We are on the Eastside and also considering a standing seam roof. Would love to know which roofer you decide to go with, or who you have ruled out. I also prefer the least amount of distraction between seams as possible. A few roofers have suggested "striated" panels, which I think are awful, at least on the style of home we have, and the few I have seen them on. I've driven around town looking at metal roofs. There are probably a few neighborhood watches sending out emails about suspicious car activity because of me. There have been a number of roofs with oil-canning even with pencil ribs, and there is a huge range of craftsmanship. HUGE. Some make the house look like a tin roof was slapped on, some really make the house. Some are finished with a huge ridge vents and other details that make it look like a Transformer toy folded neatly - I think it's like the roof equivalent of massive amounts of crown molding. Others look like the metal panels were just cut at the ends, all exposed, not always flat, with gutters that sort of match, but something doesn't quite work. Some look perfectly done. I've spoken to a few of the homeowners. One is a commercial builder. His home has 22 or possible even 20 gauge; the roofer is a commercial contractor he is familiar with and so this was available to the builder at a reasonable price. He is obviously biased, but says he would not recommend anything thinner than 24g. A couple of roofers I've mentioned the 20 or 22 gauge to thought that was crazy. With one roofer, going from 26g to 24g added 10K to the bid; with most of the others it was a 3-5K difference. Have you also considered what style seam? Nu-ray has several styles, a couple of which I think are weird - like an upside-down L. I think if you want to avoid oil-canning, and want to avoid pencil ribs and striated panels, perhaps consider an extra heavy gauge? What style house do you have? Is the roof a prominent feature when you look at your home from street level? Oil-canning isn't ideal, but it's a cosmetic issues, not functional. It may not be noticable on a house without a prominent steep roof that sits high on the lot. On the other hand, if it's a house on the downhill side of the street with a very visible roof...

Well, yes, it's possible.... but. That large amount of complex valleys, trim, and underlayment, will not be inexpensive. The flat metal is the cheapest part of a metal roof. It is not going to be easy to erase the home's identity and move it to "farmhouse". It has almost nothing in common with a classic farmhouse. It's pretty nice as an updated ranch though.

If it is ordered correctly, there is almost zero waste. You don’t order by the square foot like shingles. The lengths come precut to the exact length needed, and all that needs to happen are some site trimming for angles for hips. We had 32 foot lengths for some of ours. We used the exact number of pieces calculated to be needed, and only had the one length left over that we had ordered in case of damage. It’s the trim pieces that you need to allow a goodly percent for waste. Those things are where all of the dollars are in metal roofing.

Depends on the roof slope. I have standing seam metal roof in the Greater Seattle area with a moderate pitch of about 7 in 12. Nothing stays on the roof or gets caught. I haven't ever cleaned the roof in over 15 years. Moss has never grown on it either. I have a couple of large skylights and I cleaned off the upper sides once, I think. A lot of debris ends up in the gutters, but that's a different issue. At my previous house in this area I had cedar shakes and they were a nightmare to keep clean...and I had to continually deal with moss and rot. I would never have any other kind of roof in this area than standing seam metal.