§ 01.03Metal roofing — TX + OH
Standing-seam, exposed-fastener, or stone-coated steel. Picked for your roof, your climate, and your ownership window. We won't sell metal when the asphalt math wins on a sub-12-year window.
The wrong profile is what gets you a metal roof that lasts 22 years instead of 50. Not the brand, not the color, not even the gauge — the profile family. Three branching questions, three honest answers.
Does your HOA prohibit visible standing-seam ribs?
Steel panel pressed into a tile or shake profile; reads from the curb as a tile roof, performs as a 50-year metal roof.
Will you own the home longer than 25 years (or hand it down)?
Hidden-fastener mechanical-lock or snap-lock seam. 50–75 year life on a properly fabricated install. The premium tier; cost matrix below.
Is the structure a primary residence in the Texas hail belt?
R-panel / PBR / 5V crimp. Visible neoprene-washer screws every 24″ — a $4 gasket the homeowner replaces in 15 years. Lower upfront, shorter life. Fine for what it is. Wrong for a TX-hail-belt house.
Same horizon, four roofs. The asphalt rows show the tear-off cycles; the metal rows show one bar that’s still under warranty at year 50. Multiples are illustrative ranges, not quotes — the math depends on roof complexity, hail intensity in your county, and how long you plan to own the home.
~2.5 cycles in 50 years. A hail event in any one of them resets the lifespan to whatever the carrier funds.
Two cycles. Survives most hail events that total a 3-tab; the carrier discount earns most of the upfront premium back.
One cycle for the 50-year window. Same hail rating as a Class-4 shingle; same TX discount eligibility.
One cycle for the 50-year window. Survives hail events that total any shingle; cool-roof reflective coating drops attic temps in TX summers.
Multiples and cycle windows are illustrative — based on what we actually see come off TX and OH roofs after 15 years of tear-offs. On a shorter ownership window, the math favors asphalt; on a forever-home or hand-down-to-the-kids window, metal almost always wins.
Two questions every customer asks before a metal install: will the rain be loud, and will the summer be hotter? The honest answer is “it depends on the assembly underneath the panel” — and most customers have only ever seen the wrong assembly.
What everyone pictures when they hear “metal roof.” Pole-barn assembly: panel screwed straight to purlins, no solid deck, no underlayment, attic open to the panel. Rain hits the panel and the assembly resonates like a drumhead.
The same panel, but the assembly has a 5/8″ plywood deck, a high-temp synthetic underlayment, and an insulated attic cavity below. Three layers of damping between the panel and the room. Quieter than asphalt in the same storm.
A senior estimator measures the existing attic insulation, deck condition, and ventilation; you get the panel, gauge, and underlayment spec for your specific assembly — not a generic metal-roof brochure.
Two decisions ride on top of the profile: the steel gauge (24 vs 26) and the paint chemistry (PVDF Kynar, SMP, or standard polyester). One combination on a TX-hail-belt house lasts 40 years; another on the same house lasts 8. The matrix below is what we’ve actually pulled off roofs after 15 years.
The premium spec — what we install most.
Acceptable in OH; not on TX-facing south slopes.
Skip on residential.
OH residential default. Lighter; bends easier.
OH-only. Hail in TX dents 26ga visibly.
Skip on residential.
Plain-English glossary — Gauge is steel thickness (24-gauge is heavier than 26). PVDF (also called Kynar 500) is the premium paint chemistry; SMP is silicone-modified polyester, the mid-tier; polyester is the cheap one. Chalk-fade is how the paint looks at year 10 — premium paints stay glossy, cheap paints turn flat and dusty.
§ 12Continue the manual — related to this page
§ 01.08Roofing
One day on the roof. Twelve lines in writing.
Tear-off, no overlay. Twelve-line written spec on every contract. Balanced ventilation measured before bid. 25-year transferable workmanship warranty. Both states.
Read →
§ 01.06Roofing
A second opinion you can audit.
Seven-checkpoint walk, photos with the report, severity 1–5 on each finding, plain-language scope. Written PDF inside 24 hours. We won't turn the report into a sales call.
Read →§ 01.01Roofing
The shingle is the easy part. The six layers under it are the roof.
Architectural asphalt with the same six-layer stack every time. Synthetic underlayment, ice-and-water shield to code, balanced ventilation, tear-off only. 25-year workmanship warranty in writing.
Read →§ 01.09Roofing
Sized to the roof. Not the curb.
Seamless on-site fabrication, hangers spaced for snow load on the Ohio side, downspouts routed six feet off the foundation. Micro-mesh leaf guards by default.
Read →
§ 04.01Programs
Your storm. Your scope. Your carrier's check.
Fifteen years on the carrier side. Documented loss, written scope, adjuster meeting on-site. Out-of-pocket: deductible only.
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§ 06Reach the dispatch desk
A senior estimator on the roof for forty minutes. We measure deck condition, vent, and roof shape. Then a written proposal that names the profile, gauge, finish, fastener pattern, and underlayment for your assembly. The 50-year cost numbers run against your ownership window.
(214) 578-9961