If you’re thinking about a metal roof in North Texas, you’re probably not shopping for the cheapest thing on the market. You want a roof that looks right on a stone ranch house or a lake place, handles our wind and hail seasons, and doesn’t need replacing again in a few years. That’s where standing seam comes in.
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, from homes across Wise County to commercial work on casinos like the Imperial Palace, Boomtown and Casino Magic. Metal is the work I’m pushing hardest right now, because it’s where how you build it really shows. Here’s what I’d want a homeowner to know before buying one.
What standing seam actually is
A standing seam roof is made of long steel panels that run from the ridge down to the eave. The seams where panels meet stand up above the flat of the roof, and the fasteners are hidden underneath, so there are no exposed screws punched through the face of the panel.
That’s the main difference from exposed-fastener panels like R-panel, where screws go through the metal and rely on rubber washers to seal. R-panel is a great fit for shops, barns and ag buildings, and we install a lot of it. On a house where looks and long-term weather tightness matter most, standing seam is the premium choice.
Why we only use 26 gauge
Gauge is the thickness of the steel. The lower the number, the thicker the metal. Every standing seam and R-panel roof we put on is 26 gauge. We don’t offer a thinner option to win a bid.
Thinner panels can save money up front, but they’re easier to dent and show more waviness across wide, flat panels. When you’re paying for a metal roof that’s supposed to last, panel thickness isn’t the place to cut.
Panels formed on your property, by our own crew
This is the part most homeowners never ask about, and it’s one of the biggest differences between metal roofing companies.
We run our own roll formers. That means we bring the machine to the job and form the panels right there, to the exact length of each roof slope. A few reasons that matters:
- One panel, ridge to eave. No splicing short panels together on a long run, which means fewer places for water to get in.
- Fit to your roof, not a delivery truck. Long ranch-house slopes, barns and shops get full-length panels.
- Less shipping damage. Panels aren’t bent or scratched on the way to your house before they’re installed.
We also have our own standing seam crew. The people who form the panels are the people who install them. A lot of companies sell the metal roof and hand it off to whatever sub crew is available that week. We don’t work that way on standing seam.
Where standing seam fits in North Texas
We see standing seam work best on a few kinds of properties around here:
- Ranch homes and acreage around Bridgeport, Decatur, Boyd, Jacksboro and Springtown, where long, simple roof lines show off clean metal panels.
- Lake homes around Possum Kingdom Lake and Graford, where people want a roof they don’t have to worry about from a few hours away.
- High-end homes in Southlake, Westlake and Weatherford, where standing seam is often used on the whole roof or as an accent over porches, bays and entries next to a premium shingle or composite shake.
- Barns, shops and barndominiums across Wise, Parker and Jack counties. See our barndominium, shop and ag roofing page for those.
Mixed roofs are a big part of what we do. One of our estate jobs pairs a composite shake main roof with standing seam metal sections, and getting those transitions right is detail work you want a crew that does both.
Questions to ask any metal roofer
Whoever you hire, these questions will tell you a lot:
- What gauge is the panel? Get it in writing.
- Who forms the panels, and where? On site, or shipped in at fixed lengths?
- Who installs it? Their own crew, or a sub?
- How are fasteners handled? Hidden clips (standing seam) or exposed screws (R-panel)?
- How do they handle valleys, chimneys, walls and skylights? Flashing is where metal roofs leak, not in the middle of a panel.
- What’s the workmanship warranty? Ours is a 10-year transferable workmanship warranty on residential roofs.
What working with us looks like
It starts with an inspection. We’ll look at your current roof, decking, ventilation and roof lines, and you get a free digital photo report so you can see exactly what we saw. Then we’ll walk you through whether standing seam, R-panel, or a mix with premium shingles or composite shake makes sense for your house and budget.
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’re also certified with GAF, CertainTeed, Owens Corning and Atlas for the shingle side of the work, and every shingle roof we install is at least a Class 3 impact-resistant shingle.
We work out of three offices: Bridgeport (1402 Co Rd 3336), Decatur (200 West Side Dr, Ste 200) and Rhome (153 CR 4713). We serve the entire DFW Metroplex and the small towns within about 65 miles of Bridgeport.
Ready to talk metal?
If you’ve got a ranch house, lake place, estate or shop that deserves a roof built to last, I’d like to see it. Call (817) 733-9228 or request an estimate, and we’ll set up a time to come measure. You can also read more on our standing seam metal roofing page.