If you are looking at a metal roof in McAllen, you are choosing between three systems: stone-coated steel, standing seam, and Texas rib. They look different, install differently, and land at different prices. Here is how we explain them to homeowners across the Rio Grande Valley.

Stone-coated steel: the premium look

Stone-coated steel panels are steel underneath with a stone coating on top, made to look like an asphalt shingle, a clay tile or a cedar shake. Panels usually come in three and a half to four foot sections, and there are several colors within each pattern, from brown and dark brown to black and terra cotta.

It is the most expensive of the three systems, and it is the one most homeowners ask about after seeing it on a neighbor’s house. We install Unified Steel and Roser systems.

Two ways to install it, and why it matters for your attic

Stone-coated panels can be installed directly to the roof deck, which means the old shingles do not always have to come off. The other option is a batten system: one-by-four battens go down first, then the panels, leaving about two inches of air space between the steel and the roof.

That air space is the difference. Asphalt shingles soak up heat all day and stay hot well into the night. Steel sheds that heat quickly once the sun goes down, and the batten space gives attic heat somewhere to go.

Standing seam: no screws in sight

Standing seam is the farmhouse look, and its fasteners are hidden, so you will not see a screw anywhere on the roof. On higher-end systems the ridges are folded and snap lock into place, with no rivets or screws along the peaks.

It comes in a wide range of colors, and also unpainted Galvalume, which will not fade, chip, peel or crack. That is why it shows up on coastal homes, apartments and multifamily buildings around South Padre.

Texas rib: the value option for homes

Texas rib is what we install most on residential roofs. The fasteners are exposed, so when you walk up to the house you can see the screws. That makes the installer’s work visible: the screws should run perfectly straight, with no extra holes plugged by a second screw.

Done right, a Texas rib roof looks sharp for decades. We have installed them in gold and copper penny finishes on Valley homes that previously had shingles, with a high-temperature underlayment and one-by-four battens underneath.

Why metal makes sense in the Rio Grande Valley

We get wind gusts of 90 to 100 miles an hour. Drive through any neighborhood after a storm and you will see shingles missing, usually because wind got under an edge and peeled them back. A properly installed metal system does not give it that edge.

Metal roof systems come with up to a 40-year paint and finish warranty against fading, cracking, chipping, blistering and peeling. Options vary by system.

Watch the full comparison

Talk to a McAllen metal roofer

Frontline Roofing is a Unified Steel stone-coated steel installer, an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor and a Duro-Last certified installer serving McAllen, Mission, Edinburg and the Rio Grande Valley. See our metal roofing page, watch the full video, or book a free roof inspection. Call (956) 586-5711.