When you’re thinking about redoing the roof of your home, metal panels and shingles are usually the best choice available. While metal roofing materials are more expensive than most other types, they make up for that by being the longest lasting. Compared with wooden and asphalt shingles, a metal roof will last upwards of 30 years longer than either. That means more time you don’t have to deal with fixing and reinstalling roofing on your home. Metal also stands up to the environment’s harsh conditions much better than any other type. Metal roofing materials are water proof, and fire resistant, so your home will be safe no matter what the weather throws at you.
When choosing a type of metal roofing material, you’ll find that there are a variety of options laid before you. Each material has it’s own advantages and disadvantages from price, to durability, to availability. The major metal roofing materials you’ll find are steel, copper, and aluminum. Steel is the most commonly used material, and is much stronger than copper or aluminum, but is also heavier. You’ll need to have a strong roof to facilitate steel panels. Steel also comes with durable panels that have been coated with a number of different finishes to avoid the possibility of rusting from weather conditions. Steel also comes in a wide variety of colors so that you can match your panels to any home style.
Copper can be very expensive as well, but is more lightweight than steel, so it lends itself to more uses. Copper is also much easier to adapt to different tools for changing shape and size, to perfectly contour to your roof. This metal roofing material is naturally resistant to rust, so there’s no worry from rainy conditions. Copper has also been in use for centuries, so it’s a tried and tested type of roofing that is guaranteed to last you a very long time, without any fuss.
Aluminum is the most lightweight type of metal roofing material, and lends itself to the most domestic use because of that. Aluminum can be painted with a variety of different finishes so that it can be contoured to your home’s look and feel. Aluminum also features similar coatings to steel to ensure you don’t have any trouble with rusting over the years. Although aluminum’s lighter composition can create a few problems in high wind conditions, you shouldn’t have any major problems.
To bring down the cost of a metal roof, you can also look for recycled materials. Usually recycled copper and steel are available from major roofing manufacturers like Gerard and Met-Tile. Shopping from a metal roofing material manufacturer is also recommended so that you can avoid any industry mark ups by shopping at a hardware store. But make sure to check prices at more than one location, so you can ensure you can find the cheapest quoted price for your roof. That way you’ll have metal roofing materials you can rely on to keep your home pristine and safe in any weather condition.