A metal roof leaks at its seams and screws, rarely through the panel.
Water turns up on a ceiling, and the metal above it looks perfect. It usually is. The leak lives at a panel lap, a fastener that has backed out, a skylight curb or a cracked pipe boot. Our own licensed and insured crew finds that spot and fixes it, and we tell you plainly if the roof needs more.
Where water actually gets through a metal roof.
The panel itself almost never lets water in. Steel and aluminum shed rain and snow about as well as anything we put on a house, which is exactly why a leak under one confuses the owner so much. The water is coming in at a joint, and a metal roof has more joints than most people expect: side laps where two panels meet, end laps on long runs, closures at the ridge and eave, and the flashing around every skylight, vent and chimney.
On exposed-fastener panels the usual suspect is the screw. Each one seals with a rubber washer, and after enough summers in direct sun that washer dries out and cracks. Expansion and contraction work some screws loose over the years, and a few were driven crooked the day the roof went on. A standing-seam roof hides its clips under the seam, so its weak points tend to be the laps, the trim and the penetrations instead.
Finding the spot takes patience. We start in the attic when we can get there, follow the stain uphill, then go up and check every joint along that line before anyone opens a tube of sealant.
Skylight curbs, pipe boots and the sealant that gave up.
Skylights are one of the first places we check, and the photo at the top of this page shows why. Every skylight is a hole cut through the panels, framed with a curb and wrapped in flashing that has to turn water aside on all four sides. The uphill side takes the worst of it. Snow piles against it, melts against it, and finds any gap in the flashing or the bead behind it.
Pipe boots are the other repeat offender. On metal they are usually a flexible rubber collar sealed down over the panel ribs, and rubber ages faster than the steel around it. A cracked boot drips straight down the vent pipe, so the stain often shows up a long way from where you would guess.
Fresh caulk smeared over old caulk is the repair most leaking metal roofs have already had once. It rarely makes it through a second winter.
We cut out what has failed, clean the metal back to a sound surface, and reseal with a product made for metal roofing that stays flexible in the cold. A boot that has split gets replaced outright.
Fixing a section or replacing panels: how we call it.
Repair first is the honest default on a metal roof. Every job we look at lands in one of these three places, and we tell you which one with photos in hand.
Only the joints have failed
Laps, screws, boots and curb flashing can all be redone on a roof whose panels are still flat, tight and free of rust. That is a repair, and it is where most of the metal roofs we climb end up.
A few panels are damaged
A panel creased by a falling limb, or one rusted through where water sat against it, can be pulled and replaced by itself. We match the profile, the rib spacing and the color, and you see the match before it goes on.
The roof is past repair
Rust through many panels, or a roof that leaks at every lap because it was hung wrong from the start, is when a new metal roof becomes the honest answer. We put the reasons in writing so you can weigh them.
Snow piles against the uphill side of a skylight curb all winter, and that is the side where the flashing usually gives out first.
Getting a patch to look like it was always there.
The older homes around the Mason courthouse square are kept up with care, and on a house like that a repair that looks like a repair is its own kind of failure. Metal comes in a lot of profiles: different rib heights, different spacing between seams, flat pans or ones with fine striations pressed in. Colors fade at different rates depending on which way a slope faces. A replacement panel a shade too dark, or a rib a little too tall, will catch the eye from the sidewalk for as long as the roof stands.
So we measure the existing panel before ordering anything, and we judge the color against the slope being repaired, since the sunny side and the shaded side of a metal roof rarely agree after a few years outdoors.
When an exact match no longer exists, we say so and lay the closest options side by side. Sometimes the better answer is to replace a whole run from ridge to eave, so the new color stops at a natural line instead of halfway across a slope. That is your call to make, and you get a fair price in writing for each option before you decide.
Snow sliding off the roof, and the attic underneath it.
Metal sheds snow all at once. On a warm afternoon the whole load can let go and land on a deck, a walkway or the roof over an entry, and on an older house that drop was rarely planned for. Snow guards break the load up so it melts off a little at a time. Where they are missing, loose, or set in the wrong rows, we add or reset them, fastened the way the panel maker allows so they never become the next leak.
Underneath, the same rules apply as with any roof. Heat escaping the attic melts snow from below, and that water refreezes at the cold eave. Metal tolerates it better than shingles do, but an attic that cannot breathe also builds condensation on the underside of the panels, and that moisture drips onto the insulation and reads exactly like a leak. We are Lomanco certified on ventilation, so we check intake and exhaust while we are up there.
For the wider picture, our metal roof repair page covers how we handle this work in every town we serve, and our Mason page lists everything else we do here. When you want someone on the roof, book a free roof look.
From St. Johns down to the Ingham County seat.
Metal roofs in Mason get the same people from us every visit. The people who come out are our own crew, the same ones every visit, because we never subcontract. Four other jobs have their own Mason pages: wind damage repair after a storm, vinyl siding installation, board and batten siding for vertical walls, and shake siding for gables.
If water is already finding its way in, call the crew at (989) 900-0018.
Metal roof questions from around Mason.
Plain answers, no obligation. Finished jobs are in our gallery, and you can reach the crew through our contact page.
Do you charge to come look at a leaking metal roof?
No. The free roof look is a real inspection: we get on the roof, check the joints along the path of the leak, and photograph what we find. Then you get a written scope and a fair price for the repair it needs, and nothing more than that.
Is a metal roof worth more than shingles?
Metal costs more to put on, and it sheds snow and lasts longer. Shingles cost less up front and are easier to patch. Which is the better buy depends on the house, how long you plan to stay, and the roof shape. We will walk you through both honestly, with prices in writing.
Can you seal my leaking screws instead of replacing them?
Caulking over a screw head buys a season at best, because the washer under it has already failed. We back the screw out, check that the hole is still tight, and drive a new fastener with a fresh washer, stepping up a size where the old hole has worn oversized.
Can you match the color of my existing panels?
Often, yes. We measure the profile and compare colors on the slope we are repairing, because sun fades each side differently. If no current panel matches closely, we show you the nearest options and explain when replacing a full run from ridge to eave would look better on your house.
Why does snow come off my metal roof all at once?
Metal is slick, so once the sun warms the panels the snow lets go as one slab. Snow guards hold it in place to melt off gradually. If yours are missing or were set in the wrong rows, we add or reset them without putting new holes where water can follow.
How long does a metal roof repair take?
Most repairs are done in a day. A skylight reflash or several replaced panels can take longer, especially if a panel has to be ordered to match. You get the plan and a realistic timeline for your house at the free roof look, before anything is put on the calendar.
Have us find that leak before the next thaw.
We trace it, photograph it, and give you a fair price in writing for the repair your roof actually needs. If the metal is fine and the water is coming from somewhere else, you will hear that too.
(989) 900-0018