Metal vs. Asphalt for a Windham, NH Roof Replacement

Most of the roof replacement estimates we write in Windham start the same way. The homeowner has a twenty-two or twenty-three year old shingle roof that was sold as a thirty-year roof, the granules are washing into the gutters, and in the first five minutes they ask whether they should just go to metal this time. It is the right question. The answer depends on the house, the lot and how long you plan to be in it, and it is not the same on a Colonial on Main Street as it is on a lakefront on Big Island Pond.

We have been putting roofs on Windham homes since 1998, from our shop in Hampton Falls and our office in Salem, right over the town line. We install both systems. GAF architectural shingles are most of what we do, and we fabricate double lock standing seam metal on site for the homes where it earns its keep. Here is how we walk a Windham homeowner through the metal versus asphalt choice, with the honest case for each, and the cases where we tell people not to spend the extra money on metal.

How does a roof actually wear out in Windham?

Windham sits about thirty minutes inland from our shop, and the weather that hits the Seacoast gets here a little later and a little colder. The pattern that kills a shingle roof is not one big storm. It is the swing: a week in the single digits, a thaw that runs water across the roof, a hard freeze that night. That cycle lifts tabs, breaks the seal strip and scrubs granules into the gutter. It is why a manufacturer’s thirty-year shingle turns into a 22 to 25 year roof in Rockingham County, and we say so on every estimate.

Then there is the wind. Windham is in a corridor that catches nor’easters coming in off the coast, and the open water on Big Island Pond and Cobbetts Pond gives that wind a running start at the lakefront homes. We covered what that does to shingles in our post on storm damage warning signs on Windham homes. Finally, the trees. The side streets off Main Street and Route 111 run through white pine, and a roof under pine stays shaded and damp, collects needles in the valleys and grows moss on the north slope. Each of those conditions pushes the decision one way or the other, which is why we look at the lot before we talk about materials.

Which lasts longer in Windham, metal or asphalt?

This is the number that drives most metal decisions, so it is worth being precise. The standing seam we install is double lock: the seam between panels is mechanically folded twice, 180 degrees, with no exposed screws anywhere on the roof. There is nothing for wind or ice to work loose and nothing to back out over the years, which is where exposed-fastener metal and snap-lock systems fail. We form the panels on site from Englert steel or aluminum, cut to the exact length of each roof plane, so a long Colonial roof gets one continuous panel from ridge to eave with no horizontal seam.

Asphalt is not a bad roof. It is a shorter one. The GAF Timberline HDZ shingles we install carry a wind warranty with no maximum wind speed when nailed with four nails, and algae protection that matters on shaded Windham lots. Step up to UHDZ and you get a thicker shingle with a 50-year transferable warranty and eligibility for the GAF Golden Pledge, which covers 25 years of workmanship and 50 years of materials, backed by GAF rather than the contractor. Installed over ice and water shield with the attic breathing properly, that roof will do its 25 years in Windham. It will just need doing again while a metal roof is still at the halfway mark.

Which handles snow and ice dams better?

Snow behaves very differently on the two roofs. On shingles it sits. Attic heat melts the bottom of the pack, the water runs down to the cold overhang and freezes, and the dam grows back up the roof until water is backing under the shingles. On standing seam, the smooth panel lets the snow release and slide, usually in one slab after a sunny afternoon. That is a real advantage for the roof, and something to plan for: on a metal roof we set snow guards above doorways, walkways, decks and the gutter runs, so that slab does not come down on a person or tear the gutters off the fascia.

What metal does not do is cure the attic. The older Capes and Colonials along Main Street often have thin insulation and no real soffit ventilation, and we have been in plenty of attics in the newer developments that were insulated to code in 2005 and never touched since. If the roof deck runs warm in January, you get ice at the eave under either material. So the ice dam work is the same on both: air seal and insulate where we can, get ridge and soffit ventilation moving, run ice and water shield from the eave well past the warm wall line and up every valley. The material on top changes how the roof sheds snow. The attic decides whether ice forms at all.

Which stands up to nor’easter wind on Big Island Pond and the open lots?

Wind damage on a shingle roof almost always starts at an edge: a rake, an eave, a ridge or the first course above a valley. A gust gets under one tab, breaks the seal and the next gust takes the shingle. We see it after most big blows on the lakefront homes, especially on the slopes facing the water. We install shingles to beat that, with enhanced nailing, a wind-rated synthetic underlayment and proper starter courses at every edge, and on a sheltered lot that is plenty. On an exposed one, we would rather give the wind nothing to grab.

