Out around Jacksboro, most properties aren’t just a house. There’s a shop, a barn, a carport, maybe a hay shed or a guest house, all on the same piece of ground and usually all getting hit by the same storms. So a question I hear a lot is whether it makes sense to roof the house and the shop at the same time.
I’m Blake Snow. I’ve been roofing for 30 years, I’m the third generation in a family roofing business that goes back 75 years, and our crews have completed over $80 million in roofing projects. Our Bridgeport office is about 31 road miles east of Jacksboro, and we work ranches and acreage all across Jack County. Here’s how I’d think it through.
Why do them together
When the house and the shop both need work, doing them in one project keeps things simple. You have one walk-through, one estimate, one schedule and one crew on your property. The material shows up in one delivery, the trim and color come from the same run, and you aren’t chasing two contractors or two start dates.
It also means the buildings look like they belong together. Metal colors can shift a little from one production run to the next, and finishes fade over the years. If the house goes on this year and the shop goes on five years from now, they rarely look like a perfect match. Done at the same time, they will.
That said, you don’t have to do both. If the shop roof is in decent shape, we’ll tell you so. If it only needs leaks fixed at the screws or a few bad panels swapped, that’s a metal roof repair, and we’re glad to do it.
Pick the right panel for each building
The house and the shop don’t have to get the same roof, because they don’t do the same job.
On the house, a lot of owners choose standing seam. The panels are held down with clips hidden under raised seams, so there are no screws through the face of the panel and fewer spots to maintain over the years. It also has the clean, straight lines that look good on a ranch or farmhouse-style home.
On the shop, R-panel or PBR is often a good fit. These are ribbed steel panels screwed through the face with a sealing washer under each screw. They go on fast and handle big, simple roof planes well. PBR adds a small extra leg at the overlap for more support on purlin-framed metal buildings.
Some owners go standing seam on everything. Others put standing seam on the house and R-panel or PBR on the shop in the same color. Both are good choices, and we’ll price them side by side so you can see the difference. Our barndominium, shop and ag roofs page covers how we handle outbuildings, and our post on standing seam vs. R-panel goes deeper on the two.
One crew, panels formed to fit
We run our own roll formers and a standing seam machine, and our own crew installs the panels. That matters on acreage, where the house and the shop can have very different roof lengths. We form panels to the length of each slope, so on most roofs that means one panel from ridge to eave, with no end laps to leak. You can read more about why we form panels on site.
Gauge: ask for it in writing
Gauge is the thickness of the steel, and a lower number means thicker metal. 26-gauge is our standard on standing seam and R-panel, and 24-gauge is available. Plenty of shops and barns out here were built with thinner 29-gauge panel. On a shop with long, flat roof planes, thicker steel shows less waviness and stands up better to foot traffic during maintenance. Whoever you hire, ask for the gauge on the estimate. Our post on 26 vs. 29 gauge explains more.
Wind, hail and open country
Properties around Jacksboro sit out in the open, and wind hits them straight on. On big shop roofs especially, the screw pattern at the eaves, rakes and ridge, and good trim at the edges, make a real difference. Every metal roof we install is Class 4 impact rated under UL 2218, the highest impact rating. No roof is hail-proof, and metal can still dent, but some insurance companies give a credit for an impact-rated roof, so it’s worth a call to your agent.
If a storm already came through, start with an inspection. We walk every building, photograph what we find, and every inspection comes with a free digital photo report. If you file a claim, we’ll meet your adjuster on the roof. See our storm and hail inspections page for how that works.
Plan around how you use the shop
A shop that’s just for equipment can have a simple roof. A shop with a heated office, a workshop you cool in summer or a living quarters needs more thought. When warm, humid air inside hits cold metal, it condenses and drips. The fix is planned at install, with a vapor barrier or insulation under the panels plus ventilation. Tell us how you use each building and we’ll plan the roof to match.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Will the house and shop be priced on separate lines?
- What panel is going on each building, and in what color?
- What gauge is the steel, and is it on the estimate?
- Are the standing seam panels one piece from ridge to eave?
- How will condensation be handled on any heated or cooled shop space?
- What’s the workmanship warranty, and is it in writing?
About the photo
The photo isn’t from Jacksboro. It’s a drone shot of a ranch estate we roofed in Clay County, with a composite shake main roof and standing seam metal sections. It shows the idea behind this post: different roof materials on one property, planned together so the whole place looks finished. Read more about shake-look and slate-look roofs.
Nearby towns
We roof houses, shops and barns all over Jack County and the surrounding area, including Bryson, Perrin, Chico, Bridgeport and Graham. See all our options on the metal roofing page.
Let’s walk your property
Whether it’s a full re-roof on the house and shop, a new roof on just one building, or a few leaky panels on the barn, we’d be glad to come out. We’re A+ rated on the BBB, and our Google ratings are 5.0 at all three offices: 86 reviews in Bridgeport, 13 in Decatur and 3 in Rhome. We serve the entire DFW Metroplex and towns within about 65 miles of Bridgeport.
Call (817) 733-9228 or request an estimate, and we’ll set up a time to walk every building with you.