New Standing Seam Roof - Scratches [Archive] - Home Construction Forums

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Babybldr
09-23-2011, 02:12 PM
We decided to go with a SS roof for the garage, 1st story and front/back porch for our new house. The 2nd story is shingled. From the ground the roof looks good to me, but I was told by one of our subs (not the roofer) that there were quite a few scratches on the new metal roof - too many, in his opinion. He said he had done maybe 8 SS roofs in his time, and had seen many other done by other people and that he and the others. He stated that always great care should be taken to put very, very few scratches in the metal. I trust this source - in that I don't think he is trying to make trouble for the roofer - he was just stating his opinion, sorta' trying to give me a head's up.

I asked my husband to check it out, from a ladder leaned up to the roof (NOT actually going up there). He's a machinist and very familiar with metal and galvanizing and such - but not roofs per se. He said there were a number of scratches, most of them on the top of the seam. He thought most of them were through the paint, but not the galvanized coating (if I'm using the correct there here?). A couple of the scratches were deeper.

So I discussed it with the roofer. I told him I wasn't complaining about scratches from a "looks" POV since you can't really see them from the ground - but more that I was concerned about them causing a premature paint failure ... rusting out, etc. He didn't have much comment and then pulled out what looked like a magic marker (but smelled a LOT worse) and said he would touch them up.

See in photo, they had to work on a transition (4:12 to 8:12) with a valley between garage and single story section, so not the easiest install to be sure. An unfortunate thing is that he was short on staff for this section too, so he choose to precut the panels, stack them in the garage, and then install them on his next visit. I wonder if that extra hanlding added to the scratches. This is the section of roof with the most scratches.

So - after all of that, my questions are:

- What do you consider acceptable or not in terms of scratches due to the actual install work.

- If there are a lot of scratches, does it mean problems further down the line?

- If yes to above, what steps could I take now to "fix" or avoid the future problems?

Thanks!

2039

RTF
09-23-2011, 04:30 PM
Have them either repair the scratches per the manf. direction or replace the panels. Your roofing panels have a rust proof warranty, which is base on the paint and metal used. If the scratches go past the paint layer the warranty is compromised.

Don_P
09-23-2011, 04:56 PM
Scratches are inevitable during handling and install. Obviously the more handling and the more complex the roof the greater the chance of scratching. The manufacturer can supply touch up paint, this is about all you can do at this point. Keep an eye out for rust, lightly buff and recoat any spots with touch up. Be mindful of walking on grit from the upper roof when you go up there. I prefer good quality shingles, this is one of the reasons.

RTF
09-23-2011, 05:44 PM
Don the problem with the touch up paint is it is always a shade off, not to mention the application process is different. I have run into this on commercial projects and it is always a nightmare. Usually no one has a clue as to how it happened!

Don_P
09-23-2011, 07:09 PM
I fully agree, it is a patch. It becomes a maintenance issue from then on. The problem with removal and replacement is more damage is done to adjoining surfaces.