Standing Seam Metal Roofing in San Antonio, TX

Why the Seam Matters on the Escarpment

A standing seam roof is vertical panels with a raised seam every 12 to 18 inches, held to the deck by clips that are hidden under the seam. No screw touches weather. That does two things that matter specifically here. First, a San Antonio roof can start a summer day at 72 degrees and be at 150 on the surface by three in the afternoon; the clips let each panel grow and shrink along its length without working a fastener loose or tearing a hole around it. Second, there is no washer anywhere on the roof for hail to find, and no exposed screw head to back out, so the roof's weak points are limited to the places it meets something else. Everything the repair page describes about exposed-fastener roofs simply does not apply.

The Spec We Quote

24-gauge Galvalume steel, bare or with a Kynar 500 / PVDF finish, carrying a UL 2218 Class 4 impact rating. 26-gauge is cheaper, oil-cans more visibly on the long panels of a Hill Country roof, and dents more easily; on a house you plan to keep, 24 is worth the difference. Snap-lock seams on residential pitches above 3:12, where the panels click together and the clips do the work. Mechanically seamed panels on low-slope sections, porch roofs and anywhere water sits, because a seam that is crimped closed with a machine is the only one that handles standing water. High-temperature synthetic underlayment throughout, because a metal roof runs hotter than shingles and the cheap underlayment melts to the deck. Ridge, eave, rake and valley trim from the same manufacturer, in the same finish.

Bare or Painted

West of I-10, half the standing seam roofs are unpainted Galvalume, and they look right on limestone and stucco. Bare Galvalume weathers to a soft grey, costs less than a painted panel, is the most reflective finish you can put up, and carries a long manufacturer corrosion warranty. Kynar 500 painted panels give you colour that holds: charcoal, bronze and dark grey are what the HOAs in Fair Oaks Ranch and Boerne approve, and evergreen and colonial red still turn up on ranch houses out toward Spring Branch. Dark colours run warmer; ask for the solar reflectance number, not just the swatch.

Where It Fits, and Where It Doesn't

Standing seam is the right roof on most houses in the ring: the stone-and-stucco builds in Helotes, the I-35 subdivisions in New Braunfels reaching their first re-roof, contemporary builds inside San Antonio's 1604 loop. It is not the right roof for a committee that has written "no metal panels" into the covenants, which is what metal shingle is for, and it is more roof than a barn or a workshop needs, which is what R-panel is for. On a house that currently has shingles, the conversion page covers tear-off versus layover and what we look for in the deck.

The Quote

Measured on the roof, not from a satellite photo: pitch, penetrations, valleys, deck condition, and any old hail damage under the shingles. Itemised in writing: panel, gauge, finish, underlayment, clips, trim, tear-off and disposal. We quote the same way in Schertz as in Boerne, and no price on this site is a substitute for that piece of paper.

How long does it take? Two to four days on a typical single-storey home, tear-off included. Steep Hill Country rooflines with many hips and valleys run longer.

Frequently asked questions