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We have one. It was already here four years ago when we moved in and the next door neighbor says it dates from the mid 80's. They installed the metal shakes directly over the cedar shakes, which you can see up in the attic.

Aside from being dirty and needing to be painted these days, it still works just fine and our air conditioning bills in the summer are really low, anecdotally I would say 20-30% lower in the summertime compared to what my friends with similar sized houses says theirs is.

Niche is right about the rain noise, it can be pretty loud, but it's also kind of cool.

The downside is that you can't go up there and fart around like you can with a shingle roof for fear of damaging it when you walk around. Similarly, if you do any work that needs a hole cut through the roof (like a new water heater or stove vent), you have to find someone who knows how to do it properly as most repairmen and contractors don't. I also had to put my satellite dish on a pole in the backyard because it couldn't be mounted on the roof.

No idea on the expense of the install, since we didn't pay for it in the first place.

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I don't know if anyone will still do the aluminum "shingles". We did a house a couple years ago with a 40 year old aluminum "shingle" roof. Now THAT is long lasting as far as roofs go. Cottonmather is right though, they are a pain sometimes.

As far as sheetmetal, I haven't priced one in Houston but I did one in MS and it was substantially higher than an asphalt roof. I think it will last, but I'm on the fence as to whether or not it's "worth it".

flipper

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I don't know if anyone will still do the aluminum "shingles". We did a house a couple years ago with a 40 year old aluminum "shingle" roof. Now THAT is long lasting as far as roofs go. Cottonmather is right though, they are a pain sometimes.

As far as sheetmetal, I haven't priced one in Houston but I did one in MS and it was substantially higher than an asphalt roof. I think it will last, but I'm on the fence as to whether or not it's "worth it".

flipper

I think that if I were building a house specifically for my own purposes and I could afford it and I was confident that I wouldn't want to or have to sell it for at least the next 20 to 30 years and the house and lot were configured in such a way that an addition could be built on to handle a larger-than expected household size, then I would probably be convinced to go with an exotic roof on a house.

And I could be quite easily convinced to go with an exotic roof on a commercial property because savings from utility expenses translate seamlessly to sale price.

But the market for single-family homes doesn't seem as attuned to efficiency and solid bones as it is to basic curb appeal and interior finish. If resale value is a top-of-mind concern to a homeowner, a metal roof probably will not make much sense.

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I don't know if anyone will still do the aluminum "shingles".
they do. if i remember i'll take some post ike shots of a few i know were really surprisingly decimated. once the weak piece gives way, looks like the rest of that side didn't stand a chance.
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After talking to a couple of roofers and doing some very rough pricing on a standing-seam metal roof, the price ultimately dissuaded me. $30,000 was the lower quote for about 2,200 sq feet of roof with a fairly high pitch (price included re-decking). Another surprise was that both roofers cautioned me that as far as holding up in hurricane-force winds, the integrity of the metal roof is really dependent on the type of fastening system used, which raises the cost even more. The consensus was that for a replacement roof, I was better off going with the 30 year dimensional shingle with the highest wind rating.

If I were to ever build from scratch I would probably go with metal, but only then.

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I just received quotes to replace my roof. Metal roof (standing seam) priced out at about 225% of the cost of high quality composite shingle roof. I have been told that if properly installed, it stands up to hurricane winds just as well as composite shingle - but I have no personal experience or knowledge to verify that.

Overall, if I were going to live in my house for more than 5 years, I would go with metal. Energy efficient, good look, long-lasting. No guarantee of getting your money back when you sell, but you should get at least some of it back.

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