Soft sheathing at the penetrations
Vents, stacks and skylights are where water gets in first, and the damage stays local for years before it spreads. A soft patch gets cut out and replaced, not screwed through.
Doing this work at the same time as the walls? Our siding services in Calgary and Airdrie page compares James Hardie, vinyl and metal side by side, and explains what a complete exterior quote covers — the access and setup are paid for once when the jobs run together.
We Never Go Over Your Old Shingles
This page is about how the roof actually goes on: which profiles we install, how the seam locks, what gauge changes in practice, and what comes off the house before anything new goes down. If you are still deciding whether metal is the right call at all, the two guides at the foot of the page cover that ground properly.
Metal can be laid straight over an existing shingle roof. It is faster, there is nothing to haul away, and it costs the homeowner less on the day. We do not do it.
The reason is the deck. Once panels are down, the sheathing is buried under two coverings and nobody looks at it again for the life of the roof, and the deck is what every fastener on that roof holds into. If a sheet has gone soft around a vent or along a valley, the screw that lands there is holding into wet board. None of that shows from the outside on the day. All of it shows later.
The old roof comes off. Every job, down to the deck. It is the only way anyone knows what the panels are being fastened to.
Old leaks nobody knew about
A stain on the underside of the deck that never made it as far as a ceiling. It tells us where the roof was failing and what to detail differently this time.
Valleys that were patched, not rebuilt
Layers of repair over an original detail. It holds until it does not, and it stays invisible while the covering is on.
More layers than expected
Two, sometimes three. That is weight the deck has been carrying for years, and it changes what we find underneath.
None of this is a reason to expect bad news. Most decks are sound and the inspection adds an hour to the job. It is a reason to look, and looking is not possible through a roof you decided to leave in place.
Not sure which option suits your house?
Standing Seam: How the Seam Actually Locks
Standing seam is the profile people mean when they say a metal roof looks expensive, and what they are reacting to is the absence of screws. On an exposed-fastener panel the screws pass through the face of the metal into the deck, each one sealed with a rubber washer. On standing seam the panel clips to the deck and the next panel covers the clip, so the fastening sits under the seam where weather never reaches it. That is most of the price difference between the two, and most of the reason the profile keeps going.
We install both lock types. Which one belongs on your roof is a question about slope, run length and budget, not about which is newer.
Snap-lock
The two panel edges are formed so they click together under hand pressure along the length of the seam. Quicker to lay, no seaming machine needed on site, and it suits most residential slopes.
Mechanically seamed
A machine runs the length of the panel and folds the seam closed, once or twice depending on the profile. It is the tighter of the two, and the one to reach for on long runs and low slopes where water sits on a seam instead of running past it.
Floating clips
Neither lock is screwed through the panel face. The clip holds the panel to the deck and lets it slide as it heats and cools. Steel expands whether or not the fastening allows it, and a panel pinned at both ends buckles or tears at the fixing.
Seam spacing
Narrower panels mean more seams, a stiffer field and a busier look. Wider ones mean fewer lines and more unsupported metal between them. It gets decided against the roof and the house in front of us, not by a default.
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Profiles and What People Call Them
We install three profiles, and they are not competing for the same building. Most of the decision is made by what the roof is on.
Standing seam
Hidden fasteners, clean vertical lines, and the fastening protected under the seam. This is the residential option most people are picturing, and the one we quote most often on a house somebody intends to keep.
AG panel
An agricultural profile: ribbed, fixed through the face, and the most coverage per dollar of the three. It goes on shops, barns, large outbuildings and detached garages, where the area matters more than the line of the roof.
Exposed-fastener panel
The value option for a house. Screws through the face into the deck, sealed with washers. It does the job for a long time, and the washers are the part with a service life — they are what gets looked at years later, not the steel.
Corrugated sheet is the cheapest metal roof anyone will quote you, and it is cheap for a reason: it belongs on an outbuilding. We will fit it there without argument, and we will say the same thing if you ask about it for the house.
If you are weighing metal against a new shingle roof rather than choosing between metal profiles, our asphalt shingle roofing page covers that side of it.
24 or 26 Gauge — Your Choice, and What It Changes
We install 24 gauge and 26 gauge steel, and the choice is yours to make at the measure. Gauge runs backwards from what you would expect: the lower number is the thicker metal. Both are ordinary roofing steel, both are installed to the same standard, and what changes is how the finished roof behaves.
26 gauge
The thinner of the two and the more common one. Lighter to handle, less expensive, and entirely adequate on a straightforward roof over a well-supported deck.
24 gauge
Thicker and stiffer across the width of the panel. It holds its shape better underfoot and bridges any unevenness left in the deck more forgivingly.
