The education page
Why Metal — An Honest Comparison for Missouri
We install metal roofs, so you'd expect us to sell you on one. This page is the straight version: where a standing seam metal roof beats asphalt shingles in northeast Missouri, and where it genuinely doesn't.
Standing Seam Metal vs. Asphalt Shingles
Lifespan
An asphalt shingle roof in this climate might last 15 to 25 years before it needs replacing — wind, sun and freeze-thaw cycles break down the asphalt and the granules come off. A standing seam steel roof is a different category of material. Steel doesn't dry out, curl, or lose granules. We won't quote you a number of years here, because the real answer depends on the install, the pitch, and how well the roof is vented — but a metal roof outlasts shingles by a wide margin, and it's the last roof most homeowners put on a house.
Wind
Northeast Missouri gets straight-line winds and the occasional severe gust that lift shingles right off a roof. Asphalt shingles are held down with nails and a self-sealing strip that breaks down in heat and age. Standing seam panels are held with hidden clips that are mechanically seamed to the panel — there are no exposed fasteners to back out, and no sealing strip to fail. A properly installed standing seam roof holds tight in wind that would be pulling shingles off.
Hail
Hail cracks asphalt shingles and strips the granules off, which shortens the life of the roof even when it doesn't look that bad from the ground. Steel panels will dent in a hard hail storm — we won't pretend they won't — but they don't crack and they don't leak from a dent. A dented metal roof still sheds water. A cracked shingle roof doesn't.
Ice and Snow Shedding
Heavy wet snow sitting on a roof is real weight on your rafters, and melting snow that refreezes at the eave forms ice dams that back water up under shingles. A smooth metal roof sheds snow — it slides off instead of sticking. Less weight on the structure, and fewer ice dams. On lower-pitch roofs we'll talk with you about snow retention, because a metal roof that sheds snow can shed it a little too enthusiastically off a porch.
The Two Questions Everyone Asks
If you're comparing metal to shingles, these are the two things you're wondering about. Here's the honest answer to both.
"Is a metal roof loud in the rain?"
This is the number one worry, and it comes from the image of an old tin roof nailed to open rafters with nothing underneath. A modern standing seam metal roof is installed over solid decking and underlayment — the same kind of roof deck an asphalt shingle roof sits on. With that deck and a finished attic or insulation below, most homeowners don't notice a difference in overhead noise between a metal roof and a shingle roof.
We'll let a customer say it in her own words. Donna Strong had a roof put on for storm and wind damage repair:
“The roof has been up for about three weeks through wind and rain and did well. I did not experience more overhead noise than with the previous asphalt shingle roof.”
— Donna Strong, roof repair for storm and wind damage
"Will it mess with my cell phone or TV reception?"
A metal roof does not block cell phone reception. Your phone signal comes from towers and passes through walls and windows the same way it always has — the roof above it isn't the bottleneck. Same goes for TV. If you had good reception before, you'll have it after.
Again, from Donna Strong:
“I also get great cell phone reception.”
— Donna Strong, roof repair for storm and wind damage
When Metal Is Not the Right Answer
We install metal roofs, but we're not going to tell you it's the right call for every roof on every house. A few honest cases where we'd talk it through with you rather than just sell you a metal roof:
- ▸Very low-pitch roofs. Standing seam handles lower pitches than exposed-fastener metal, but there's a floor. If your roof is nearly flat, a metal roof isn't the right product and we'll tell you.
- ▸You're selling soon. A metal roof is a long-term investment. If you're planning to sell the house in a year, you may not recoup it. That's your call, not ours — but we'll mention it.
- ▸The deck is bad. If the roof deck is soft or rotten, that has to be fixed before any roof goes on — metal or otherwise. We'll find that when we look at the roof.
The way to know for sure is to have us come look at the roof. We'll tell you straight whether metal makes sense for your house.
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