Metal roof replacement · Lee County, Florida
Two metal roofs.
Same price bracket.
Nothing else alike.
"Metal roof" covers two products that age completely differently. One hides its fasteners and moves as the panel expands; the other puts several thousand screws through the face of the roof. Both get quoted as "metal". Knowing which one is in front of you is most of the decision.
The honest summary: a well-installed standing seam roof will likely outlast you in this climate. A cheap exposed-fastener roof will need attention within a decade, and the screws will be the reason. The gap between the two is bigger than the gap between shingle and metal.
- Free, with no obligation
- Written report with photos
- Office on Cypress Lake Drive
The two families
Concealed fastener, or through the face.
Everything else about a metal roof follows from this one distinction.
Standing seam — concealed fastener
Panels run eave to ridge and lock together at a raised seam. Clips underneath hold the panel to the deck, and nothing penetrates the weather surface in the field of the roof. Because the clips allow the panel to slide, the metal can expand and contract through the day without tearing at its fixings — which in Florida it does, every day, by a surprising amount on a long run.
Dearer up front, far less to go wrong, and no maintenance item with a predictable expiry date.
Exposed fastener — 5V crimp, R-panel, corrugated
Panels are screwed straight through the face into the deck or purlins, each screw sealed by a rubber washer. It's quicker to install, it costs materially less, and on agricultural buildings it's been the sensible answer for a century.
The catch is the washers. They sit in full Florida sun, they harden, and eventually they stop sealing — so the roof has a maintenance cycle built into it. Screws back out slightly as the panel moves, and someone has to go up and re-torque or replace them periodically. That is normal for the product, not a defect. It's only a problem when nobody tells you it exists.
If a metal quote doesn't say which one it is, that's the first question. The difference in installed cost is significant, and a quote that says only "metal roof" is leaving you to assume the expensive one.
What Florida adds
Sun, salt, and a wind code.
Metal behaves differently here than it does in Ohio, and three of those differences are worth money.
The underlayment has to survive the heat
A metal roof in Florida sun gets extremely hot, and that heat goes straight into whatever is underneath. Standard self-adhered underlayment can soften and lose adhesion at those temperatures. A high-temperature underlayment rated for metal is a different product with a different price, and it is the layer that keeps water out once wind drives it under a panel.
The same secondary water barrier requirement applies as on any Florida re-roof — removing and replacing the covering triggers it (R908.7.2), and R905.1.1.1 sets out the three permitted methods. Ask which one, and ask whether the underlayment is high-temp rated.
Salt air eats the wrong metal
Close to the water, coastal exposure matters more than any other specification. Aluminium doesn't rust and is the usual answer near salt; Galvalume-coated steel performs well but its cut edges and fasteners are where corrosion starts; plain galvanized is the weakest of the three in this environment.
Fort Myers Beach, the Cape's canal system and anywhere on the river is a different exposure from an inland Lehigh Acres lot, and the panel spec should reflect that rather than being whatever the supplier had on the truck.
The panel needs Florida Product Approval for your wind speed
Roofing products used in Florida carry a product approval or a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance covering the assembly — panel, fastener, spacing, substrate — and it is approved as a system, not as a panel on its own. Substituting a cheaper clip or widening the fastener spacing takes the roof outside the approval even though it looks identical from the ground.
Design wind speed is read per address from the ASCE 7-22 map at Risk Category II, not from a countywide number. Ask to see the approval number for the assembly being installed on your house.
Specification
What actually separates two metal quotes.
Gauge — and remember the number runs backwards
26 gauge is thinner than 24 gauge. Thicker panels resist denting, oil-can less and cost more. For a residential standing seam roof in this region, 24 gauge steel is the usual quality specification and 26 is the budget one. If the quote doesn't state a gauge, it's 26.
The paint system matters more than the colour
PVDF finishes — usually sold under the Kynar 500 or Hylar names — hold their colour and gloss in UV far better than the cheaper silicone-modified polyester (SMP) finishes. In Florida sun that difference shows up as chalking and fade, and it shows up within years rather than decades. The paint warranty is separate from the panel warranty and separate again from the workmanship warranty. Ask for all three.
Seam type, on standing seam
Mechanically seamed panels are folded closed with a machine on the roof; snap-lock panels clip together by hand. Mechanically seamed generally performs better under wind uplift and costs more to install. Both are legitimate; they are not the same product.
What happens at the edges and penetrations
As on every roof, the field of the roof is the easy part. Ridge, hip, valley, eave trim, and the flashing around every pipe and curb is where metal roofs leak, and it's skilled work — a panel is only as good as the person who cut and bent the trim to meet it.
Oil canning, and the fact that it isn't covered
Oil canning is the faint waviness you see in flat areas of a metal panel at certain angles and light. It is inherent to formed metal, not a manufacturing fault, and manufacturers exclude it from warranties. Striations or minor ribs rolled into the pan reduce it; heavier gauge reduces it; a perfectly flat pan on a long run invites it. Worth knowing before you're standing in the driveway at 5pm wondering whether to complain.
