Metal Roof vs Shingles in Tucson

The short version: in Tucson, metal costs substantially more up front and lasts long enough that it is usually the last roof the house needs, while asphalt shingles are much cheaper today and will be replaced again, probably sooner than the packet suggested.

Which one is right depends almost entirely on how long you are staying. That is the honest answer, and everything below is the detail behind it.

We install metal roofs and we do not install shingles, so read this knowing which side of it we are on. We have tried to write the version we would want to read if we were spending the money.

Why shingles underperform here specifically

An asphalt shingle is a mat saturated with asphalt and surfaced with mineral granules. The granules are the sunscreen. They exist to keep ultraviolet off the asphalt underneath.

Tucson attacks that arrangement from both ends. Constant hard ultraviolet at altitude works on the asphalt wherever granules have thinned. Extreme surface heat drives the volatile oils out of the mat, which is what makes an old shingle brittle rather than flexible. Then the daily thermal cycle flexes that increasingly brittle material, and monsoon rain scours granules off and washes them into the scuppers.

The practical result is the thing Tucson homeowners notice and find annoying. A shingle roof sold on a long warranty frequently looks finished a good deal earlier than that in this climate. Curled edges, bare patches, granules in the gutters, cracking on the west facing slopes first.

None of that means shingles are a bad product. It means they are a product being used at the harsh end of their range.

What metal does differently

Metal has no volatiles to bake out and no granules to lose. Ultraviolet works on the coating, not on the structure, and when the coating eventually chalks, the panel underneath is still a panel. That is why a tired metal roof can often be cleaned and recoated rather than replaced.

The failure mode is different too, and it is worth knowing before you buy. Metal roofs in this climate do not usually fail across the field. They fail at fasteners and details. On an exposed fastener roof, daily expansion works the screws in their holes while the sun destroys the rubber washers under the heads. That is a maintenance item, and it is real.

A concealed fastener standing seam roof does not have that problem, because nothing penetrates the weather surface, and the clips let the panel move instead of pinning it. It also costs more.

Cost, honestly

The shape of it is straightforward, even before anybody measures your roof. Shingles are considerably cheaper to install. Exposed fastener metal sits above shingles. Standing seam sits above that, sometimes well above, because there is more metal in it and much more labour.

The comparison that actually matters is not the price today, it is the cost per year of service, plus the cost of doing it again. A second roof means a second tear off, a second disposal, and a second round of the disruption. If a metal roof is the last one the house needs, the arithmetic frequently works out in its favour over a long enough horizon.

Over a short horizon it does not, and nobody should pretend otherwise.

Heat, which is what everyone actually wants to know

Almost every Tucson homeowner asks whether metal will make the house hotter. The short answer is that a light coloured metal roof usually runs cooler than the asphalt roof it replaced.

Metal feels hot because it conducts heat quickly, so touching it tells you nothing useful about what it is doing to your house. What matters is how much sunlight the surface reflects instead of absorbing, and a light coloured coated metal roof reflects a great deal more than a dark, granulated asphalt surface that has been absorbing heat all day and then radiating it downward well into the evening.

There is a fuller explanation in the heat post, because it is the single biggest misconception in this market.

Monsoon and wind

A metal roof generally handles monsoon better, and mainly because of how few separate pieces there are. A shingle roof is thousands of individually fastened tabs, and wind driven rain gets under lifted ones. A properly fastened metal roof presents far less for the wind to catch, and it does not shed granules under driving rain.

Standing seam does better than exposed fastener again, for the same reason as always: nothing penetrating the surface.

Hail is the exception people raise, and it is fair. Hail dents metal, and Tucson gets some, more toward Vail and the southeast. Denting is cosmetic and does not stop the roof working. Hail damages a shingle roof functionally, by knocking granules off and bruising the mat.

So which one

If you are staying in the house for a long time, metal is very likely the better purchase, and standing seam if the budget reaches.

If you are selling within a couple of years, shingles will probably serve you better and the money is better spent elsewhere. We will tell you that, even though it means we do not get the job.

If the roof is a shop, a barn or a detached building you do not live under, exposed fastener metal is often the sweet spot.

When it is worth getting someone on the roof

• Granules collecting in the scuppers or at the bottom of the downspout
• Curling, cupping or cracking, and check the west and southwest slopes first
• A leak that only shows up during a monsoon storm and not in ordinary rain
• Any roof over about fifteen years old that has not been looked at properly
• On an existing metal roof, screw heads standing proud of the panel

Worth reading next: everything we do, and what is involved in a new metal roof installation. Or just get in touch and we will come and look.