Guide
Metal roof cost in Georgia: what actually changes the number
Updated
Metal is the most common upgrade question in Georgia, and the one where bids diverge most, because two roofers can both say metal and mean completely different products.
Standing seam and exposed fastener are different products
- Standing seam
- Panels joined by raised, mechanically seamed or snapped ribs with concealed fasteners and clips that allow thermal movement. More material, far more labor, and the profile most people picture when they say metal roof.
- Exposed fastener panel
- Corrugated or ribbed panels screwed through the face with gasketed fasteners. Cheaper and faster, but the gaskets are a maintenance item, and the roof's life is partly the fasteners' life.
- Metal shingle or tile profile
- Stamped panels imitating shingle or tile. Priced differently again, with its own accessory range.
A bid that says only "metal roof" has not told you which of these you are buying. Insist the system is named.
The specification lines that move the price
- Gauge. Steel thickness is expressed as a gauge number, where a lower number is thicker metal. It changes both cost and denting behavior.
- Substrate and coating. Galvanized, Galvalume or aluminum, and the paint system over it, drive both price and the length of the finish warranty.
- Panel width and seam height. Narrower panels mean more seams and more labor per square.
- Linear feet of trim. Ridge, hip, valley, eave, rake, sidewall and endwall trim. On a cut-up Georgia roof, trim can rival the panel cost.
- Clips and fastening. Concealed clip systems, and the fastening schedule the manufacturer requires for the wind requirements your local code enforces.
- Underlayment. High temperature underlayment is normally specified under metal, and it is not the same product as a standard synthetic.
- Decking and layover. Whether the metal goes over battens, over existing shingles or on new decking changes both cost and the inspector's view.
Making two metal bids comparable
- Get both expressed per square on the same measured roof area, with the measurement stated.
- Get the panel system, gauge, substrate and coating named on both.
- Get the trim schedule, in linear feet, itemized.
- Get the underlayment product named, and confirm it is rated for use under metal.
- Get both the finish warranty and the workmanship warranty in writing, since they are separate documents with separate terms.
- Ask what the local building department requires for fastening, and see Georgia code requirements.
We do not publish a per-square metal roofing figure for Georgia, because the spread between an exposed fastener panel on a simple gable and a standing seam roof on a valley-heavy house is enormous and no authority publishes a state figure. Start from the cost-driver table and then get quotes with the system specified.