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I’ve been selling metal roofing for nearly fifteen years and am often asked by family, friends, customers, and sometimes complete strangers what has motivated me to stay in one industry so long. The truth is, I am as excited to talk to others about the value, longevity, energy efficiency, and versatility of metal roofing systems today as I was when I began to learn about these benefits so many years ago.
Like many others, I grew up helping family and friends with home repairs; many of these projects included roof repairs. Traditional asphalt shingles were almost always the default roofing system and I became familiar with the basic patching and replacement associated with these systems.
In my late-teens an uncle asked for help drying in a hay barn. Upon arriving at the jobsite I was surprised to see a bundle of galvalume panels beside the barn. The rafters of the roof were in place, but the framing was open, just some 1x4 lathing boards running perpendicular to the rafters, and I didn’t see any plywood or OSB on the site. When I asked about the next phase of the build my uncle simply replied, “We’re ready to start slinging metal.”
This was my first experience with metal roofing, and since I didn’t know what I was doing I listened to the instruction of my uncle, put on a pair of work gloves, and proceeded to team grab a panel with my younger brother. We slid the panel up a ladder, where it was grabbed by the roof team and pulled up onto the rafters. The panel was positioned, I confirmed the overhang, and the panel was screwed into position. We repeated this process 11 more times and half of the roof was complete. One entire side of the roof was completed in less than 30 minutes; I could barely believe it.