A Few Important Cautions About Installing a Metal Roof on Your Home

A metal roof is a great choice for any home, as it's often a better insulator than asphalt tiles and other materials and is lightweight enough that it can actually be installed over your existing roof. Metal is also more durable than asphalt and other materials, so it may outlast any other option by years if not even decades. When you are thinking of having a metal roof installed, you might note a few cautions about the material and the roof itself, so you know this is the right choice for your home and know you'll be safe with the roof as well.

Walking on a metal roof

One advantage of a metal roof is that its smooth surface allows rain and snow to slide off the roof more easily than a textured, bumpy asphalt tile. This will result in less risk of a roof being damaged from heavy snow or pooling water. However, that smooth surface can also be very dangerous for walking; without the right anchoring and without the right technique for navigating the slick and sloped surface of the roof, you could easily slide right off the surface. Leave repairs and inspections to a professional so he or she stays safe on a metal roof.

Installing the roof yourself

Don't think that a metal roof is just cut and then bolted to the home; the roof panels need to fit over each other so they're snug and without a gap in the seams, and they may also need to be fit around the corners of the home's eaves. Metal roofing tiles are also fabricated to have small trenches at certain intervals; this helps push rain and snow off the roof. Because metal roofing is more complicated than just plain roofing tiles, don't assume you can install this material yourself the way you can asphalt shingles.

Insulating the roof

As said, a metal roof may insulate a home better than any other material, so if your home is not properly insulated in the walls and attic, this might trap heat in the home. You might invest in an exhaust fan in the attic so that your home can vent this heat and any trapped humidity, or consider a skylight that actually opens and which would let out heat during warmer summer days. A metal roofing installer can also note the best material to use to ensure your metal roof provides enough insulation for the home without actually making it feel stuffy and uncomfortable inside.


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