Is a standing seam metal roof a reasonable choice on an old house?
We are looking at the replacement of our 20+ year old asphalt shingle roof on our 1929 stucco home. While our roof is not leaking at this time, it’s showing some wear / cracking and we are hoping to put a solar PV array up on the south exposure perhaps sometime in 2024. Most of the slopes are 45 degree with one dormer at 3.5/12.
So it’s a good time to consider all the roofing options. We’ve talked to a few roofing companies about replacing with a metal standing seam roof, and two of them are not interested in this option because they say a standing seam roof will not work on old houses. They say old houses are usually not square and therefore make the standing seam roof look bad. It’s not clear from our discussions if this is the only reason they are not keen on standing seam.
We like the look of standing seam and it appears to be a good option for simplifying the placement and maintenance of solar PV panels in the long term. We also like the metal roof for its durability and lifespan as we hope to pass our house on to our son at some point in the future.
Am I just talking to the wrong roofing contractors or is a standing seam roof really a bad idea on an old house?
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Replies
retdinbc,
The only downsides to standing seam metal roofs are their price, and that access to them for any maintenance can be difficult. Apart from that they are great. Long lasting, and much less likely to leak - if you can afford them I would definitely install one.
I have used nothing else for several decades now, many on old irregular roofs. They look fine. Here is one I installed on a poorly built, sagging, 70+ year old restaurant. The change was transformative in both looks and performance.
My neighbour recently got a standing seam roof done on an 1890s house. The place has a dormer and a sagging ridge, was not an issue.
My recommendation is pick heavier gauge narrow panels with striations. These are less likely to oil can if the roof surface is not flat.
I have seen a couple of jobs where the installer left the shingles on and cross strapped the roof with 2x2 to create a base for the metal. With the lattice, you can always shim it a bit to get it flat if the roof deck is really crooked.
The big downside to me with leaving the shingles underneath is not getting a good look at the sheathing before re-roofing.
+1 on going to a 24 ga and 12" panels.
I, too, was considering a standing seam metal roof for a rural cabin located out in wildfire country but I was concerned about getting professionals out there with all their equipment to install it (custom bending and cutting, plus moving long lengths of metal over rough roads without damaging it).
Then I saw this video from Matt Risinger on Youtube about a maintenance free home exterior. One of the products he features are metal shingles from Edco.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2LKRXXgNug&t=30s
https://www.edcoproducts.com/
Apparently their products are quite easy to get all around the country, including Canada.
Rockies63,
I order all my panels cut to length, and they come crated from the manufacturer with whatever profile flashing I ask for. The only tools I use are left and right tin-snips, a hand held sheet metal bender, and a cordless drill. The main reason I can see to use metal shingles is if you want that look.
It also helps to have somethlng like this:
https://www.dewalt.ca/product/dwashrir/18ga-shear-attachment
and
https://www.wukoinc.com/en-us/products/wuko-uber-bender-6200
and
https://allmetalworksinc.com/product/standing-seam-hemming-tool/
These are are very handy if you have a skylight to flash or using snaplock on walls around windows.
With any standing seam roof, the simpler the roof shape, the quicker the install. Flashing a skylight properly will take about the same time as doing an entire roof surface.
Metal roof tiles are a great option and quicker DIY install.
A couple of more things to think about. If you chose a metal with a matte finish, you can get away with a lot as far as curves. Most manufacturers are introducing more matte finish products. Also, the easiest place to see oil canning on a panel is when sighting along the roof plane. A low slope roof can be more noticeable because anytime you see the roof you are looking along the roof plane versus in your case you will most likely be looking at the roof not along it. Heavier gauge and narrower panels and striations will all help oil canning. One thing to consider is how the striations and the narrower panels affect the scale of the house. I am not a fan of the way 12" panels look on most houses. Most of the roofers in our area that are serious about standing seam roofing have portable rollformers. I am of the opinion that on most houses standing seam roofing is less expensive than asphalt shingles after one asphalt shingle lifespan (10-20 years). We sometimes make a wooden ladder for steep roofs, with a hook. To brace the hook, you run the ladder leg past the peak 2ft. and run a brace from the leg back to the hook, the wood won't scratch the paint if you are careful.
I just put a standing seam roof on a 100+ year old brick farmhouse I'm restoring in South West WI. The old rafters were just 2x4 rough cut oak. The length from the peak of roof to the exterior wall was just over 10',and a 12/12 pitch. The rafters were sagging badly the farther you got from the gable end. I was able to jack them up and added a 2x8 to each one, it wasn't perfectly straight but much better.
One reason for the sagging rafters was it was shingled all those years and a standing snow load, plus there was 2 layers of shingles over a layer of cedar shakes. I would definitely lean towards a standing seam roof especially in a snow load climate, they will clean themselves of snow load much quicker. I would also remove all old shingles to relieve the old rafters of the weight. Just my thoughts and experience.