by furring strips (that’s what they looked like to me). I think the raised method would be noisier during storms, but that’s just my opinion.
I loved the metal, and when I had a lightning strike (not on the metal roof), the firemen said with shingles my house would have burned totally, with the metal it limited the attic fire damage. I also did research, and the colors of the metal roof make very little difference for attic heat, it’s only a degree or so. The nice thing is that during a hail storm you aren’t sitting there, thinking about the replacement costs. However, you do need to pay attention to the seals around vent and other pipes that go through it. I did have to get the sealer around one replaced because of a minor garage leak. The more elaborate, permanent seals around roof pipes work much better than the seal on the one access that leaked.
Can’t comment on the price to install, but I too get a big break on insurance with my metal roof. We also had a huge hailstorm come through a couple months ago; every single one of my neighbors had to re-roof their house (shingles). One neighbor’s roof was <3 years old, and his insurance didn’t cover the entire cost. My roof didn’t even have a scratch.
Though I will say the noise from that hail hitting my metal roof was unbelievable.
On a related note, my barn will be in need of a new roof soon and I’m debating going metal there, too. Anyone have any experience with that?
Including the noise? When it rains, I at least have my attic floor to “insulate” me from the noise. My horses wouldn’t be so lucky.
FYI, in case OP isn’t familiar at all with metal roofs, there are two kinds with very different pricing: the regular “ribbed” kind found on barns as well as houses, in which the screws show, and what’s called standing seam roofing where the screws don’t show at all. SS is much more expensive so OP should be sure she’s looking at the “ribbed” kind.
As far as I can tell, the most preferred type of metal roofing that is not standing seam (by far the best and most expensive)is called 5 V crimp. I had that put on an outbuilding years ago. When I checked it at Lowe’s, the 29 gauge was as thin as tissue paper and not worth the money to buy. It came in 3’ panels. The 26 gauge they did not carry, but it came in 2’ widths and one 14 foot length was close to (IIRC) 40 per sheet. So I would need 6 sheets to cover one 12’ stall.
Do not bother with 29 gauge. It’s simply not worth having. even if you were to install it directly on top of an old shingle roof.
You can also get both standing seam and 5 V Crimp in painted and Galvalume, and they also come in 24 gauge. The 24 gauge would be ideal, but I have no idea whether you can get it from places like Lowe’s.
The galvanized 5V tin, sold these days, is not worth buying.
Lowes and Home Depot both sell color coated metal roofing in all sorts of shapes and thicknesses. Price for the thickest Rib type with exposed screws is about $1.50 a square foot. Standing seam is more, although I can never understand why. It all comes off the same rolls, and is run through an extruder to form the different shapes. You order it to the inch in length, up to something like 42’.
There are a bunch of different manufacturers of the metal roofing, and as far as I’ve seen it’s all compatable with each other, and even have the same colors.
Lowes current shingle price, figuring in quantity discount, is about .73 square foot.
I don’t get why the standing seam costs more either.
I would not use roofing where you send exposed screws through the roof on a house. It will leak eventually, promise, and with attic space, it’s easy for it to leak a long time before you notice. For a barn, or covering a porch space, it is fine.
The other advantages of metal are that it’s highly compatible with collecting rainwater and that the light colors can be especially good in warm climates. Dark green roofs are pretty but they absorb the sun’s energy like nobody’s business. (There’s a reason plants are green!)
[QUOTE=Rabtfarm;6890695]
I am looking here at $36 for about 36 square feet of metal roofing, or $100 per square. That is pretty much the exact same cost as for asphalt shingles*, labor excluded. Not sure why you all are seeing more expensive roofing for metal where you all live.
with required 15# felt underlayment, roofing nails, shingles, drip edge, etc.[/QUOTE]
It’s what Florida roofing contractors are charging and can get, that’s why. No other reason. For my parents 2700sqft house the estimate for a metal roof was 70K.
On pricing, I don’t know why it is so much for metal, but when we checked for our barn, we were comparing not just materials, but labor costs too and the metal was significantly more. This was awhile ago when building was still going gangbusters here, so that may be different now.
As for shingles and wind - I’m in a super windy area due to our location at the west end of the Columbia River Gorge. We have a composite roof on house (built in 2001) and barn (roofed in 2005, I think) and have not lost a one. Knock on wood! I think there are restrictions on what roofing you can use for certain slopes, aren’t there? I seem to remember this being a factor when we added on to the barn this last year, that if the new part would have been sloped more, we had to go to a different roofing material, so that affected how we did things.
