Condition check
Does my metal roof need repair? Check your roof
Eight questions you can answer from the ground or your attic in about two minutes. You will get an honest classification and what to do next — including "in good shape," which is a real result here.
If you can safely check your attic for stains or daylight through the deck first, do that — a couple of the questions below need it.
1. Roughly how old is the metal roof?
2. If it is an exposed-fastener panel roof, are any screws backed out, missing, or rust-streaking below them?
3. Any dents, punctures, or visibly bent panel edges?
4. Any seams or panel laps that look separated, lifted, or are leaking?
5. Any rust streaking, bubbling paint, or corrosion — especially at cut edges, fasteners, or valleys?
6. Any water stains on interior ceilings or in the attic?
7. Any wavy or rippled look (oil-canning) on flat panel sections?
8. Does the roof overhang an entry, walkway, or driveway with no snow guards installed?
Why leaks and structural damage matter most
Cosmetic wear — minor oil-canning, light surface rust, a little fading — is often years away from an actual problem. Active leaks and structural panel failure are different: water finding its way past the panels gets worse the longer it sits, and it can damage the deck, insulation, and interior finishes well beyond the cost of the roof itself. That is why this assessment treats an active leak, a punctured panel, or rust-through as urgent regardless of how the rest of the roof scores.
Age matters differently on metal than on shingle — a well-installed standing seam system commonly runs 40-70 years, while exposed-fastener systems need periodic fastener maintenance well before that. See how long a metal roof actually lasts here and what oil-canning is and when it matters.
If the answer is replacement
Ask every bidder to write down four things: whether the system is floating-clip standing seam or through-fastened exposed-fastener, what underlayment they use, how they handle deck repair if they find it, and their fastening pattern for local wind and thermal cycling. Those four are most of the difference between a roof that holds up and one that does not — and they are invisible once the roof is finished. Our metal roof replacement page covers what a proper installation involves.
Questions
About this check
When should a metal roof be replaced instead of repaired?
The rough test is how isolated the damage is and how much life is left in the system. A single leaking seam, a handful of backed-out fasteners, or one damaged flashing detail is usually a repair. Widespread fastener backout, rust-through in multiple spots, or a punctured panel on an older roof is usually a replacement — chasing repairs across a failing system means paying labor twice.
Will this tool just tell me to buy a new roof?
No. It returns "in good shape" and "likely cosmetic, not structural" for roofs that do not need replacement — those are common results for standing seam roofs under 25 years old with no active leak, or panels showing oil-canning but nothing else. We would rather you trusted the answer than acted on it once.
Is this the same as an inspection?
No. It is a structured version of the questions we would ask you on the phone, and it is only as good as what you can see from the ground or your attic. Some things — deck condition under the panels, seam condition on a steep pitch — can only be checked in person or from the roof itself. The on-site inspection is free.
Get a free on-site estimate
A real person answers. We walk the roof with you, check the deck, and give you a written per-square price — at no charge and with no pressure.