Here's a guest post from our friend Philip Bradford, better known as Philip or Flop.
Metal roofing doesn’t sound like a DIY project to most, but I took on this challenge a few years ago to roof our daughter's playhouse and thought the same material would look awesome on our new addition. This article covers the advantages of metal roofing, how I selected the type, and my thoughts on the installation!
My whole experience with metal roofing started three years ago when I started to make the playhouse of my daughters’ dreams. We have a shed roof detail on the front of our house that I wanted to match for the playhouse, but I had no idea who the supplier was. Through much research, I found that the material was from McElroy Metal in the color Mansard Brown.
After reviewing the installation procedures on McElroy Metal’s website, I thought to myself, “This really is a project that I think I could take on.” By the end of 2018, the installation was done, and I was dreaming about the large porch addition that we would start in a few years. From that time, I knew I wanted a matching metal roof on the porch!
Asphalt shingles come in a few different colors, but to me, they all pretty much look the same. I’ve always been drawn to the unique look of metal roofing, and with the different styles and color combinations, you can achieve hundreds of looks! Without a doubt, metal roofing will cost more upfront, but there are so many advantages over asphalt shingles that the investment is usually a smart one.
If installed correctly, metal roofing can easily last 2-3 times longer than traditional roofing materials. When asphalt shingles have to be replaced in 15-20 years, they go straight to the landfill, whereas metal roofs are 100% recyclable when they meet the end of their life (and they often contain some recycled metal content as well).
High-quality metal roofing is more wind-resistant, hail-resistant, and fire-resistant than traditional roofing, and most would be surprised that it also provides energy savings (especially in climates where A/C costs are significantly higher than heating costs).
Metals, by nature, reflect and re-emit more of the sun's energy than asphalt. Not only does asphalt absorb more energy, but shingles have twice the areal mass of metal, so more of the absorbed heat is held in the roof and will be transferred to the roof deck!
When it comes to metal roofing, there are many different product types and color options! The best way to find a product that might look good with your home's architecture is to look at pictures.
Finding random images on Google is a start, but it’s sometimes hard to identify which products are used in those inspirational pictures. McElroy Metal has a great online resource with over 300 metal roof projects with pictures; each one tells exactly which products were used.
Once you have an idea about the style you might be interested in, you can also use one of their visualizer tools to see that style on a residential structure and then change the color! As a final step, you can also pay a small fee, and a designer will load a picture of your actual structure into the visualizer tool, where you can change the roof type and color.
I did this for our project, and it really confirmed that the Mansard Brown Medallion-Lok standing seam roofing was going to look awesome, just like our porch roofing material. (Pictured below is another option we were considering using the visualizer.)
Metal roofing installation is definitely not for beginner DIYers. The more complex the roof gets, the more challenging (and time-consuming) the installation becomes. It is also important to set up a properly designed fall protection system for anyone who is working on the roof. I felt comfortable taking on the installation on our screened porch because I had been through a simpler install on our playhouse.
I used the Medallion-Lok installation manual published by McElroy Metal to understand the exact specifications on how their roofing components go together, but I also watched hours of YouTube videos for more general metal roofing tips and to convince myself that I could do it! I worked with my Dad on both of my metal roofing projects, and I definitely recommend having at least one helper.
Since every roof (and many products) will have different instructions for installation, I am not going to write out the exact steps we took for this project in this article; however, if you want to get a feel for the overall process, follow me on Instagram and find my story highlight “Porch Roof” to see the videos I saved!
If you're hesitant about installing a roof yourself, you are definitely not alone. Luckily, lots of roofing contractors specialize in metal. You can use this locator tool and type in your ZIP code to find one closest to you!