Further Reading

A recent trend of home DIY installations have seen a lot of people trying to install their own metal roofing rather than pay the prohibitively high cost for a metal roofing contractor. Basically, these home improvement enthusiasts are looking to save on both ends: the reason they want the roofs they're building is because of their energy efficiency and long-term durability.

While the frugal thinking that informs these efforts is admirable, there are a lot of good reasons you should find some other way to diminish your metal roofing costs. While there are a few companies out there that make metal roofing shingles specifically designed for the amateur to install (from panels that pretty much clip together by hand to those requiring little more than the standard tool arsenal of screw gun, hammer, metal snips, caulk gun, and tape measure) these uniformly shaped shingles will only work on homes with a very regular roofing structure.

But your typical home doesn't have that. Odds are your home has a sidewall, a chimney, a dormer or a skylight somewhere up there, and the average homeowner trying to work around such structural irregularities without any panel-reshaping is almost bound to leave weak spots that make the internal structure of the roof vulnerable to water damage, possibly decreasing the lifespan of a roof which, properly installed, could last half a century without maintenance. The cost of installing a metal roof on your own could, in reality, be that you'll need to get the entire job redone by a professional. When even a simple mistake like leaving a mark on one of your metal panels with a lead pencil instead of duct tape can lead to massive corrosion and compromise the integrity of the roof, is it really a risk you want to take?

This is the reason that, unless your house is featureless and box-shaped, calling on the services of a metal roofing contractor is often the most sensible way to go. Odds are, a skilled contractor is probably not going to charge you nearly as much as he would to install clay, fiber glass or asphalt shingles, as the lightweight and easy, clip-on installation of metal shingles makes their assembly a far less labor-intensive job.

If he doesn't, and if he isn't willing to budge from what you take to be an unreasonable price, start shopping. Your first stop should be your family, friends and anyone you know with ties to the construction and renovation industry. Don't be afraid to tap these connections, as with a referral you stand the best chance of getting good service - the contractor is more likely to see you as representative of a body of past or potential customers, and so will be more interested in impressing you with his strong skills and reasonable rates than in taking you for everything that you have.

A 'brake' is the device employed by most residential roofing contractors that need to cut parts to fit the particular angles of a unique roof, and you should determine beyond a shadow of a doubt that your metal roofing contractor intends to use one. If he doesn't, well, a saw in human hands can never approach the efficiency of a hydraulic-powered, jagged-toothed saw, and the job is likely to stretch out far longer than it should, leaving you with shoddy, hand-cut panels and debt you don't deserve.

Learn more about Metal Roof Installation and Metal Roofing Contractors at DurableMetalRoofs.com.