A lake house roof has a harder job than most. It sits out in the open, it catches wind off the water from every direction, and a lot of the time nobody’s home to notice when something goes wrong. If you own a place at Possum Kingdom Lake, or you’re building one, here’s how I think about roofing it.
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 nearest office to PK is in Bridgeport, and the lake is well inside the area we serve.
Why lake homes are different
Possum Kingdom is a big lake. The Brazos River Authority lists it at 16,716 acres with 219 miles of shoreline, and a lot of the homes around Graford, The Cliffs and Sportsman’s World sit up on bluffs and points. That’s what makes the views so good, and it’s also what makes the roofs work hard.
Three things come up again and again on lake homes:
- Wind. Open water gives wind a long run at your house. Uplift usually starts at the edges: the eaves, the rakes and the ridge.
- Hail. NOAA logged 1.75-inch hail at Possum Kingdom Lake on March 7, 2024 and 2-inch hail on April 8, 2024. Lake country gets the same storms the rest of North Texas does.
- Nobody’s home. Plenty of PK houses are second homes or weekend places. A loose panel or a small leak can sit for weeks before anybody sees it.
Why standing seam fits a lake house
For most lake homes I’d start the conversation with standing seam metal. Here’s why.
No exposed screws
On a standing seam roof, the panels are held down with clips hidden under the seams. There are no screw heads sitting out in the weather on the face of the roof. That means fewer places for water to get in down the road, and less for you to keep an eye on at a house you aren’t at every day. If you want the longer version, our standing seam vs. R-panel comparison walks through hidden fasteners versus exposed screws.
Thicker steel
Every standing seam and R-panel roof we install is 26-gauge steel. Thicker steel is stiffer, holds its shape better in the wind, and shows less waviness in the flat part of the panel. Our post on 26 vs. 29 gauge metal explains what that number means.
Panels made for your roof
We run our own roll formers and a standing seam machine, so we form our standing seam panels in-house, cut to the length of each slope, and our own crew installs them. On the long, simple slopes a lot of lake homes have, that means one panel from ridge to eave with no seams across the slope. Here’s more on why we form our own panels.
Class 4 impact rating
Every metal roof we install is Class 4 impact rated under UL 2218, the highest impact rating. That can matter when you talk to your insurance company, and our Class 4 metal and insurance page explains how that works.
The details that matter on a windy lot
The material is only half of it. On an exposed lake lot, how the roof is put together matters just as much. When we roof a lake home, we pay close attention to:
- Eaves, rakes and ridges, where wind uplift starts. That’s where the trim and fastening get extra care.
- Flashing at walls, chimneys and any spot where a lower roof meets a taller wall.
- The decking and underlayment under the metal. We check the deck before anything goes on.
- Ventilation, so the attic isn’t trapping heat and moisture.
A roof that looks right from the water
At the lake, your roof is a big part of what people see from a boat or the dock. Standing seam gives you clean, straight lines, and there are a lot of colors and finishes to pick from, so it can match stone, wood or stucco.
If you or your HOA want a more traditional look, stone-coated steel gives you a shake or tile look in a metal roof. We also install designer and slate- or shake-look shingles where they suit the house better.
The photo at the top of this post isn’t from PK. It’s from our standing seam job on a brick ranch home in the Sanger and Valley View area, looking at the roof from the backyard pool and spa. It gives you a good idea of how standing seam looks from the outdoor living side of a house, which is the side most lake homes care about.
Boathouses, pool houses and outdoor kitchens
A lake property is usually more than one roof. We roof boathouses, pool houses, pergolas and outdoor kitchens to match the main house, so the whole place looks like one design. If you’re planning more than one project, it’s easier to plan them together.
Second homes and storm checks
If your lake house sits empty during the week, you don’t have to drive out after every storm. With your permission, we can inspect the roof while you’re away and send you a free digital photo report, so you can see what we saw and decide what to do from wherever you are. Our storm and hail inspection page explains how that works, including how we meet your adjuster if you file a claim.
Lake homes we serve
Besides Possum Kingdom, we roof lake and ranch homes all over this part of Texas, including Palo Pinto, Mineral Wells, Graham, Jacksboro, and closer to our office at Lake Bridgeport and Runaway Bay. You can see all our metal roofing options on one page.
Let’s take a look at your lake house
A full metal roof or a small repair, we’d be glad to come out. We’ll check the decking, the pitch, the flashing and the ventilation, and every inspection comes with a free digital photo report. Then I’ll tell you plainly which roof fits your house and why.
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 come out.