Many homeowners in Upstate New York are opting for metal roofs for their homes. The advantages include longer life, better snow shedding, no chance for moss to grow on the roof and extremely low maintenance. Many roofers do not like to do metal roofs because of the difficulty of doing a professional job on houses with several valleys, dormers and chimneys. We at Alpine have been doing metal roofs for homes for nine years. We use only the best quality panels and have had very high customer satisfaction.
Different types of Metal Roofs: Standing Seam Vs. Exposed Fastener
Maybe 90% of the metal roofs you see around this area and most of what we do are the cheaper exposed fastener metal roofs, which are screwed down with neoprene-gasketed roofing screws, like in the pictures below:
If your roof has one or sometimes two layers of shingles, we can usually install an exposed fastener metal roof over your existing roof. We simply build a plywood and wood “purlin” framework on the roof and screw the metal panels, trim and flashing to that. This often enables us to offer customers a metal roof for less than a new shingle roof. For barns and outbuildings, metal is almost always the best option. A metal roof weighs only 30% what a layer of shingles does, and because it sheds snow much better, the total load on the roof is usually much less. We use only the best American-made panels with a Galvalume substrate (steel coated with aluminum and zinc) and painted with a 45-year warranty siliconized polyester enamel.
Standing Seam
In Europe there are 500-year-old standing seam roofs, many made of copper. With a steel roof, as long as the painted surface is maintained, it can last indefinitely. The standing seam roof doesn’t have any exposed fasteners, resulting in a cleaner look and longer life as they have no penetrations through the roof. They are held down with clips under the metal. The material is more expensive, it requires a full tear-off and the installation is more labor intensive, hence a higher price, usually 50% more on the total cost than an exposed fastener roof. Below are jobs done in standing seam:
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Check out our completed metal projects in our gallery: http://alpineroofingny.com/gallery/
Metal Roofs are our one of our specialties, give us a call at (607) 431-8349 to discuss details or complete our contact form on the bottom of this page!
Metal Roofs Tax Credit
The IRS homeowner energy credit has been extended for 2011. That means, homeowners that purchase a certified metal roof from Jan. 1, 2011 through Dec. 31, 2011 will qualify for a tax credit of up to $500 or 10% of materials. Tax credit only qualifies for primary residence and re-roofing applications. Use IRS tax form 5695.
The ENERGY STAR program approves certain metal roofing colors based on the theory that roofs that reflect most of the solar energy will stay cooler and require less electricity for air conditioning. This, in turn, reduces the amount of electricity that must be produced, which reduces the amount of pollutants discharged into the air at the power plants.
We at Alpine Roofing will advise you which colors qualify for the credit and will provide you with all the paperwork necessary for your taxes.
