Residential Case Study A Metal Roof Can Increase Your Home’s Value

In early 2012, Brian Kelly and his wife, Tori, were busy hunting for the perfect home to raise their young family. After looking at countless properties that weren’t right for one reason or another, they took a drive one day to check out yet another possibility. As couples with little time together do, they were enjoying the rare opportunity to chat without interruption. Their conversations ran the gamut from family and work schedules to anticipation about what the home they were going to look at might mean for them.  

When they rounded the corner, they both caught their breath. Ahead of them appeared to be the property of their dreams. Brian recalls, “It was just a beautiful house that sat up on a hill with a big driveway and a grand entrance. My wife was instantly in love. And I was too. But I also remember thinking immediately that if we bought the place, it was going to need a new roof in the not so distant future.” The house, built in 1995, still had the original shingles which were 17 years old by then. 

The Beginning

Brian and Tori bought the property and went on with a busy life for the next 5 years.   Fast forward to 2017 when their insurance company forced the re-roof decision that Brian knew was imminent the first day he saw the house.  Brian shares, “By then the existing shingle roof was 22 years old. The shingles had a 30-year warranty so we should have still been okay but that wasn’t the case.  Our insurance company came out for a routine inspection and told us they were going to stop insuring us if we didn’t put a new roof on it. So it was time to finally deal with the issue I always knew was looming.”

While never a fun way for a young family to spend money, it was time to begin the research and purchase of a new roof for their large home.  From the beginning, Brian was interested in metal roofing. “I wanted to go metal all the way. The practicality of it just made sense to me.  Asphalt shingles blow up in the wind if they aren’t sealed down or even as they age. As you might guess, living up here on this hill, the wind is blowing all the time. “

But his wife, Tori, wasn’t so sure it would look right.  And of course friends and neighbors had concerns as well.  Brian recalls, “Some folks thought it would look like a barn.  I was raised on a farm and metal roofing looks completely different these days.”

The Opportunity

With the large size of the roof, Brian knew that he’d need to get several quotes to find the best combination of quality and price so he called seven different contractors to bid the project.  Most of them quoted shingles, but since he knew it was what he wanted, he made sure to include a few to bid metal roofing. Luckily, he had recently talked to Cool Roofs owner, Todd Meinhold, at a local home show and included them in his bidders list.   

Brian recalls, “I was prepared for the metal roof to cost more than shingles.  Since it’s going to last 2-3 times as long, I just figured it would. So when Cool Roofs quoted me and they were in the same ballpark as doing an asphalt shingle, it was an absolute no brainer for me.  They were here about 1 ½ weeks with a 3 man crew to do our 2 story house with a 5,000 square ft. roof. They did a great job.

It looks fantastic and better than shingles in my book. And the best thing?  I don’t see the roof wearing out in my lifetime. One roof and I’m done. If I’d put on asphalt shingles, I’d be doing it again in 10-20 years.” 

The Result

While the decision was an easy one for Brian, for others there are still concerns.  One of the most prevalent is concerns about noise inside the home during rainy weather.  Brian’s quick to dispel that rumor: “You don’t hear anything different. Sure if it’s a hard rain, you can hear it.  But you’d hear that with shingles too. Trust me, I have 3 kids living upstairs and they haven’t complained once.“

While the sound of rain is a concern for some, other homeowners worry that metal roofing won’t hold up to hail as well as shingles.  Brian shares that their experience proves just the opposite. “Besides still looking great, it’s also held up well to the weather. A year after we put the metal roof on the main house, we had a pretty good hail storm come through.  While it was only pea-sized hail, it destroyed the roof on our detached garage which was still shingles. The metal roof on the house was just fine. So we decided then to go ahead and metal the garage as well.”

Two years after their metal roof installation and the Kelly’s continue to be thrilled with their decision to go metal.  Like many homeowners that make the switch, Brian became an even bigger fan of metal roofing once he installed it. He shares, “I talk to folks about it all the time and personally wouldn’t go any other way than metal.

I’ve even talked to my brother and a couple of buddies into it now too and they are happy they made the switch too.”

Advice

While Brian and Tori aren’t sure they will need that big family home in another 10 years or so when the kids leave home, Brian is confident about one thing.  “If we do decide to sell the property, I know we’ll get more money for it because of the metal roof. Folks who drive up that grand driveway to look at like we did that day won’t be bothered by thoughts of having to put a new roof on it for a really long time.  That’s a completely different situation than we were in and definitely makes the house worth more money.”