Metal Roof Repair in Madison, WI

Most calls about a metal roof start with a drip, and the drip is usually a screw. On exposed-fastener panels, the rubber washer under each screw hardens and cracks with age, the screw works loose as the steel expands and contracts, and water follows the shank inside. We replace those with oversized fasteners and fresh washers, reseal side laps with butyl tape, and rebuild failed flashing at walls, chimneys and pipe boots.

An inspection tells you whether a leak is one bad seam or a roof near the end of its life. We walk the panels and check every fastener line, the ridge closures, eave trim and valley flashing. We look for rust starting at cut edges, paint that has chalked or peeled, oil canning in the flats, and standing seams lifting off their clips. We photograph what we find, good and bad, so you see it yourself.

Sometimes repair stops making sense. Rust has gone through the steel, not just the paint, or the panels were too light a gauge to begin with. Replacement means stripping to the deck, checking the sheathing for rot and soft spots, and laying ice and water shield at eaves and valleys under a synthetic underlayment. New panels are heavier-gauge steel with a PVDF finish, which holds its color far longer than the cheaper paint on many older roofs.

Good metal installation comes down to details nobody sees from the street. On standing seam, we fasten panels with floating clips so the steel can move with the seasons without pulling its fasteners loose. Every penetration gets a proper boot or curbed flashing, never just a bead of caulk. Trim is bent on site to fit the building. Half the homes here went up before 1979, so we confirm the framing and decking can carry the new roof first.

We start on the roof, not from the driveway. We check every seam, screw and piece of flashing, because most metal roof leaks come from a few predictable spots: fasteners whose rubber washers have dried and cracked, sealant pulled away at panel laps, and flashing around chimneys, vents and skylights. Inside, we look in the attic for stained sheathing, damp insulation and rusted nail tips. We photograph what we find so you see it too.

You get the scope in writing before any work is scheduled. It names what we will repair, what we will replace, and the materials: panel profile, steel gauge (usually 24 or 26), finish, fastener type and underlayment. If part of the deck looks suspect but we cannot confirm it from above, the estimate says so plainly and explains how we handle rot if we open the roof and find it. Nothing is buried in vague wording.

Only the damaged section comes off. We back out fasteners or release standing seam clips, lift the panels, and pull the old underlayment, dried sealant and bent trim beneath them. Panels in good shape get set aside and reused where the finish and profile allow. Anything rusted through, creased, or punctured by hail or a fallen limb goes in the dumpster. We keep the opening small and cover it if weather moves in.

Soft decking is where a slow leak shows its real cost. We probe the exposed sheathing, cut out anything delaminated or rotted back to sound wood, and patch with new plywood or OSB matched to the existing thickness, often 1/2" or 7/16". Seams land on rafters and get fastened properly. If a rafter is cracked or wet through, we sister it before going further. Nothing new goes over structural damage we already know about.

Over bare deck, we lay a high-temperature self-adhered membrane at the eaves, valleys and every penetration. Metal runs hot in summer sun, and ordinary asphalt felt can soften and stick to the panels. With about 36 inches of snow a year, we want the eaves sealed tight. The rest of the repair area gets synthetic underlayment, lapped so water always sheds downhill, plus a slip sheet under standing seam.

New panels match the existing profile and gauge. Older painted finishes fade, so we hold a color sample against your roof before ordering. Exposed-fastener panels go back with new screws and EPDM washers, driven snug, not crushed. Standing seam sections get new clips and are seamed to the panels beside them. Then the flashing and trim: foam closures, butyl tape at laps, and no copper or lead touching Galvalume, since it eats the coating.

Before we call it done, we walk the repair a second time. Every screw is checked for seating, every seam for full engagement, every flashing edge for sealant contact. When it makes sense, we run a hose over the repaired area with someone watching from the attic. Then we look over the rest of the roof once more, because a loose fastener three panels over leaks just the same. You get photos of the finished work.

Metal shavings are the mess people do not see. Drilling and cutting leave small steel filings on the panels, and within weeks each one becomes a rust spot on the finish. We brush them off by hand before we climb down. On the ground, we run a magnetic sweeper across the lawn, beds and driveway for screws and offcuts, haul away the old panels and underlayment, and leave the property as we found it.