The money question
Is metal worth it over shingle?
Sometimes. The case for metal is length of service: a properly installed standing seam roof can reasonably be expected to outlast two or three shingle roofs in this climate, which changes the arithmetic if you intend to stay in the house.
The case against is the up-front figure and the fact that the saving only materialises if you're still there. If you might sell within a few years, a metal roof rarely returns its premium at sale — buyers in Lee County don't price it the way owners do.
Two other things people expect and shouldn't assume. Metal does reflect heat, and a reflective finish over a ventilated assembly can reduce cooling load — but the size of that saving depends on your attic, your insulation and your ceiling, not on the roof alone. And metal does not automatically earn you an insurance discount: what earns credits on form OIR-B1-1802 is the attachment and the secondary water barrier, documented properly, not the material.
If someone is selling you metal on energy savings and insurance discounts without asking about your attic or your carrier, they're selling, not advising.
Where metal genuinely wins in Lee County. Long clean roof planes with few penetrations. Coastal exposure where you want to stop thinking about the roof. Low-slope sections where a shingle can't legally go but a standing seam can.
Where it often doesn't. A cut-up hip roof with a dozen penetrations, where you pay for metal and get a flashing-intensive roof anyway.
Questions
Metal roofing, answered straight.
Can metal go over my existing shingles?
It's physically possible and sometimes proposed, but it hides the deck so nobody inspects or re-fastens it, and it makes the secondary water barrier requirement very difficult to satisfy properly. Ask anyone proposing it how they intend to meet R908.7.2 and how the deck gets checked.
Is a metal roof noisy in rain?
Far less than people expect. The noise reputation comes from barns — metal over open purlins with nothing underneath. Metal over a solid deck, underlayment and an insulated attic is close to indistinguishable from any other roof from inside the house.
Does metal attract lightning?
No. A metal roof doesn't make a strike more likely. It is non-combustible and conductive, which if anything makes it a safer material to have on the house during a storm.
How long does a metal roof last here?
It depends on which of the two products you buy and how close you are to salt water, which is precisely why the honest answer isn't a single number. Standing seam in aluminium or Galvalume, installed well and inland, is a very long-life roof. Exposed-fastener steel near the coast, with nobody maintaining the screws, is not.
What maintenance does it need?
Standing seam: keep the valleys and gutters clear, look at the sealant at penetrations every few years. Exposed fastener: the same, plus a scheduled fastener check — that one isn't optional and the cost of it belongs in your comparison against shingle.
Can I put solar on a metal roof later?
On standing seam, unusually easily — clamps grip the seam without any penetration, which is one of the better arguments for the product if solar is in your plans. On exposed fastener it means more holes in the roof.
Will it dent in hail?
Possibly, and thinner gauge dents more readily. Hail is less of a concern in Lee County than in central Florida, but if it happens the damage is usually cosmetic rather than functional — which is also why some carriers exclude cosmetic metal damage. Worth checking your policy wording before you buy the roof, not after.
Should I get a wind mitigation inspection afterwards?
Yes. The credits come from documented attachment and barrier details, and a new roof with no OIR-B1-1802 form filed leaves money on the table regardless of what it's made of.
The rest of the cluster
A different covering is a different conversation.
Each material fails in its own way and carries its own set of questions worth asking before you sign anything. These cover the other three.
Shingle roof replacement
The common one, and the one where the underlayment specification matters more than the shingle brand. Three legal ways to build the secondary water barrier; they do not perform alike.
Tile roof replacement
The tile is a rain screen; the underlayment beneath it is the waterproofing, and it is what expires. Often a lift-and-relay rather than a replacement.
Flat roof replacement
A flat roof is not flat, and most low-slope failures in Florida are drainage problems wearing a membrane costume. Ponding, tapered insulation, and attachment method.
Where we work
Getting a metal roof quoted in Lee County.
Four cities, and the roofs in them do not age the same way — nor does the permit go to the same desk. Each page covers what is specific to that one.
Fort Myers roofing
Home base, on Cypress Lake Drive.
Cape Coral roofing
Open canal lots, so edges and corners take the wind first.
Estero roofing
Mostly tile, and mostly inside communities with a say over it.
Bonita Springs roofing
Closest to the Gulf, so corrosion arrives early.
Outside these four? Call and we will tell you straight whether we can reach you on the day you need us, rather than claim a service radius we cannot cover. All service areas.
Book it
Find out which roof you actually need.
Three short steps and we'll arrange it. The inspection is free, you keep the photographs and the written report, and if your current roof has years left the report will say so.
Get it in writing before you commit.
About an hour on site, photographs of every problem area, and a plain answer about whether this is a repair, a replacement, or nothing at all yet.
Get an inspection arranged