Choosing the Right Standing Seam

When most people envision a metal roof, what they tend to see is a traditional metal roof with long vertical seams extending up each roof slope. While that is a great image for metal roofing, there are several things beneath the surface of a standing seam metal roof that create significant differences in terms of life expectancy and performance from one product to the next.

Not all architectural home styles accommodate standing seam roofing, by nature of the roof design, overall home design, or neighborhood design covenants. However, if your architect suggests or you are considering vertical metal roofing panels, here’s a quick bit of information to help get you started on your research.

Questions To Ask About Standing Seam

Some of the chief questions to ask when considering various vertical seam or standing seam metal roofs are:

  • How are the panels fastened to the roof?
  • Are the fasteners exposed or concealed?
  • Does the design of the roof system allow for the natural expansion and contraction of metal with temperature changes without fatiguing the metal or the fasteners?
  • What base metal is the product made of and what type of chemistry is the coating on it?
  • How tall are the seams between the panels and how much water can they handle without “flooding out”?
  • Does the entire standing seam system have PVDF coatings for fade and chalk resistance?
  • What is the minimum roof pitch required for the installation of the product?

Most standing seam roofs are actually produced on-site, by local roofing contractors, from available stock using portable fabrication machines. This offers you little choice in the quality of the materials, the color, and the finish. And it certainly doesn’t ensure that manufacturing standards are adhered to, or that a manufacturer’s warranty is available.

Take The Guesswork Out Of Choosing Standing Seam

At Kassel & Irons, we have taken the guesswork out of choosing a quality vertical seam roof by offering you two different options. Between these two options, we have a product that is well suited to about 85% of all residences in terms of cost, looks, and performance. Those two products are ClickLock Standing Seam, made from 95% post-consumer recycled aluminum, and Universal Standing Seam, produced from quality G90 galvanized steel. Both products carry the same warranty and are designed to meet homeowners’ needs, but there are differences which guide most homeowners to one or the other.

Need help in deciding which type of standing seam roofing system is best for your home? We’re here to assist you in finding the very best roofing solution for your home…even if it doesn’t come from us.