Where the difference shows
Oil-canning is the faint waviness you can see in a flat panel from a low angle in the right light. Thicker metal and narrower panels both reduce it. It is cosmetic rather than a fault, but people notice it on a large plain roof face.
What gauge does not change
Thickness is not a hail rating and it is not a warranty. The panel warranty comes from the manufacturer and covers the steel and the coating on their terms, not ours.
We will tell you which of the two we would put on your roof and why we think so. Either one goes on the same way.
What Goes Under the Panel
The panels are the part you see and the smallest part of the argument. A metal roof keeps water out through the layers beneath it and the detailing around everything that interrupts it.
1
The deck, repaired before anything else
Soft or delaminated sheathing is cut out and replaced. This is the one part of the job nobody can price accurately before the old roof is off, which is why the estimate says in advance what happens if we find it.
2
Underlayment across the whole roof
The membrane is what keeps water out while the panels are going on, and the backup for the rest of the roof’s life. It is not the steel that makes a roof watertight on day one.
3
Ice and water membrane at the eaves and valleys
Self-adhering membrane where meltwater backs up behind ice and where two planes drain into one. In this climate the eave is not an optional place to detail.
4
Flashing at every interruption
Chimneys, stacks, vents, skylights, wall junctions and valleys. Panels are the easy part of a metal roof. The flashings are where the work sits and where failures start.
5
Ventilation that matches its intake
Exhaust at the ridge is half of a system. Air has to get in at the eave, which means the soffit, and a roof vented at the top with a blocked intake moves very little air at all.
Snow Load, Ice at the Eave, and a Roof That Moves
Three things in this climate act on a metal roof harder than they act on a shingle one, and all three are handled at the detailing stage rather than by the choice of covering.
Snow leaves in sheets
A smooth steel roof does not shed snow gradually the way an asphalt one does. It holds the load and then releases it, sometimes most of it at once. Where that lands is the part worth planning: entrances, walkways, driveways, gas meters, and anything sitting below a valley that funnels two slopes into one. We walk those zones with you at the measure.
Ice at the eave is an attic problem
Ice builds along the edge when warm air from the attic melts snow higher up the slope and the meltwater refreezes past the heated part of the roof. The covering is not the cause and no covering solves it. What fixes it is air moving in at the eave, which puts the soffit inside a roofing conversation rather than beside it.
The roof moves every day
Steel expands and contracts with temperature, and a chinook can move a dark roof surface a long way in a single afternoon. Floating clips and correctly spaced fastenings absorb that. It is the reason the fastening detail carries more weight here than it would in a milder place.
On hail: metal handles it better than asphalt does, and it can still dent. Where the line falls between a dent you can see and damage that matters is a longer subject than this page should take on — what hail actually does to a metal roof goes through it, including what the published ratings do and do not promise.
The ventilation half of that middle point is the same intake the rest of the exterior depends on. If the boards are soft or the vents are painted shut, attic ventilation through the soffit is the page that deals with it.
How the Job Runs, Start to Finish
Nothing here is unusual, but knowing the order helps you tell whether a quote you are holding covers the same work.
1
The measure
We come out, get on the roof where it is safe to, look at the deck from inside where there is access, and talk through profile, gauge and colour with you rather than at you.
2
A fixed written estimate
The figure is written down before anything starts, and it states what happens if the deck needs work, because that is the one item nobody can price from the ground. What we quote is what you pay.
3
A schedule you have in writing
Once the scope is agreed we put the timing in writing. We do not promise a date on a website. We commit to one after we have seen the roof.
4
Strip to the deck
The whole old covering comes off and goes in the bin. None of it goes back on the roof.
5
Deck inspection and repair
Walked, checked, and anything soft replaced before the first membrane goes down. You are told what we found and shown it if you want to see it.
6
Membrane, flashings, panels, trims
Underlayment over the deck, ice and water where it belongs, flashings at every penetration, then the panels, then the ridge, hip, gable and eave detailing.
7
Cleanup, and a magnet over the ground
Metal roofing produces screws and offcuts. The magnet goes over the lawn, the beds and the driveway before anyone leaves.
The crew on your roof is our crew. We do not subcontract the installation, which is why the person who quoted the job is the person answering for it afterwards. Licensed, WCB-covered and insured, with a 10-Year Workmanship Warranty on what we install.
What Changes the Price
We do not put prices on the website. A metal roof is not a per-square-foot product, any number here would be wrong for most houses, and a figure that turns out to be wrong is worse than no figure. What we can do is set out exactly what moves it, so nothing in the estimate lands as a surprise.
