Metal roofing
Standing Seam Metal Roofing
Concealed fastener panels with nothing driven through the weather surface. The system most people are actually picturing when they say they want a metal roof.
The difference between standing seam and an exposed fastener roof is where the screws are. On an exposed fastener roof they go through the face of the panel, into the deck, with a rubber washer doing the sealing. There can be thousands of them and every one is a small hole in the weather surface relying on a gasket. On standing seam the panels are held by concealed clips and joined by a raised folded seam, so nothing penetrates the surface water runs across.
That single difference produces most of the others. Standing seam costs more, because the panels are more expensive and the labour is slower and more skilled. It lasts longer without attention, because there are no gaskets ageing in the sun. It handles the movement metal does as it heats and cools, because the clips let the panel float rather than pinning it. And it looks like what people picture, which is a real part of why they buy it.
It is not automatically the right choice. On some roofs and some budgets an exposed fastener system is the better decision, and we will say so.
The problem
What this solves
A roof you want to stop maintaining
No exposed gaskets means no fastener cycle to plan for. The maintenance conversation moves from screws to flashings and debris, which is a much shorter conversation.
A prominent roof on a house you care how it looks
Long clean seam lines on a steep simple gable is the look. On the craftsman stock in Columbia, Sunnyland and York, where the roof is a large part of what you see from the street, that matters.
Long uninterrupted runs that need to move
The mid century houses on Alabama Hill and Silver Beach run long and low. Metal expands and contracts along its length, and a clip system is designed to let it, where a face fastened panel fights it.
The first visit
What the first visit covers
We measure the runs and check the pitch.
Panel length, pitch and the number of transitions decide whether standing seam is straightforward here or expensive here.
We count the penetrations honestly.
Every chimney, vent, skylight and sidewall is a flashing detail. On standing seam those cost more to do properly, and that is where the estimate moves.
We compare it against exposed fastener for your roof.
With the real difference in price and the real difference in what you will be doing in fifteen years, not a sales framing.
You get it priced in writing.
Panel profile and seam type, clips, underlayment, flashing approach, trim, and the exclusions.
The work
How a standing seam roof goes on
Call and site visit.
Measurements taken on the roof, not off aerial imagery. Panel length matters too much to estimate.
System selection and written estimate.
Seam profile, clip type, underlayment, flashing and trim.
Panel ordering and scheduling.
Panels are made to the run lengths of your roof, so this step has a real lead time. We will tell you what it is rather than being vague about it.
Tear off and deck inspection.
Anything soft gets found, shown to you, and replaced before it is covered.
Underlayment, clips, panel and seaming.
Layout set so the coursing lands correctly at both rakes, clips fixed, panels set and seams closed.
Flashing, trim and walkthrough.
Every penetration and transition detailed, then we walk it with you and clean up.
Straight answers
Why us for standing seam
The seam is only as good as the layout
Panels are cut to your roof. Starting from the wrong edge leaves a narrow panel at the visible rake and no way to fix it afterwards short of reordering. Planning that is most of the skill.
We do not treat flashing as the afterthought
Standing seam makes the field of the roof close to bulletproof, which means essentially every failure moves to the details. A cheap standing seam quote is almost always cheap at the flashings.
What is genuinely wrong with standing seam
It is the most expensive residential metal option and the gap over exposed fastener is significant. Oil canning, that slight waviness across a flat pan, is a property of flat metal rather than a defect, and it shows more on standing seam because the pans are wide and smooth. Repairs are harder, since you cannot simply unscrew a panel in the middle of a run. Panel profiles get discontinued, so an exact match years later is not guaranteed. And on a heavily cut up roofline the flashing cost can climb far enough that the system stops being good value.
We will point you at exposed fastener when it fits
A shop, a barn, an outbuilding, a simple low visibility roof, or a budget where the honest choice is a well installed exposed fastener roof rather than a cheap standing seam one. We install both, so we have no reason to push you either way.
Find out what standing seam costs on your roof
The number depends on your runs, your pitch and your penetrations. We will measure it and tell you, and tell you how it compares to the alternative.
Reviews
What customers say
Nothing yet, and we are not going to write our own.
There are no reviews on this page because there are no reviews yet
This is a new business. It has no review history, no star rating and no customer photographs, and every one of those would be trivial to fabricate and worth nothing to you.
The judgement you can actually make today is about how this company talks about its own product. There is a page on this site about what is wrong with metal roofs and who should not buy one, written by the company that only sells metal roofs. Read that instead of a testimonial, then decide.
What each review will carry when they exist
- Customer name and town
- Job type and date
- What we got right
- Star rating
Questions
Standing seam questions
How much should a standing seam metal roof cost?
Standing seam sits at the top of the residential metal range, the gap over exposed fastener is substantial, and the spread between quotes usually comes from the flashing and trim detail rather than the panel.
Cost figures are not published here yet. We will not put a number on a page that we have not stood behind on a roof, so ask and we will price your roof.
What are the downsides of a standing seam metal roof?
Cost first. Then oil canning, the slight waviness visible across wide flat pans in raking light, which is inherent to flat metal and not a defect, though it disappoints people who were not warned. Repairs are more involved because panels interlock along a run. Profiles get discontinued, so matching one panel in fifteen years may not be possible. And on a complicated roofline the flashing work can push the price past what the system is worth.
Is standing seam the best metal roof?
It is the best performing residential metal system, and best is doing some work in that sentence. It is the right answer for a prominent roof on a house you are keeping. It is the wrong answer for an outbuilding, for a tight budget where the money would be better spent on a properly detailed exposed fastener roof, or for a house you are selling soon. Best system and best decision are not the same question.
What is the life expectancy of a standing seam metal roof?
Long, and in practice limited by the flashings, the sealants at penetrations and the coating rather than by the panels. Because nothing penetrates the weather surface, there is no gasket cycle setting the clock the way there is on an exposed fastener roof. Expect the details to need attention well before the metal does.
Who sells standing seam metal roofs?
Panels come from manufacturers and reach you through installers, and some systems are roll formed on site from coil. We install unbranded systems appropriate to the roof rather than acting as a dealer for one manufacturer, and we are not going to name brands here. What matters more than the badge is the seam type, the clip system and whether the installer details it correctly.
What is the price of a 3 ft by 20 ft metal roofing panel?
That is a material price, and material is the minority of what an installed roof costs. The rest is tear off, disposal, underlayment, clips, flashing, trim, labour and the time the difficult details take. Standing seam panels are also usually cut to your specific run lengths rather than sold in stock sizes, so a per panel price is not a meaningful way to compare quotes.
Coverage
Where we install standing seam
Bellingham, and the towns within about half an hour: Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine and Birch Bay. We also get out to Everson, Nooksack, Sumas, Deming and Point Roberts.
Ask about standing seam
That is with us
We will get back to you within a working day. If water is coming in right now, call (360) 555-0142 rather than waiting on this.