That is what double lock standing seam does. The panels interlock along their full length and the clips hide under the seam, so there is no fastener head, no exposed edge and no sealant strip to fail. We explained why the coastal towns have been moving to this system in our post on standing seam metal roofs on the NH Seacoast, and the same logic holds for the open and waterfront lots in Windham. If your house takes the brunt of every storm that comes across the pond, metal is the roof we would put on our own place.

Which looks right on a Main Street Colonial, a Cape, or a home in Windham Heights?

People assume metal means a modern look. On a New England farmhouse or a Federal-period Colonial it is the opposite: standing seam has been on barns, ells and main houses in this state for well over a century, and a charcoal, dark bronze or slate gray panel on a Main Street Colonial looks like it belongs. What gives metal a bad name on historic homes is a bright color, a wide-rib agricultural panel or exposed screws. We form narrow double lock panels in a wide range of Englert colors and finishes and match the seam spacing to the proportions of the house. The dormers and chimneys on those older homes take real flashing work, which is where on-site fabrication earns its keep.

Shingles still fit most of Windham. A gray or weathered-wood architectural shingle on a Cape or a newer traditional home in one of the planned developments is the look the neighborhood expects, and GAF designer shingles give a slate or shake profile for owners who want more depth. Color matters more than people think, and we wrote about the mistakes we see in roof shingle color errors to avoid. In Windham Heights, The Commons and the other HOA communities, read the architectural rules before you fall in love with a material. Most call for shingles and some specify the color range, and we work directly with the boards so a roof does not get installed and then disputed.

What does each roof cost over the life of the house?

Here is how we tell homeowners to think about it. The shingle roof is the lower check today. Over the next fifty years it is that check, then a second roof, and on many houses a third, plus the tear-off and disposal each time, plus whatever a leak costs you in the years a shingle roof is failing. The metal roof is a bigger check once. The panels carry a long finish warranty, there are no fasteners to re-seal and no granules to lose, and when you sell, a fifty-year roof with most of its life left is a real line in the listing.

Whether that math works for you depends on how long you plan to own the house and what your budget looks like this year, not on a national average. On a Windham estimate we measure once and give you both numbers on paper so you can compare them for your roof. If the right roof is more than you want to pay out of pocket this season, we offer financing on roof replacements, and plenty of our metal customers have used it to get the long roof instead of the short one.

When would we tell a Windham homeowner not to go with metal?

We sell more shingle roofs than metal ones, because metal is not the right answer for every house. In a Windham Heights or Commons unit the question is usually settled by the HOA before we arrive. If you expect to move in five or eight years, a new GAF architectural roof with a transferable warranty gives the next owner everything they need, and the premium for metal would be a gift to them. On a wooded, sheltered lot off one of the side roads, out of the wind, with a well ventilated attic, a shingle roof installed properly will last the full 25 years and there is no performance reason to pay more.

There are two cases where we push the other way and recommend metal to people who came in asking for shingles: the waterfront and the heavy pine lot. Under a stand of white pine, shingles never fully dry, moss gets a foothold and the roof is tired at eighteen years. Metal does not care about the shade. On the water, the wind argument above is hard to beat. And on an older roof that may already have damage, the first question is whether it is a replacement at all. Our post on addressing roof leaks in Windham covers when a repair is the honest answer, and our roof repair service handles those.

How does a roof replacement in Windham go, and who does it?

The visit starts on the roof and in the attic, not at the kitchen table. We measure every plane, check the decking from above and the insulation and ventilation from below, and look at how the lot sits to the wind and the trees. Then you get one written estimate with both systems priced and a straight recommendation about which one we would choose for that house. More about how we work in town is on our Windham roofing page, and the certifications behind it are explained in our post on GAF Master Elite contractors in New Hampshire.

On install day the crew strips the old roof to the deck and replaces any soft sheathing, because neither shingles nor metal should ever go over a bad deck. Ice and water shield goes on at the eaves and in the valleys, synthetic underlayment over the field. A shingle roof then gets its starter course, the Timberline HDZ field with four nails per shingle, ridge vent and cap. On a metal job the fabricator is parked in your driveway forming each panel to length from the coil, and the crew locks and seams the panels up the roof, flashes the chimneys and dormers by hand, and sets snow guards where the slab needs holding back. Either way you get photos as the work goes, a swept yard and a warranty on paper. Our standing seam metal roofing and roof replacement pages cover both systems in more detail. When you are ready to compare them for your house, request a free estimate or call us in New Hampshire at (603) 686-7763.

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