Metal roofing
Metal roofing for Berkshire winters
Standing seam and ribbed metal on houses, barns, garages and camps across Berkshire County and the Capital Region. Measured in person, priced in writing, and detailed for snow that slides.
Is it right for you
Where metal earns its cost
A metal roof costs more than architectural asphalt on day one. On the right building it pays that back by outlasting two or three asphalt roofs and by shedding the snow that feeds ice dams. On the wrong building it is money you did not need to spend, and we will say so.
Good candidates
- Barns, garages, workshops and other unheated buildings, where there is no ceiling below to lose heat into
- Camps and second homes that sit empty through the winter and cannot be watched for leaks
- Low-pitch roofs that hold snow, as long as the pitch is within the panel maker’s minimum
- Houses with ice dams every winter, once the attic insulation and ventilation are put right as well
- Owners planning to keep the building for twenty years or more
Think twice if
The roof is cut up with many valleys, hips and dormers: every one is custom-bent trim and hand work, and the price climbs fast. The roof would dump its snow onto front steps, a driveway or a lower roof and there is no room for snow guards. Or you plan to sell in a few years, in which case asphalt usually makes more sense.
Systems
Standing seam or ribbed panel
The two kinds of metal roof we install, and the honest difference between them.
Standing seam
The panels join at raised seams and the fasteners are hidden under them; on most systems the panels are held by clips that let the metal expand and contract with the temperature. No screw goes through the surface the water runs over. It is the system for houses, and for anything you want to stop thinking about for decades. It costs more than ribbed panel, mostly in labor.
Ribbed (exposed-fastener) panel
Ribbed sheets screwed straight through the face with gasketed screws. Quicker to install and less expensive, which is why it is on most barns and sheds. The trade-off is that the rubber washers age in the sun, so the screws want checking, and some replacing, over the life of the roof.
Whichever you choose, the estimate names the panel, the gauge of the metal (a lower number is thicker: 24 and 26 gauge are common on houses, 29 on agricultural panel) and the paint system (PVDF finishes such as Kynar 500 hold their color longer than SMP). If a quote does not say, ask.
Details
What matters in snow country
- Ice-and-water membrane at the eaves and valleys, as the code requires in both states, and a high-temperature underlayment over the rest of the deck. Metal runs hotter in the sun than shingles, and ordinary felt is not made for it.
- Snow guards above doors, walkways, decks and lower roofs. A metal roof lets its snow go all at once, and a slab sliding off a two-story roof can take a gutter, a railing or a person with it.
- Gutters only where they will survive. Sliding snow strips gutters off an eave with no guards above it. Sometimes the answer is guards; sometimes it is no gutter on that side.
- Condensation control on unheated buildings. Damp air under cold metal turns to water on the underside of the panels, so a barn or garage roof gets either a solid deck with underlayment or panels with a condensation backing.
- Ventilation, same as any roof. Metal does not fix an attic that traps heat. We check intake and exhaust while we are up there.
Our work
Hilltop garage and barn
Standing-seam metal over a board-and-batten outbuilding, with two shed dormers framed into the roof plane. Each dormer interrupts the panel run, so each one is framed, flashed and tied back into the roof before the siding goes anywhere near it.
Pricing
How we price a metal roof
Metal is priced per square — 100 square feet of roof — like any roof, and the panel is only part of it. What moves the number:
- The system: standing seam costs more than ribbed panel, and the gauge and paint system change the material cost
- Trim: every rake, ridge, valley, eave and wall flashing is a formed piece. A plain gable needs a few; a cut-up roof needs dozens
- What is underneath: tear-off, deck repairs, and whether the building needs a solid deck
- Penetrations: chimneys, skylights, vent pipes and stove pipes each need their own flashing
- Snow guards and gutters, where the building needs them
Getting a price
How to get an estimate
Our online estimator does not put a number on metal, because these things vary too much to guess from a form. Call (518) 733-0082 or send the estimate form. We come out, measure and give you a written, line-by-line price. That visit is free and there is no obligation.
Financing is available on qualifying projects through Service Finance Company.
Licensed and insured
Licensed in Massachusetts, insured in both states
Massachusetts requires a registered Home Improvement Contractor for roofing on an owner-occupied home of one to four units, and a licensed Construction Supervisor on work that needs a building permit. Ours are HIC #174965 and CSL #CS-106767U. New York has no statewide contractor license, so ask any roofer there for proof of liability and workers’ compensation insurance; we have ours sent straight from the insurer.
Permit rules in both states are set town by town, and we pull the permit as part of the job. More on what to look for in any roofer: Massachusetts and New York rules and estimates & agreements.
Where we work
Areas we serve
We install metal roofs within about 50 miles of Stephentown, New York, on houses, barns and camps on both sides of the state line. These are the towns we work in most.
Berkshire County, Massachusetts
- Pittsfield
- North Adams
- Adams
- Williamstown
- Lenox
- Great Barrington
- Lee
- Dalton
- Lanesborough
- Cheshire
Capital Region, New York
- Albany
- Troy
- East Greenbush
- Nassau
- Chatham
- Kinderhook
- New Lebanon
- Stephentown
Roofing · Construction services · Every town we cover · Free estimate
Request a written estimate
Tell us about the building. We will come out, take measurements and give you a written price for metal, and for asphalt too if you want to compare. There is no charge and no obligation.