Welcome back to another Q&A with Hometown Roofing ATX.
As always, we love to educate our customers and homeowners about everything that has to do with roofing so that they can make smarter decisions and save a lot more money.
If you haven’t checked out our last Q&A, we talked about skylights and what homeowners should be doing to avoid damages and save themselves more the extra cost in repairs.
If you’re a homeowner struggling with your roof, reach out to Hometown Roofing ATX. We’d be more than happy to help you get on the right track and get the best roofing possible.
Let’s get onto the show.
What This Specific Roofing Project Was All About
In this Q&A episode, we talked about a current project of an exposed fastener metal roof that had metal screws coming off.
The important part we want to show homeowners is the difference between an exposed fastener and a standing seam metal roof, and why one is most likely better than the other when it comes to residential roofing.
We also answer some of the most popular questions that get asked about metal roofs by homeowners.
Have a listen or read on below.
If you do read, you’ll get more information that wasn’t available in the live Q&A.
Thank you.
Question 1: Do Screws Come Off Metal Roofs Often? And Is This A Common Problem Homeowners Should Be Concerned About?
With certain types of metal roofs, yes, metal screws do come off over time, and it happens to homes that have an exposed fastener metal roof.
The reason why most homeowners choose a metal roof is to avoid common maintenance problems with asphalt roofs.
But what homeowners need to know is, is which type of metal roof is best and not get talked into something that they’ll end up regretting later on in the future.
Reasons Why Exposed Fastener Metal Roofs Are Problematic For Homeowners
What happens is an exposed fastener metal roof is always exposed to extreme heat and cold year-round and causes the metal to expand and contract regularly and loosen those screws up.
Also, exposed fasteners have neoprene attached on top base of the screws to prevent water from getting into the roof. What happens is the heat and cold also affect the neoprene causing it to dry up and eventually cracking. These cracks will open up holes that allow water to flow right through and cause leaks and other damages to your roof.
You wouldn’t think water can get through a little screw hole, but they do.
Worse case is multiple loosen screws and cracks in the neoprenes on those screws. You’d be looking at a big problem if that were the case.
We recommend that if you have an exposed fastener metal roof, it’s best to get it checked every ten years or even sooner.
It’s very likely that in 10 – 15 years your exposed fastener metal roof is going to need a re-screw.
Because this often happens to exposed fastener metal roofs, it’s not the best type of metal roof for homeowners.
If you’re a homeowner looking for a metal roof, you’re going to want to go with a standing seam metal roofs because the screws don’t come off, and there no maintenance required at all.
Question 2: What Problems do Homeowners Face If They Don’t Get Exposed Fastener Metal Roof Screws Rescrewed or Replaced?
One major problem is if you get a lot of these loosen screws all over the exposed enough, the metal panels will start lifting.
Especially when there is a strong wind storm blowing by, you’re going to have several panels flying right off!
Not just that, but we mentioned before that loosen screws can cause water to slip right through to the wood, causing mold, mildew, and rotting the wood.
On the curb appeal side of it all, the screws on an exposed metal roof can rust over time, and it just makes the roof look bad.
Question 3: Is It true That Metal Roofs Require Less Maintenance Than Asphalt Roofs?
With some of the problems we see with metal roofs, that brings up the question that most homeowners have is that,
“Is it true that metal roofs don’t need as much maintenance as an asphalt roof?”
Our answer to that is.
If you’re looking for a metal roof that doesn’t need maintenance, then you’re going to want to install a standing seam metal roof.
Standing seam is the type of metal roof homeowners need always to choose if they’re going the metal route. Once this type of roof is installed correctly, you’ll never have to touch it again for 50 – 100 years later.
But f you’re comparing a screw-down (exposed fastener) metal roof to an asphalt roof in terms of maintenance, we say it’s almost the same because of the screws.
The reason why most homeowners don’t go with the standing seam metal roofs is because of the high price.
Question 4: Why Standing Seam Metal Roofs? Is It Worth It?
We often tell customers who are looking into getting a metal roof is that even though a standing seam metal roof might cost two to three times more than a regular composition roof, once they have it on, they don’t have to worry about it.
If not having to worry about frequent maintenance and repair issues with asphalt roofs is a big deal to you, standing seam is 100% the way to go.