In the estimate
- Stripping the old covering and hauling it away
- Underlayment, ice and water membrane, flashings and trims
- Panels in the profile, gauge and colour agreed at the measure
- Ridge, eave, hip and gable detailing, and the cleanup afterwards
Priced separately or not included
- Deck repair beyond the stated allowance, measured and shown to you before it is done
- Structural work, if the framing under the deck turns out to need it
- Skylights, chimneys or vents being replaced rather than flashed around
- Eavestroughs, soffit or fascia, if you decide to do them in the same visit
What drives the figure is roof area and pitch, the number of valleys, penetrations and dormers, how the roof is reached and how material gets up there, the profile and gauge you choose, and the condition of what is underneath. A steep, cut-up roof with six penetrations is a different job from a plain gable of the same area, and the difference is labour rather than metal.
For how metal sits against a new shingle roof over the length of time you expect to own the house, we set that out separately in how metal compares with shingles on cost.
The Short Version
Standing seam, AG panel and exposed-fastener panel — all three, chosen against the building rather than sold as a tier. Snap-lock or mechanically seamed, decided by slope and run length. 24 or 26 gauge, your call at the measure once you know what each one changes. The old roof always comes off, down to the deck, before anything new goes on. Our own crew, a fixed written estimate, and a schedule in writing once the scope is set. Licensed, WCB-covered and insured, with a 10-Year Workmanship Warranty.
Recent Metal Roofing Projects
Common Questions About Metal Roofing
Can you install metal over my existing shingles?
No. Metal can physically be laid over an old shingle roof and plenty of installers will do it, because it is quicker and there is nothing to haul away. We strip every roof to the deck first. Once panels are on, the sheathing they are fastened into is buried, and if part of it has gone soft nobody finds out until something fails.
What gauge of steel do you use?
We install 24 gauge and 26 gauge, and you choose at the measure. Gauge runs backwards, so 24 is the thicker of the two: stiffer across the panel, better over an uneven deck, and less prone to the faint waviness you can see in a flat panel at a low angle. 26 is lighter and less expensive, and it is fine on a straightforward roof.
Will a metal roof dent in hail?
It can. Metal handles hail better than asphalt does, but a large stone hitting a flat panel can leave a mark you can see from the ground, and no roofing material is exempt from that. Whether a dent matters is a separate question from whether it shows, and we go through it properly in cosmetic dents versus functional damage.
Is a metal roof noisy in rain?
Not the way people expect. The noise everyone remembers comes from sheet metal fixed to open purlins over a barn, with nothing underneath it. On a house the panels sit on a solid deck over underlayment, with an insulated attic below that, and rain on it registers about the same as rain on a shingle roof. The deck is what makes the difference.
Does snow slide off a metal roof?
It does, and not gradually. A smooth steel surface holds the load and then releases it, often in one go after a warm afternoon. That is usually an advantage for the roof and occasionally a problem for whatever is underneath, so at the measure we look at where each slope discharges: doorways, walkways, the driveway, the gas meter, and anything below a valley.
What is the difference between standing seam and an exposed-fastener panel?
Where the fastening sits. On an exposed-fastener panel the screws go through the face of the metal, each one sealed with a rubber washer that is exposed to weather. On standing seam the panel clips to the deck and the neighbouring panel covers the clip, so nothing that holds the roof down is out in the open. That is most of the price gap.
People call it a tin roof — is that the same thing?
Same thing, older name. Nobody has roofed a house in actual tin for a very long time. What goes on now is steel with a factory-applied coating, and the coating is what does most of the weathering work. If you ask us for a tin roof we will know exactly what you mean, and what we quote you is coated steel in whichever profile suits the building.
Do you do the work yourselves or subcontract it?
Our own crew, on every job. Nothing about the installation is handed to a subcontractor, which matters mostly for accountability: the person who measured your roof and wrote the estimate is the person you speak to if something is not right afterwards. Licensed, WCB-covered and insured, with a 10-Year Workmanship Warranty.
Want a fixed written quote for your house?
Worth Reading Before You Decide
Two longer pieces cover the ground this page deliberately leaves alone.
Why Calgary homeowners are choosing metal roofing — what changed in the market, how metal handles the weather here, what it costs against shingles, and who it does not suit.
Is metal roofing really hail-resistant? — how panels behave under impact, the difference between a cosmetic dent and functional damage, and what the published impact ratings actually claim.
Doing this work at the same time as the walls? Our siding services in Calgary and Airdrie page compares James Hardie, vinyl and metal side by side, and explains what a complete exterior quote covers — the access and setup are paid for once when the jobs run together.
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