A Closer Look at Metal Roofing

A Closer Look at Metal Roofing


News of rising energy costs and bad weather have sadly become the norm in the U.S., and it comes as no surprise that more and more pro-perty owners are looking favorably on metal roofs. Over the past few years, the benefits of installing metal roofs have been thrown into bet-ter light, so much so that the Metal Roofing Alli-ance expects the industry to continue growing at a rate of 15% per year for the next 10 to 20 years.

Whether you’re a residential or commercial property owner, you’ll find that there are cer-tainly a lot of perks to having a metal roof. But is it true that a metal roof is a gift that will keep on giving, or is all that just really good marketing?

To answer that, we’ll take a closer look at the current state of the industry, the metal roof manufacturing process, and how metal roofers customize the material to meet your

specific roofing requirements.


Part One: the Metal roofingIndustry


1 square = 100 square feet

A 2012 survey by the Metal Roofing Alliance showed that between 2003 and 2009, a time when market shares for every other roofing mate-rial was down by at least 21 percent, metal went up nearly 15 percent. That’s saying something.

For every 1 percent increase, the metal roofing industry sees 1.5 million squares in added sales plus 100,000 tons of steel and 200,000 gallons of paint. That’s not even counting other roofing components like fasteners, flashings, and underlayment!

The Metal Roofing Industry


Roofing Contractor Magazine echoed the Alli-ance’s optimism in their 2013 State of the Indus-try Report. Residential metal roofing is on its own a $13 billion industry, and the growing role of metal in flat-to-pitched retrofits is only bound to boost the industry’s commercial roofing shares.

There are currently two types of metal roofing systems available on the market today: hydro-static (watertight, low-slope) and hydrokinetic (water-shedding, steep-slope). Metal roofs come in different formats, such as sheet metal shingles or tiles, sheet metal panels, and stan-ding-seam systems. They are also made from a wide variety of materials, with galvanized steel, aluminum, and copper being the most common.

The wealth of options available (not to mention the impressive industry statistics) already hints at the fact that metal can perform as advertised. But in the next chapter, we’ll take things further and find out just how metal roofs are made.

sheet metal tile

standing-seam system

sheet metal panels

The Metal Roofing Industry


Part twO:the Metal roofManufacturingProcess


The use of metal in roofing dates as far back as the 3rd century B.C., with the copper shingles installed on top of the 162-foot-tall Loha Maha Paya temple in Sri Lanka. In the U.S., metal roofs are believed to have made their first ap-pearance in the late 19th century. Time has brought a lot of changes to the way metal roofs are manufac-tured—from ma-nual hammering to power hammering to power rolling.

It was Swedish mining engineer Christopher Pol-hem who revolutionized the large-scale production of metal roofs with his use of rolling machinery be-

ginning around 1704. It allowed Polhem’s metal works to pro-duce sheet metal roofing materials, the most important of which was tinned sheet. Then, in the 1750s, English iron-master Henry Cort developed the roll-forming process, which became the basis of modern-day metal roof production.

Swedish mining engineer Christopher Polhem, 1661-1751

English ironmaster Henry Cort, 1741-1800

The Metal Roof Manufacturing Process


Today, the metal roof manufacturing process be-gins with a coil of metal. Coatings of zinc or zinc-aluminum coating and primer are applied as needed. From this point onward, the process will depend on the specific format or profile the ma-nufacturer wants to produce. Vertical panels are given a baked-on paint finish, rolled to form their characteristic ribs, and cut to specified lengths. Shingles and tiles, on the other hand, are given an acrylic-bonded stone chip or paint finish, cut into sections, and stamped.

The manufacturing process also has to factor in guidelines and specifications set by industry authorities, such as:

AISI is a U.S. trade association and a core mem-ber of the Metal Roofing Alliance. Their investi-gations into the performance of metals in roofing (among other industries) have allowed them to publish specifications for the production and in-stallation of metal roofs and structural members.

enerGY StarBecause metal roofs are often promoted and sold as a green roofing option, they are sub-ject to ENERGY STAR product specifications.

aMerIcan IrOn & Steel InStItute

The Metal Roof Manufacturing Process


Some of the performance metrics ENERGY STAR uses to evaluate metal roofs include:

Solar fluxA measure of the direct and diffused radiation a roof receives from the sun at ground level.

Solar reflectanceA measure of the amount of solar flux reflected by a roof’s surface.

thermal emittanceA measure of how well a roof’s surface radiates heat away from itself compared with a blackbody radiator operating at the same temperature.

It pays to note that while metal in general performs better than many other roofing materials, the actual manufacturing process and product performance vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Not

all metal roofs are created equal.


Part three:custom Metal Fabrication


In this final chapter, we’ll go over the advantages of having your metal roof installed by roofers who ope-rate their own custom metal shop.

The biggest competitive advantage of contractors who fabricate their own materials is that they have a fuller understanding of the importance of indus-try standards for manufacturing as well as installa-tion. Think of a custom metal shop as a product and a showcase of a contractor’s ability to put a wealth of industry knowledge into day-to-day practice.

Aside from theoretical knowledge, working with this breed of contractors ensures:

Quality control. A custom metal shop gives a skilled roofer more control over the finished product. Every roofing project poses unique challenges, but in the hands of a highly specialized metal roofing crew and an in-house team of metal artisans and technicians, you can be sure that all your roo-fing requirements will be met. Consistency in ma-terials and workmanship can also be achieved more readily when every-thing is done in-house.

Maximum design freedom.While there is nothing inherently wrong with install-ing a prefabricated metal roof, getting quality results will be difficult if you’re after a more complex roof design. A custom metal shop will enable a contractor to fabricate roofing components to suit the needs of specific pro-jects no matter how complex their requirements are.

time and cost savings.For more complex roofing projects, fabrication done in-house is always more efficient than prefab be-cause it minimizes lead times. Less time to com-plete your project means less money out of pocket.

Custom Metal Fabrication


ARRy’S RooFIng SERvICES, InC.401 East Spruce Street, Tarpon Springs, FL 34689

(727) 938-9565(727) 362-2230www.arrysroofing.com

http://www.arrysroofing.com/

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A Closer Look at Metal Roofing