The Keys To A Lasting Seam Metal Roof Is
Proper installation.
Even though we do recommend standing seam metal roof to you, you should do your best to find a contractor that knows what they’re doing.
Any contractor can sell you a metal roof. But not all of them know how to put them on correctly.
We’ve had customers in the past that we’ve inspected, and a majority of them had shown signs of leakage from day 1.
And these were standing seam metal roofs.
Many homeowners will try to get their metal roof repaired, and that can get expensive. The thing with repairing a metal roof is it also needs to be repaired correctly, and it isn’t easy.
Often homeowners will get sick and tired of having to repair their metal roof and have the entire thing taken off just to go back to asphalt roofs.
Because of not correctly installing metal roofs, many homeowners refrain from it and believe metal roofs are empty promises.
Question 5: Should Homeowners Still Make The Switch To Metal Roofs In The Future? Is It A Trend?
That all depends on your roof, house, neighborhood, location, and financial situation.
A metal roof doesn’t fit into every neighborhood, and it just doesn’t fit into every house. Not all homes will look good with a metal roof install, and that can hurt your curb appeal.
It depends on your location too. Here in Austin, people tend to be more conservative and stick with asphalt roofs whereas up in Dallas, homeowners opt-in for the higher end types of roof, and standing seams happens to be the one they like.
In general, making a switch from an asphalt roof to a metal roof is no easy decision for locals here.
But as far as it going into the future?
We believe more and more homeowners will begin to make the switch here in Austin.
What can make the decision much more comfortable is for homeowners to know who they’re dealing with, and only speak to a reputable local roofing contractor who knows what he or she is doing.
A good contractor should be able to educate you, guide you, and give guidance in your best interest. If they’re a bit pushy, you should proceed with caution.
Because at the end of the day, you don’t want to be pushed into a $35k metal roof and have to go and replace it in a couple of short years.
Because with a metal roof, once they’re put on, there’s really not an easy way to repair them.
Question 6: What About Hail Damage? Does A Metal Roof Not Get As Damaged ByHail In Comparison To Asphalt Roofs?
The thing is, metal roofs will get damaged by hail just as much as asphalt. Hail storms will undoubtedly put plenty of dents on your metal roof.
The difference is when it comes to your insurance and durability.
With insurance companies, they give you a less expensive insurance rate if you have a metal roof.
A lot of times, they have you sign what’s called an appearance waiver, which means even though the hail storm put some major dents on your metal roof, but nothing is cracked or broken, they won’t replace it.
The reason for though your metal roof may be badly dented, it can still withstand quite a lot more hail storms.
It just sucks that you’ll be stuck with a dented metal roof that doesn’t look too appealing.
With all that said in comparison to an asphalt roof, if you get hail on it and it gets dented, your insurance will replace it with new shingles.
If you’re ok with the dent, then you’re all good.
One drawback of having a dented metal roof is if you’re planning to put your home on the market. It’s going to reduce your curb appeal and overall property value.
Question 7: Do Metal Roofs Make Loud Noises During Rain?
The answer is no. It’s a complete myth.
The old way of putting on a metal roof might have some, but not much. But in the present day, we install metal roofing differently, and there is no noise from rain whatsoever.
Back in the old days, they would have limited decking coverage every 2 feet of a metal sheet.
Nowadays, metal roofs are all placed with solid decking, making metal roofs noiseless.
Question 8: Do Metal Roof Interfere With Wifi Reception?
That’s something we aren’t aware of.
From our experience over the years, there hasn’t been any case of metal roof interfering with wifi or phone receptions.
You should check if the location you live in already has bad reception before thinking that it’s coming from your metal roof.
If metal roofs happen to disturb wifi and phone receptions, we will let you know, and so will many reputable metal roofing manufacturers.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many things you should consider about metal roofs before you decide to get them installed in your home.
We’ve covered all the best information based on our experience in the field.
We hope this Q&A helps clear up a lot of the questions you may have with your metal roof.
We are always educating and giving knowledge to the public and our customers so that they can make the best decision for themselves.
If you find this article useful, please share it with your family and friends or someone you think will benefit from it.
If you’re a local homeowner in the Austin Texas area and need your roofing done, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us here or give us a call at (512) 707-9182
We’d be more than happy to help you!