Waterloo has a lot of rental property near the universities and a lot of owner-occupied family housing in places like Laurelwood, and the two want completely different things from a roof. Landlords want it to stop needing attention. Homeowners want it to look right. Metal happens to do both.
Waterloo splits neatly. Around Wilfrid Laurier and the university there is a great deal of rental property where the owner wants the roof to stop generating phone calls. In Laurelwood, Beechwood and Clair Hills it is owner-occupied family housing where appearance counts as much as durability.
Metal happens to answer both, but for different reasons — one buyer is purchasing the absence of maintenance and the other is purchasing how it looks from the driveway. Worth being clear which one you are.
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Roofing homes in Waterloo
Around Wilfrid Laurier there is a great deal of rental property; in Laurelwood and Clair Hills it is owner-occupied family housing.
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
The tech campuses and office parks north of Uptown have the largest continuous roof areas in the city.
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
Waterloo is building upward more than outward now, and roof detailing on a mid-rise is a different discipline from a house.
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
Beechwood and the older streets have mature canopy, and mature canopy fills gutters.
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 Waterloo?
Free, no-obligation quote.