Oshawa has solid, well-built older housing and a lot of it, much of it old enough to have been re-roofed more than once. Being on the lake doesn't help — the wind comes off it hard enough to lift shingles that were fine the previous winter. Highland has been installing metal here since 2004.
Oshawa built a lot of solid, plain housing in a hurry during the car years, and much of it is still standing and still well built. Those roofs are simple — straightforward pitches, few valleys, nothing complicated — which makes them cheap to do properly in metal and quick to get on and off.
Downtown around the Robert McLaughlin Gallery and the Canadian Automotive Museum the buildings are older and the roofs more awkward. Flat and low-slope sections, parapets, and the kind of detailing that decides whether a roof lasts. That work is slower and we would rather quote it properly than guess at it.
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Roofing homes in Oshawa
South of the 401 the streets are older and closer together; north of it, toward Windfields and Taunton, the housing is newer.
Most of the decision is the profile rather than the colour. A deep tile like Banff suits older roofs with steep pitches and plenty of visible surface; Standing Seam is flatter and cleaner and sits better on a long modern run. Banff is available in black only; Standing Seam offers eight finishes.
Eight finishes
Black 9005 through Terra Cotta 8004, on every profile except Banff.
Snow
sheds rather than holds it, so there's less weight on the structure and less ice building at the eaves.
Summer heat
reflective coatings cut how much reaches the roof deck.
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Commercial roofing
Downtown, around the Robert McLaughlin Gallery and the Oshawa Centre, the buildings are older and carry the flat and low-slope sections that need real detailing.
On a commercial building the case for metal is mostly about what stops happening. Flat and low-slope roofs need attention on a cycle, and that cycle costs money whether or not anything has actually gone wrong — inspections, recoating, patching, and scaffolding booked every few springs. Metal takes most of it off the calendar.
Fasteners
Standing Seam fixes with concealed fasteners, so there are no exposed screws to work loose.
Finish
matched to the existing brick, cladding or curtain wall rather than fighting it.
Long runs
panels are rolled in Europe and cut to the building, so there are fewer joints.
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New builds and custom homes
North Oshawa has absorbed most of the recent building, and those roofs are simple enough that a good profile choice is mostly an aesthetic decision.
The useful time to involve a roofer is while it is still on paper. Pitch, valley detailing and how the panel meets the fascia are all cheaper to resolve at the drawing stage than on site. We would rather be in the conversation with your architect early than be handed a finished deck and asked to make it work.
Early involvement
we work with architects and builders through detailing, not just at installation.
Seven profiles
the roof can be part of the design rather than a constraint on it.
Lifespan
metal outlasts asphalt by a wide margin, which matters on a house you intend to keep.
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Eavestroughs
Snowmelt here arrives in bursts rather than steadily, which is hard on an eavestrough sized for average rainfall.
Metal sheds water fast — that is the point of it — but it does mean more water reaches the eavestrough in less time than a shingle roof would send down. Undersized or leaking gutters are the usual reason water ends up sitting against a foundation, so we size the system to the roof rather than fitting it afterwards.
Coated steel
four protective layers, warranted 40 years by the system's manufacturer.
Sized to the roof
metal sheds water faster than shingle does, so the system is sized for the roof rather than matched to whatever was on the house before.
Coordinate the eavestrough finish with your chosen roof. Confirm the available materials and colours.
SEVEN PROFILES. UP TO EIGHT COLOURS.
Roofing in Oshawa: questions
Can the metal go over the shingles on my Oshawa house?
Often, yes, where there is one layer of shingles on a sound, dry deck. If the roof needs stripping first, the quote will say so and explain why.
Is metal a good choice near the lake?
Wind off the lake is what lifts shingle tabs. Metal has none to lift, and how it is fastened at the edges and ridge decides how it does in a storm — worth asking about at the quote.
Do you replace eavestroughs, soffit and fascia too?
Yes. Highland does eavestroughs, soffit and fascia as well as the roof, and doing them together is often sensible.
Roofing in Oshawa?
Free, no-obligation quote.