Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Roofing in Metal

So I have this prejudice against asphalt/fiberglass roofing. It goes like this: you can only use it as roofing once before you have to throw it away (by 'away' I mean 'into someone else's backyard', someone who can't afford to keep you from putting it there). Yes I know, some asphalt roofing gets recycled, but its a costly, messy process. Anyway, asphalt roofing is a mess no matter how you slice it, and its not even cheaper than metal. Metal has the advantage of being completely recyclable, it will outlast me, and when its finally not doing the job, my children can bring it to a scrap yard and get paid for it.

For my approximately 480 sq. ft. shed roof, I priced metal and asphalt side by side, and metal came out cheaper by almost 20%. The key with metal roofing is that you don't have to sheath the roof in plywood or boarding. You can simply strap it with 1x3's and screw it down. So, I ordered a bunch of 'burnished slate' colored metal roofing and went for it.


They even cut to length for me so I didn't have to buy more metal than I was going to use. (They won't do that for you at Home Depot or Lowes....)


This is a 'wear-gloves' job.


Predrilling all the sheets on the ground (and having square and plumb roof framing!) is the key to success, just make sure you drill the holes in the right spots.

More to come....

4 comments:

Home improvement said...

A roof from metal will usually cost more per square foot than the average shingle roof. Installing a roof of metal may also be more expensive. Many of these roofs are extremely lightweight and highly durable.

Christopher Gerald Wagner said...

H.I. I think I said as much in the post. People just don't consider roofing in corrugated metal because they only think in terms of the present costs, but not the future costs. If the disposal cost of the asphalt shingles were included upfront, metal (corrugated/screw-down) would win hands down every single time. Metal is also much easier to remove when that time does come.

While a standing seam metal roof would be nice, the cost is still too much for most homeowners.

Eric Trudell said...

Chris,

Agreed about the disposal cost of shingles.
Metal roofing is strong down here in the south. Not taking over, but gaining.
Great blog, I'll keep coming back.

Eric Trudell

Nick said...

I like how all of your pictures are taken with you flexing your biceps!