Built to Outlast Asphalt
Asphalt is the default around here. Standing seam metal is what you install when one roof should outlast two or three asphalt re-roofs. We pick the panel, gauge, and install details for your house, then put it on right.
Lit and his team of professionals are the best. The roof was installed quickly, and looks amazing. Highly recommend Elite Contracting Group to get the job done.
Great experience from start to finish. The team was professional, prompt, and delivered high-quality work. The roof looks fantastic, and the cleanup was spotless.
People picture one thing when they hear metal roof. There are really three families, and they're not interchangeable:
Metal isn't always the right call. On a starter home you're flipping in three years, asphalt wins. On a forever home, the math changes.
Asphalt shingle
Standing seam metal
Upfront cost is higher. Long-term cost depends on how long you stay in the house. The gap closes faster than most homeowners expect.
Asphalt salesmen repeat the same three objections. Here's where they fall apart.
Metal works almost anywhere. It earns its premium back fastest on these:
Steel standing seam installed correctly typically lasts 50 to 75 years in our climate. An asphalt roof on the same house needs replacement two or three times in that window. Service life depends on the metal thickness, paint system, and install quality, not just the panel. Aluminum and zinc run longer; copper longer still.
Standing seam steel runs roughly $12 to $18 per installed square foot in northern Illinois, depending on gauge, paint system, and trim complexity. That's two to three times the upfront cost of asphalt on the same house. Exposed-fastener panels (R-panel) come in cheaper, around $7 to $11 per square foot. Stone-coated steel runs $10 to $15. We walk the roof and quote against your specific project. Asphalt market pricing is on our residential roofing page as a reference point.
Standing seam if it's your forever home and you want one roof, never two. Exposed-fastener (R-panel) only on outbuildings, shops, or detached garages where the 20-year gasket re-driving cycle is acceptable and the sightline doesn't matter. Stone-coated steel when the HOA or historic district requires shake or tile profiles and standing seam would read wrong from the curb. The wrong call is exposed-fastener on a primary residence; it lowers resale and adds a maintenance step most homeowners forget.
No, and NFPA 780 (the lightning protection standard) addresses this directly: strike probability depends on building height, isolation, and topography, not roof material. The useful nuance: if your house does take a strike, a bonded metal roof disperses the energy across the panel surface and lowers fire-ignition risk compared to asphalt over wood deck, which is why insurance carriers don't surcharge metal in IL or WI.
That waviness is called oil-canning, and it's cosmetic, not structural. The roof still keeps water out. Four things prevent it: grooves rolled into the panel face, a flat deck under the panels, the right clip spacing so panels can expand and contract with temperature, and a heavier 24-gauge steel. Cheap installs skip all four and the roof shows it the first sunny morning.
Not a code requirement in most Stateline jurisdictions, but it's a competent-install spec. Standing seam sheds snow faster than asphalt, and that snow has to land somewhere. Snow guards above doorways, walkways, AC condensers, and driveway approaches are standard on our installs.