Metal Roofing: How To Find A Responsible Metal Roofing Contractor

Remember the day one of your friends mentioned something about the benefits of a new metal roof and how cool it was. At that moment he thought that his friend must have no idea on the subject of metal roofing, or else he would never have considered making such a foolish statement! After all, how can you imagine putting a metal roof on a house, when it probably makes a lot of noise when it’s raining? Not only that, having metal on your roof would certainly make your house look like some sort of farm barn!

This is absurd! So, you’ve simply dismissed his friend’s views on roofing as silly and uneducated until the day you became a believer yourself.

Oh man, that ceiling is so beautiful! And oh wait a minute, is that metal?

Shortly after the silly conversation about the roof with your friend had almost been forgotten, you found yourself driving down your suburban street to a friend’s house when suddenly your attention was drawn to a beautiful house that stands magnificently among other houses in that street. At that moment, she also realized that it was the unusually sharp-looking roof that had caught her eye and made the house look so attractive that she only had to take a closer look. Suddenly, you found yourself pulling over to the side of the road, even though you were already late for your friends’ planned party. You had one of those moments where you just had to stop and look at this unusual ceiling. You walked up to the house to get a better look at the roof.

Standing about 15 feet from the roof, you could see the beautiful lines of the cedar shake design and the playful reflection of the sun. She realized that the roof she was looking at was unlike any roof she had ever seen before, it had a beautiful cedar shingle look to it, but she couldn’t tell what it was made of. Or could you? After mentally analyzing many known types of roofing materials, she realized that this roof was nothing like what he imagined it would look like.

Not exactly what you had in mind!

You were very surprised, even amazed to know that a metal covered roof can look so magnificent. After all, you’ve always pictured metal roofing as gray and rusty corrugated steel roof decking over farm barns and old industrial buildings. You’ve heard all the rumors about the loud noises they make when it rains, and the danger of lightning they can attract. However, this residential metal roof was nothing like the image he had programmed into his mind, in fact, quite the opposite. It had the beautiful lines created by the thoughtful design of the metal shingle shingles, metal ridge cap, and the quality of a metal flashing detail.

Another discovery he made was that it wasn’t the house itself which was magnificent, in fact the house was pretty average, but it was the metal roof that made the house look like a million bucks.

Paradigm shift

Perhaps he was not yet a believer, but something had changed in his view of metal roofing, the old prejudice of barn metal roofing was evaporating and the curious new interest in metal roofing was born. You told your friends about the metal roof you saw, and they were quite surprised to find out. All but one of them didn’t have much to say about it. But a friend of yours who tried to talk to you about the benefits of metal roofing earlier said, “See man, you were making fun of that and now you’re so excited.” In fact, his views were beginning to change. In fact, he was now so curious about metal roofing that he decided to talk to an experienced metal roofing contractor.

Not Your Typical Roofing Job

Your friend told you that metal roofing installation is totally different from conventional roofing and your regular roofer doesn’t know how to install a metal roof. In fact, he told her the story of a man who had a conventional roofing contractor install a metal roof for someone he knew and it was a disaster. The roofing contractor who did the installation did not know what he was doing and did an incorrect installation. As a result, the roof leaked extensively and a new experienced metal roofer had to be hired to repair the damage and re-install the system from scratch. His friend explained that people who claim metal roofing is easier to install than a conventional roof have never installed one and use hearsay as a frame of reference. His wrong beliefs confuse other people and cost him a lot of money. Sometimes the quality of the roof installation is completely wrong.

If you want it done right, you’re better off looking for a contractor who is certified and specializes in metal.

The moral of his friend’s story and his lesson was clear, it’s better to invest time and energy finding a qualified metal roofing contractor to install your roof in the first place than to hire the wrong crew who have never installed a metal roof before. . roof earlier, and will treat it as another “finished in one day” asphalt shingle project. Now that there were no doubts about the importance of hiring a roofing company that specializes in metal roofing, his friend advised him to use a directory of Roofing Contractors broken down into categories by specialty; metal roofing contracting companies organized by US location and by specialty categories such as standing seam and metal shingle installers.

Finding the Right Roofing Company to Install Metal

After doing some research, he realized that there were quite a few metal roofing contractors and companies offering metal roofing, and now he had the choice and responsibility to select the best metal roofing contractor he could find. The selection process was quite simple, but it was important to follow it to the letter. The pre-screening process would involve a prospective roofing contractor visiting his home and giving him an estimate. He immediately realized that there are a lot of potential roofing scams out there when one of the contractors came by to take a look at his roof and quoted a roofing price that was only half of what the two guys had quoted. listed. before him, and asked for a cashier’s check for the full amount in advance.

This gentleman was clearly a roofing scammer taking advantage of the elderly and uneducated. Fortunately, not everyone in the roofing business is a con man and there are some trustworthy roofers out there. One of them ended up giving a quote that was almost four times the amount of the asphalt shingle contractor who quoted before him. But despite the higher initial costs of the metal roof, the benefits he described made a lot of sense. In short, a metal roof is the last roof you have to install, and you get a roof that not only looks great and lasts a lifetime, but also helps you save energy and increases the value of your home. . Isn’t that a bargain? Of course, price alone, high or low, is not the only criteria for making a decision on whether or not to hire a particular roofing contractor.

A much more important variable is the quality of their work, which can only be verified by asking for references, looking at the quality of their work, and maybe even talking to people to see if they are truly satisfied with the roofing job a contractor has done. . . It’s also a good idea to carefully research the metal roofing system a contractor plans to use, the type of roofing you want to use under, and find out how you plan to ventilate the roof.

Important Questions to Ask Your Metal Roofing Contractor.

• Warranty Details: Find out if it’s just the product manufacturer’s material warranty, or if the contractor actually guarantees the work will be leak-free and airtight.
• Subfloor Type: Studies have shown that metal roofs should not be installed over synthetic vapor barrier insulation, as it will trap moisture and can cause the deck to rot. Therefore, it is recommended to use a breathable ventilation system.
• Ventilation – A roof that is not properly ventilated can fail prematurely due to moisture buildup and ice dam formation and damage from trapped warm air. Ask how a roofing contractor plans to ventilate your roof.
• Roof repair: if a roof is going to require a detachment; Ask your roofing contractor if they will repair any potential deck damage and get it in writing. Written proposal and contract.
• Get a written proposal and/or contract and study it carefully before accepting any work. Ask your contractor to put all promises in writing, otherwise you will have no way of getting what you were promised if a contractor doesn’t keep their promises.

Finally use your good judgement.

Good luck!