Metal Roofing in Vicksburg, MS

If the property is inside the local historic district or on the city list of 33 landmarks, the design guidelines have specific things to say about roofing material, and they are not the things people assume.

They do not ban metal. What they prohibit as replacement materials is roll roofing and corrugated metal. They also say the original roof shape or pitch shall not be changed, and that new materials shall not differ from the old in composition, size, shape, color or texture enough to alter the appearance.

The provision that surprises owners is the other direction. Applications to remove an existing metal, slate or tile roof are weighed carefully, on the reasoning that those materials last well over a century and may need repair rather than replacement. So in Vicksburg the harder case to argue is usually taking metal off, not putting it on.

Outside the district and the landmark list, none of this applies regardless of how old the house is or whether it sits in a National Register district.

The county has logged 345 thunderstorm wind reports since 1996, 65 of them at 69 miles an hour or higher, with the strongest estimated at 100 miles an hour. Hail runs 101 reports, 61 at an inch or larger and 23 at golf ball size or bigger, the largest at 4 inches.

A steel panel dents where an aging shingle bruises and sheds granules, and a dent does not let water through. Metal also sheds heat rather than absorbing it, which shows on a Mississippi power bill. The noise question arrives with every quote, and the answer is that deck, underlayment and attic insulation sit between you and the panel.

Metal asks for more money now and returns a much longer service life, so the arithmetic only works if you plan to stay. Over a short horizon a quality shingle roof is the better buy and we will tell you so rather than sell up.