I just installed a metal roof on my 1918 house, well not me but my roofer did and I thought it would be good to share the experience with other old house owners so you can decide if it’s the right choice for you.
I’ll also post a 1-year update once we reach that point so you can see if my feeling have changed over the course of the first year.
Why I Chose a Metal Roof
I can tell you right off the bat that I didn’t choose a metal roof because of the cost. The price was over 2X the cost of going back with another asphalt shingle roof. Ouch! Yes, it will last longer but will I be here for all those years? I don’t know.
There are a few specific reasons that I think may resonate with you about why I chose a metal roof for my historic house. Here’s how I worked through the decision.
The Details
We went with a galvalume 5v crimp roof with a Kynar coating (basically a really fancy long lasting enamel paint. What is galvalume? It’s a type of metal coating made of zinc, aluminum, and silicon that protects steel from rust and corrosion. Galvalume is pretty common for metal roofs and was invented by Bethlehem Steel in 1972 as basically the next generation of galvanized steel. Add the Kynar coating to it and you get an extra long lasting metal roof.
The roof without the coating has a 25-yr warranty, but with the Kynar it has a 40-yr. warranty, but it honestly should last far longer than that. I’ve seen scores of metal roofs older than 100 years as long as they are cared for.
We also selected to go with a 24 ga. metal rather than the thinner 26 ga. options. This means the metal panels are thicker and more resistant to wind up-lift and hail damage (a major problem with the hurricanes we get around here). I figured for the extra $3,000 the thicker metal will pay for itself in longevity and a better night’s sleep for me.
Insurance
Living in Florida I fight a constant battle with home insurers. They are either dropping my coverage (even without having ever filed a homeowner’s insurance claim in my life) or they are dramatically jacking up rates from one year to the next.
My last “incident” happened when Farmer’s Insurance left the state and I lost my $2,700 plan to end up switching to Tower Hill for $7,200. Seems ironic that they just switched the digits around for the exact same coverage.
Now this year Tower Hill is dropping me as well because my asphalt roof was too old. How old was it? When we replaced it this year my 30-yr architectural shingles were 14-years old. Not sure why 30-yr shingles are only good for 14 years, but then I don’t run an insurance company.
It’s not just me. In Florida it has been exceedingly difficult to find insurance for any house with a roof older than 10 years. That’s ridiculous! It’s not just shingles, homeowners with tile roofs and slate roofs are all being dinged and cancelled for roof that are “too old.”
There is really very little I can do about it other than play their game so metal seemed like the best option if I didn’t want to replace my roof once a decade.
The metal roof also nabbed me a discount on my homeowners insurance (kinda). I got a discount for having a newer roof which knocked about $1,400 off my bill, but then they increased the value of my home because, well, it has a new metal roof which caused an $800 extra premium so I only netted $600. Still I’ll take the savings where I can get them.
We’ll see where the insurance game plays out over the next few years, but I’m hopeful that I can get at least 25 years into my 50-yr roof before the insurers start barking again.
Energy Efficiency
I have a big, old Florida house from 1918 and every summer my utility bills climb higher along with my blood pressure. In the winter for 4,500 SF our bills sit around $250-350, but in the summer they have been as high as $675 a month. I’d like to cut that number a bit and I’m hoping a metal roof will do just the trick.
According to the EPA, a light colored metal roof can reduce heating costs by up to 27% which sounds alright to me. We picked a sliver Kynar coating for our metal roof to get as much reflectivity as we could and also it delivered the most historically natural appearance to boot. I’m writing this in February so I can’t tell you if it’s made a difference yet, but I’m excited to see what can achieve.
Metal is far more reflective of the suns heat and also cools down within minutes of the sun setting than a shingle or tile roof that can take hours to cool down at night.
Longevity
In my late 40s I’m not particularly interested in putting on a roof again anytime soon. I’m hoping that a 40-yr roof will be just that (if the insurance companies don’t screw with us) and this may hopefully be the last roof I put on this house in my lifetime.
I’m also concerned about inflation and how much a shingle roof will cost in 10 or 15 years. I feel confident that the insurance discounts, energy savings, and longevity together will make us come out ahead financially than where we would have been if we stayed with asphalt shingles.
Price
You may be surprised to learn that the 5v crimp was not our first choice in roof. We had gotten approval from the historic preservation board for three options.
- Go back with asphalt shingles
- Change to 5v crimp
- Install tin shingles
It was the tin shingles, made by Berridge, that were our first choice. Unfortunately, the price tags helped us make up our minds as you can see below:
- Asphalt Shingles: $37,000
- 5v Crimp: $88,000
- Tin Shingles: $123,000
We decided that rather than pillaging our children’s college funds and our retirement accounts a 5v crimp would be just fine. In the long run, while we liked the look of them, the tin shingles would never have reached a point of payback unlike the 5v crimp will.
Questions About Metal Roofs
I do get a fair amount of questions about our metal roof now that it’s finished. Some are crazy and some understandable, but they all deserve a little text.
Q: Is it noisy in the rain?
A: Not at all. Surprisingly I feel like it’s quieter in the rain. That may be due to the fact that we have a really solid underlayment on the roof that is far thicker than the old 30# felt paper we had before. So no issues with rain. Hail is another story though. I can clearly tell when it’s hailing versus raining now.
Q: Does it require maintenance?
A: Yes and no. The metal panels don’t really require much of anything. The exposed fasteners; however, are a different beast. They require an inspection every 1-2 years to make sure they aren’t rusting or coming loose and there are hundreds of them all over for this style roof. If a screw has come loose it can be retightened or after about 10 years it’s recommended that all the fasteners are replaced with the next size larger to provide them with more holding strength. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Q: Is it safe to walk on?
A: When it’s dry it’s safe, though it is more slick than an asphalt shingle roof. I don’t slip on the thick metal and it holds me just fine without denting. When it’s wet it’s another story. It becomes an absolute ice rink when there is dew or rain. I won’t venture up on that roof unless it is completely dry and I don’t recommend you do either.
Q: How long did it take to install?
A: I’ve had shingle roofs installed before and that usually takes just a few days. This was a different story altogether. The whole process took about a month from tear out to dry-in, to final install. To be fair our roof is humongous and has a lot of dormers that require a lot of intricate cuts. A simple side gable roof would have gone much faster, but this took a while.
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I love old houses, working with my hands, and teaching others the excitment of doing it yourself! Everything is teachable if you only give it the chance.