What a Metal Roof Actually Costs Over Its Life

Every comparison of roofing materials starts with the price on the quote, and on that number a metal roof loses. It costs more to buy and more to install than asphalt shingles, and anyone who tells you otherwise is not being straight with you.

The more useful question is what the roof costs you for every year it keeps the weather out. On that measure the answer changes, though not for everyone, and not always by as much as the brochures suggest.

The number that matters is cost per year

Divide what a roof costs by the years it lasts and you get a figure you can actually compare. A cheaper roof that has to be replaced twice in the time a more expensive one lasts once is not the cheaper roof.

That is the whole argument for metal in one sentence. The coating on Highland's tile-profile panels carries a 45-year manufacturer warranty, which is a different order of time from a typical shingle roof. Over a long enough period you are not comparing one metal roof with one asphalt roof. You are comparing one metal roof with however many asphalt roofs fit into the same span.

What every replacement really costs

Each time a shingle roof comes to the end of its life, you are not just buying shingles again. You are paying for:

• The tear-off. Stripping the old roof is labour, and it is a meaningful part of every re-roof.
• Disposal. A bin, the haulage and the tipping fees, every time.
• The repairs that turn up underneath. Every tear-off is a chance to find soft sheathing, and finding it is not optional.
• The disruption. Noise, debris, a driveway full of trucks and a few days of your life. It is not on the invoice, but it is real.

A metal roof does not make these costs disappear. It means you pay them far less often. On some roofs it means you avoid one entirely, because a metal roof can sometimes go over the existing shingles rather than replacing them.

The running costs in between

The years between installation and replacement are where people underestimate the difference. Shingle roofs tend to need attention as they age: lifted tabs after a windstorm, granule loss, patched leaks. A metal roof that was installed properly needs less, though it is not nothing. We cover what it actually involves in what looking after a metal roof costs.

Repairs are also where installation quality shows. Most problems on any roof start at the details, which is why Highland's own five-year workmanship warranty sits alongside the manufacturer's coating warranty rather than replacing it. The three warranties on a metal roof explains which covers what.

When metal is not the cheaper choice

There are honest cases where the arithmetic does not work out.

• You are selling soon. If you will be gone in a few years, you pay the higher price and the next owner collects most of the benefit. Some of that may come back in the sale. Do not count on all of it.
• The current roof has plenty of life left. Replacing a sound roof to get a better one is rarely a saving. Repair or replace walks through that decision.
• The structure needs work anyway. If the deck has to be rebuilt, that cost is the same whatever goes on top, and it changes the proportions of the comparison.

How to compare two quotes fairly

If you have a metal quote and a shingle quote side by side, make sure they describe the same job. Check that both include tear-off or say clearly that they do not, that both include underlayment, ventilation, flashings and disposal, and that both name the warranties and who stands behind them. What should be in a metal roofing quote has the full list.

Then ask yourself how long you expect to own the building. That one answer decides more of this than any price per square foot.

If you would like a number for your own roof rather than a general argument, ask us for a quote. We will tell you plainly if metal does not make sense for the time you plan to stay.