You're not alone. According to a national survey of 2,000 homeowners conducted on behalf of building products manufacturer TAMKO, 23% plan to reroof their homes this year. That's roughly one in four homes. And if you've been sitting on the fence about replacing your roof — eyeing that curling edge or that spot where the color just looks tired — 2026 might be your year too.
But here's the part most homeowners don't figure out until they're already deep in contractor quotes: the decision about what material goes on the roof matters just as much as the decision to replace it at all. Replacing asphalt shingles with metal roofing is a growing trend, with industry data indicating that approximately 15% of homeowners are making the shift. This increase reflects metal roofing's evolution from a niche product to a more widely adopted residential roofing option.
The TAMKO survey is worth sitting with for a moment, because the reasons people gave for reroofing aren't what you might expect. Yes, some roofs are simply worn out. But the data showed something more interesting: 30% of homeowners planning home improvements in 2026 said their home feels outdated, and 77% said curb appeal genuinely matters to them.
In other words, this isn't just about keeping water out. It's about how your home looks and feels — to you, to your family, and yes, to the neighbors. There's nothing wrong with that. Your home is likely your largest investment, and the roof accounts for roughly 40% of what people see from the street.
So if you're going to put a new roof on, and curb appeal is part of the reason, it's worth spending some time thinking beyond the default.
One of the biggest differences is cost — both upfront and over time. Asphalt shingles typically have a lower initial installation cost, which is why they remain the most common residential roofing material. Metal roofing generally requires a higher upfront investment. But the most honest way to compare them is to look at how long each lasts and how many times you may need to replace the roof over the life of your home.
A standard asphalt shingle roof is typically expected to last 15 to 20 years before needing replacement. Metal roofing, particularly panels made with Galvalume®-coated steel, is now projected to last 60 years or more, according to a white paper published by the Metal Construction Association. That's a meaningful gap — potentially two or even three shingle roofs over the same period that one metal roof would cover.
Think about what that actually means over the life of your home. Every time that shingle roof comes off, you're paying again for materials, labor, disposal, and the disruption of having a crew on your home for a week. Over time, those repeated replacements can significantly narrow the cost difference between the two roofing systems.
Beyond life expectancy and cost, there is a big difference in sustainability between the two products. Every year, approximately 13 million tons of worn-out shingles end up in landfills across the country. Most landfills have more shingles than they want. In contrast, when a metal roof finally reaches the end of its very long service life, it is recycled — not buried.
This is probably the most common hesitation, and it's a fair one. For a long time, "metal roof" conjured images of corrugated farm sheds or industrial warehouses. That's genuinely not the case anymore.
Today's residential metal roofing comes in a wide range of styles — from clean standing seam profiles that run vertically from eave to ridge, to panels that closely mimic the look of traditional shingles, slate, cedar shake, or tile. If you're attached to the aesthetic of your current shingle roof but want the performance of metal, there are metal options that closely replicate that look that most people couldn't tell the difference from the street.
Color selection has expanded just as much as style options. Whether your home leans toward a classic colonial look, a craftsman style, or something more contemporary, there's a finish that works for you. McElroy Metal's online visualizer tool lets you see what different panel styles and colors would look like on an actual home — worth some consideration before you make any decisions.
Click here to see what a metal roof would look like on your home.
Yes, and the mechanism is straightforward. Metal reflects solar heat away from your home rather than absorbing it. Asphalt shingles do the opposite — they soak up heat and transfer it into your attic space, where it then works its way into your living areas and forces your air conditioning to work harder.
Research has shown that cool metal roofing — panels with reflective pigment coatings that increase solar reflectivity — can reduce cooling energy costs by as much as 20%. The difference becomes even more pronounced when above-sheathing ventilation is added. That's a design approach that creates a small air gap between the metal panel and the roof deck, allowing heat to escape rather than build up. In controlled testing, this kept attic temperatures within five degrees of outside ambient air — compared to shingle roofs that ran nearly 40 degrees hotter under the same conditions.
For context, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that heating, cooling, and ventilation together represent 35% of building energy costs. The roof plays a bigger role in that number than most homeowners realize.
Often, yes. Metal roofing carries a UL Class 4 impact-resistance rating — the highest available under the national standard established by Underwriters' Laboratories in 1996. That rating is based on resistance to impacts simulating 90 mph hailstones, and it's earned metal a level of confidence from insurance carriers that shingles simply don't command.
"Every year, thousands of homeowners lose their roofs to hail and wind damage," Jack Stanton, State Farm Insurance Company's Loss Mitigation coordinator, told the Insurance Journal. "We now know that Class 4 materials offer some of the best long-term roof protection available to homeowners."
Many insurance companies translate that confidence into direct premium discounts for homes with Class 4-rated roofs. It's worth a call to your agent before you finalize any roofing decision — the potential savings over time can meaningfully offset the upfront cost difference between metal and shingles.
The upfront cost of metal roofing is typically higher than that of shingles. But the more useful question isn't "which costs less today?" It's "which costs less over the life of my home?"
When you account for the fact that a shingle roof may need replacing two or three times before a metal roof needs to be touched — plus the energy savings, the reduced maintenance, and the potential insurance discounts — the math often shifts. Metal roofing tends to be the least expensive roof you can buy when you're thinking in decades rather than years.
For homeowners reroofing because their home feels outdated or they want to improve curb appeal, the calculus changes further. A metal roof is not just a functional upgrade — it's the last roofing decision you're likely to make on that home. That has real value.
If you're among the 23% of homeowners planning to reroof in 2026, the best thing you can do before calling anyone for a quote is to spend time educating yourself on your options.
McElroy Metal works with a network of experienced metal roofing contractors across the country. Find a contractor near you who can walk you through what metal roofing looks like for your specific home, your climate, and your budget — and give you a straight answer on whether it's the right fit.
Your roof is too important a decision to default to the familiar. Take the time to get it right.