Vent: I chose a metal roof over asphalt shingles in Calgary and it's been a fight

Had to pick between a standard asphalt shingle roof for about $12,000 or a standing seam metal roof for nearly $30,000. I went with the metal one, thinking the 50-year warranty and snow slide would be worth it in our weather. The install took three weeks last fall, way longer than quoted, and the noise during hail is way louder than I expected. My neighbor in Bridlewood said it looks like a barn, which didn't help. Has anyone else here dealt with the real downsides of a metal roof after the sales pitch?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaretramirez1mo ago

Oof, that's rough. The noise thing is real, we ended up adding a bunch of extra insulation in the attic which helped a ton. The long install is also super common, crews aren't as used to metal here. For the snow, you absolutely need snow guards to stop those dangerous slides, the roofers should have told you. It gets better once you sort those bits out, but the neighbor comments just suck lol.

claire8721mo ago

Did the extra insulation make a big difference with the rain noise too, or just general sound?

wendy8201mo ago

It really depends on the type of insulation they used. The fluffy stuff in the attic is great for general noise but doesn't do much for rain hitting the actual roof deck. For that you need something dense right under the roof panels, which a lot of people skip. Our metal roof is still pretty loud in a downpour even with extra attic insulation. It's just a different sound than shingles, you kind of get used to it.