I'm sure the contractor does prefer metal -- look at the price difference!

Do you enjoy the sound of rain -- and hail -- hammering overhead? (Just guessing, but I'd think it would be an issue.)

We went through this decision making process a few years ago though because of the threat of fire during our hot winds, wood shingles really wasn't an option. Tough to even get insurance coverage if you have a wood roof. So, our choices were metal, Spanish tile and concrete. Asphalt isn't an option in our village and Spanish tile does not fit our architecture.

So, we looked at metal and concrete. Rode our bikes around to different streets in our area and started talking to people and making notes. What we heard from some people with metal roofs is that they could not use a cell phone inside their house. That pretty much cinched it for us and we now have a concrete roof.

Jodi-

We had to replace our roof on the old house after about eight years. Grrr! We went with metal. Hail shouldn't bother it but you'd probably hear it hitting the roof. The best part is you never have to replace it.

Good points. I don't want to hear hail hammering on my roof and cring at the thought of what damage it might be doing.
I hadn't even thought about the cell phone issue.

This is all new to me and I haven't done my research-we just found out yesterday that we would need a new roof. I knew there was a price difference, but I honestly thought the metal roof was the more expensive of the two. When you think about it though it makes sense that the metal would be cheaper-less labor intensive-I have even heard that sometimes these are put on right over the top of the old shingles-I don't know if it is true, like I said I haven't done my research-I really don't have time-our house is leaking and this is moving really fast so we should have new roof by monday or tuesday. I have to tell contractor today if we want paper or plastic. LOL

Hi curlysue,

I see I am your neighbor to the north as I am in Southern IN.

I recently had to have a new roof and had 'thought' I 'might' like a metal one. In talking to a highly recommended roofer I asked his opinion. He said that he would not go with metal in our part of the country. He said something about the freeze and thaws affecting the screws(?) or nails(?) it was put on with.

He said that a good 30 year shingle would outlast the metal. I ended up with Timberline 30 year Dimensional Shingles and love the looks of them and the job my roofers did. I also got a new ridge vent to replace the vent fans that no longer worked....oh, and also got a Solatube light too for natural light in an inner hallway.

Sue

Good points Sue, thanks. When I told the roofer that I thought I would prefer the shingles-he said if that is the route we take that he would get us a good 30 year shingle, which is an upgrade, he said the ones that were on the house are a 15 year and wouldn't you know it, the house was completed and I moved in on September 1, 1994-almost exactly 15 years ago

I lost several shingles with the Hurricane Ike winds that came through here last fall, and then lost more with high winds in Feb. I didn't start to get things checked on/out though until early June, as I knew it is best done in warmer temps, without it being 'too' hot. That too was when I noticed there had been some leaking in the dark utility room hall. The roofer said it was storm/wind related and temporarily affixed some shingles over where it had been leaking.
I talked to my insurance co and the adjuster came out and said he could see it was storm related before he even pulled his ladder out and went onto the roof. Insurance ended up paying for the new roof and vent, minus the deductable, and the roofer installed the solatude light for free.
my old roof had 25 year shingles and had lasted 20 years before the winds. The insurance cut me a check for part of the cost, (minus the depreciation) and once they receive my bill marked as PAID, they will cut me a check for the remainder.

Are you missing shingles too due to the winds last fall and winter? If so, I'm wondering if you have damage that might be covered by your homeowners.

I really really lucked out getting an 'almost' free new roof. It ought to take me on out.

Sue

My homeowners will cover the cost. Of course when I first called them they wanted to know if it was something that could be fixed for less than $500 (my deductable). I told the little twit that water was leaking inside my house-I didn't think $500 would touch it. They then gave me the number to a roofer, so I call the guy and he tells me he will be over one day this week-he hasn't been there yet and it has rains two times since I called the insurance company, I told this guy it was leaking inside the house and that we could have someone there to let him in so that he could see the damage inside-he said he didn't need to see it. Needless to say, I called the 800 number on my insurance policy, got a claim number and called a different roofer myself, and I told the lady that I spoke to how the insurance co. here was handling this situation, she was not happy. I told her that the more it rained while I was waiting on their guy, the more damage they would be paying for. I don't mean to be ugly, but this is my house we are talking about

IMHO there is no such thing as an actual 30-year shingle. My parents' subdivision were all fitted with 20-year shingles. Sure enough, this year and last year, everyone was getting new shingles. And the subdivision is 15 years old.

