Wondering if a Metal Roof is Right for You?

A square is a standard measurement for roofs. 1 Square is equal to 100 Square Feet of roof (10' x 10'), so for example, if your roof is 1,500 square feet, that means it is "15 square."

As top rated metal roofing contractors, our goal with the prices quoted above is to show you the range of potential cost that each roof type can go for, on average, in the Capital Region market.

The average prices we quoted above are rough averages based on typical labor cost of removal of old roof, labor cost of new roof installation and material costs, plus miscellaneous job expenses divided up per square (for example, building permits, waste removal, etc).

Material costs in each category can vary widely based on what you want - for example a copper metal roof is going to be more expensive than an aluminum or steel metal roof, just like architectural or dimensional shingles are going to be more expensive than standard asphalt shingles.

Additionally the cost of materials can, and often does, fluctuate based on market prices from time to time. For example, shingles made from asphalt are created using oil, so the typical price range of asphalt shingles varies year-to-year based on the current barrel price of oil.

The purpose of the prices we quoted is so you can get a "ballpark" idea of what a metal roof might cost compared to a shingled roof or slate roof.

Your roof is unique, as well as your design tastes and situation and there are too many factors involved to give an accurate price over the internet.

For example if you have a walker roof (a roof you can walk on easily) your roof will cost much less than a steep roof (a roof you have to have scaffolding in order to work on and you cannot walk on). Price can also change based on if your roof is partially walker and partially steep and if you have different design styles or if you want to mix and match styles.

Plus, different roof materials all have different prices based on manufacturer, quality or grade of material and actual material used.

The best way to get a side-by-side comparison of what it'd cost to do shingles vs. metal roof and their types based on your exact roof is to book a free roofing estimate with our design estimators.

A roof's lifespan is the average length of time around in Albany, Saratoga and surrounding area that the roof will last before you should start considering replacement.

The aesthetic lifespan is how long a type of roof is going to last maintaining the original installation quality. This is important because this often helps determine what value the roof is adding to your home. The older the roof looks, the less value it's going to add to your home's selling price.

A brand new roof on average adds 70% of the total cost of the roof straight back as value to your home.

However, after 10 years that value won't be retained as well in a shingle roof due to normal aesthetic wear and tear and will drop. In a metal or slate roof, the aesthetic lifespan is significantly longer and maintains close to the 70% for 30 years, 75 years, etc.

This is different from the functional lifespan, where the roof is functioning perfectly fine much longer than the aesthetic lifespan.

From the chart above you can see, at $1100-$1800 per square, the price for a 2000 sq ft home would be $22,000-36,000.

But this is just part of the story when you consider the low lifetime costs of maintaining a metal roof. On average, a metal roof will last up to three times longer than a standard asphalt shingle roof.

Corrugated steel panel roofing is the least expensive type of metal roofing material. These types of metal roof are actually very cheap and can be up to 20% cheaper per square than asphalt shingles.

Metal roofs can indeed be installed over your existing shingle roof without tearing off all the shingles, providing that local building codes allow it. This is really not advised as there could be issues with the roof deck that you cannot see without shingle removal. This will also add a lot of weight to your roof and not every structure would be able to handle it. If there are leaks in the existing shingle roof, they need to be addressed. Any rotting framework or plywood must be removed and replaced. One benefit though, is that putting metal roofing over shingles should improve your home's insulation.