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...

No roof can be "flat"; it must slope at least 1/4" per foot and sometimes more to avoid ponding in later years. A standing seam metal roof that can slope 1" per foot needs to be machine crimped as recommended by the manufacturer. You should already be in contact with a manufacturer's rep to get advice for their system for this design. For a conventionally fastened seam design the min slope is usually 4 in 12. I would use full coverage Ice & Water Shield (Grace only) under any metal roofing system Metal will look better if you can actually see the roofing from any place important. The advantage of EPDM single ply roofing is the seams might be 20 or 30 ft apart instead of 18" and it's cheaper and easier to repair. On top of rigid insulation metal would be supported on spaced strapping or continuous sheathing and fully-adhered EPDM would be supported on a wood fiber board. It generally helps to see the house design since so many aspects of exterior design are determined by appearance. I would be concerned with the roof edges and where the roof drains. It is unwise to design one aspect of a house at a time. I can't believe your architect and builder aren't doing this for you.

Our framer is beginning any day on our new construction near the boundary of zones 4 and 5 in Illinois. After feedback from Sanford, GreenDesigns, Sophie Wheeler, and JDS, we are looking into switching our standing seam metal roof to an EPDM roof. Our elevations with 1:12 pitch roof are shown below: I had done a lot of research on the proper way to construct, ventilate, and insulate our standing seam metal roof. This sketch is what we were thinking: Will a similar cross section also apply to an EPDM roof - only replacing the metal roof with EPDM? Is the EPDM adhered directly to the OSB/plywood sheathing? Any considerations for EPDM that I should discuss with our builder?

I’m afraid this is as clear a photo as I can take. It is almost 3 stories high & I can’t get up there. Here is another pic with less zoom. Where the arrow is pointing is a break in the sheet of roofing-pieces went from the peak of the roof to the top of the dormer window, and this piece is also cut even with those piece, and is laying on top of the section that continues to the valley below. They DO appear to be overlapped, Seabornman. Thank you.