I spoke to a friend of mine who sells steel roofing. He said he's never heard of a problem with the cell phones, and the roofs are installed on top of 2x2's on top of the old roof. This cuts down the noise considerable when it hails. He had stone-coated metal which is much quieter than vinyl coated.

I have a friend who has a steel roof and she loves it. So it might still be worth looking into if you are still interested in seeing any differences between steel and shingles.
Do some googling as well.

Have a metal roof on this house and will be putting one on my "new old house". They hold up better during hurricanes. The cell phone doesn't get very good reception here, but it works as good inside as it does outside, unless you walk down the driveway...and then it picks up better.

I told this guy it was leaking inside the house and that we could have someone there to let him in so that he could see the damage inside-he said he didn't need to see it.
Well the adjuster will most certainly need to see the inside damage, as that should be paid for also.
Mine paid for priming and painting the hall, utility room area, as well as for the labor to move the washer and dryer and stuff out and then back in.
It sounds like your insurance is lacking some in knowing their job (don't need to see the inside damage) and customer service.

Sue

I have a metal roof, and I can tell you neither rain nor hail are heard, they put it on over your old shingles if the shingles are fairly recent...another advantage for us is DH and I like to do it yourself and we're getting too old to climb up and re-roof the house so we opted for the metal.

The only difference is that our metal roof is slippery compared to shingles and that's a problem if you have to get up on it, but since we don't it isn't very much of a problem for us.

We don't have a land line anymore and use cell phones only and we do not have a problem sending or receiving a phone call.

Our roof was less expensive than having a new shingle roof so we're pretty happy with that outcome ;o)

Oh trust me Sue, when the adjuster comes out he might have to spend a couple of hours in my 200 degree attic or give me the answers I want. The contractor that we called made the estimate to cover the roof, the ceiling in the bedroom where the leak is, one wall, insulation in the attic that has been ruined, I don't think he missed anything and we will make sure the adjuster doesn't. I mean honestly,I just want my house fixed without any hassle. I pay my insurance and this is why.

We have a metal roof, there is no issue with our cell phones and we live out in a rural area. As far as the hail, I have heard it a couple of times, but only if I am standing directly under the pull down steps to the attic.
In the living room or anywhere else you can't hear it.

They put the roof over the existing shingles and by the time we figured in having the shingles removed, cleaning them up and paying to haul them off, the metal roof was a whole lot cheaper and they had it done in less than 1 day. I don't regret the metal at all.

We had a standing-seam metal roof put in about 5 years ago when our "20-year" composition shingles gave up the ghost at 13 years.

It's absolutely wonderful. Being a light-colored metallic, it actually radiates some heat away from the house and garage. I know this because I have my studio in the garage, and I have a dual read thermometer in the attic space and down in the studio. With the shingle roof, we used to get attic readings of 125+ degrees on hot days. Now it's a more reasonable 89 degrees today - with our outside temperature at 104 degrees. This allows the room A/C in the studio to keep me cool - it used to be I'd have to retreat to the house if the garage attic temp topped 100 degrees. It just took too much power to cool the studio past noon in the summer.

Yes, the initial cost is a bit more, but they are much more durable, long-lasting, and energy efficient.

We get hail, and we hear it bouncing on the deck. We do not hear it on the roof. Nor do we hear rain noise, except through the doors, when we're standing right there.

Thank you for all the input. I'm still not sure which we will go with. Now I'm leaning toward the metal. After the input here and talking with the contractor more and visiting a few sites-metal versus shingles, I at least know more about it than before. I guess the reason I was really against the metal at first was because I didn't know how durable they are, I had it in my head that the least little thing would dent them or damage them and since that is not the case and they do last longer and they seem to save money on evergy bills we will probably go with the metal. Still not 100% sure, but at least now I don't feel totally ignorant about this whole roof thing.
Thanks everyone

No metal or shake shingles for me. Ours are a mixture of concrete and something else. Suppose to be really good, but who knows. The insurance agent asked what they were made of and said it saved me some money.

My brother has a metal roof and likes it. He lives in northwest Colorado.