Stone Coated Roofing

Lots of information.. It looks that here the Gerard and Allmet are offered by Metals USA. Decra is their main competition but both Gerard and Decra are owned by the same Fletcher Building in New Zeland. It really is fishy. One of my employees who worked as roofer in Australia told me that they had to tear-off pretty many of those roofs due to their failure in 90's. But I guess they had to do something OK since they are still on the market.>>>

PGRIZ, so how long do you think would it take for an experienced 4 men crew to install 370 square meters (4000 sq ft), hip roof with valleys, on a second storey high building, the roof is nonwalkable? (I understand that first few jobs would go slowly but am looking for some estimates). I do have all the equipment and we start with batten system, shake style and use screws for attachment. Thanks, Agnes >>>

We've done a number of Gerard/Allmet installs. You need to buy the Allmet shear and brake. The 2x2 battens are installed using spacers (for exact spacing of the battens) and nail-guns. The steel panels are installed and screwed down with screws ordered from Allmet. On large, unbroken fields, the installation is very quick, but on the hips, gables, and valleys things slow down. Overall, our labour appears to be about the same as installing aluminum shingles. However, with the first few jobs, take the time to get the details right. You'll pick up the speed once you can get into the flow.>>>

That is helpful. If they stay on the market for 40 years - they might be here for awhile yet. Here Decra and Gerard are one company purchased by US Metals. But it is good to be able to tell the customer that their metal roof has got a chance :-) I was told that in "snow country" you have to use screws instead of nails. That would prolong the installation. >>>

I believe that more important than the product itself is the installation. I have seen so much expensive material wasted due to bad installation. But I also have a trouble telling the customer that his new 30 year architectural shingles will really last for 30 days. Most of the roofs that we tear-off here in Illinois are avarage of 10 years old. About 20% of our customers want something more than that. I do not believe in 50 year warranties since there are rarely companies selling under the same name for 50 years. But if you do good installation, there is stuff out there that can stay on the roof for 50 years (I do not know yet if Stone coated Steel is one of them though). If the cost of material and installation would be twice the price of asphalt shingles - I think it is worth the try. I wonder however if this batten system 2"x2" tkes really only twice the time of install that the asphalt shingles do.>>>

It seems like it would be the same as the aluminum. I haven't installed the aluminum but I've been to the school for it.>>>

We do aluminum shingles, standing seam panels or plastic slate as an alternative for asphalt shingles. I think these are great products. I do not have an opinion about stone coated steel yet. But the product price is so good right now that we want to give it a try. Manufacturer says that installation is very fast, I am afraid it might be costly and that is why I look for some advise here. >>>

I've never done them but was thinking about adding a line as an high end alternative to shingles. Let me know what you think of the brand you choose.>>>