Pre-Painted Residential Metal Roofs Gain Market Share

Residential metal roofs have continued to increase in market share as more than seven million homeowners in North America are faced with replacing their worn-out asphalt roofs annually. Approximately 10 percent of those households are choosing metal roofs and that number is expected to climb to 20 percent by the year 2020.

Those numbers translate into nearly 700,000 tons of metal getting pre-painted and formed into residential roofs each year. This is because of their durability and environmental benefits over other roofing materials, according to the National Coil Coating Association (Cleveland, OH), which serves more than 100 member companies involved in coil coated (pre-painted) products.

Metal roofs can be formed and pre-painted to simulate common residential roofing materials, such as asphalt shingles, cedar shake, tile or even slate. Advancements in coil coating technology now make it possible for pre-painted metal roofs to feature many different linear and multi-dimensional looks to complement other homes in the neighborhood. Homeowners like metal roofs because they are attractive, lightweight, durable and fire-resistant.

Coil coating for residential metal roof applications is a highly automated technique.  In one continuous process, a coil of metal, up to 72 in wide moving up to 700 fpm, is unwound, cleaned on both the top and bottom,chemically treated, primed, oven cured, top coated, oven cured again, rewound and prepared for shipment. The paint is flexible enough to be later stamped or rollformed or press-braked into the final roof and accessory shapes used for the roofing, gutters, downspouts and rain ware.

Dealing with a flat (unwound) sheet allows for mechanical cleaning in addition to spray cleaning. The flat sheet also enables excellent control of coating weights of the pre-treatment and the dry film thickness of paint to within a tenth of a millimeter or less to insure consistent color and quality from coil to coil.

A variety of environmental benefits are also attributed to the rise in pre-painted metal roofs. “Cool” infrared pigment technology is specifically designed to reflect heat, helping to reduce energy needs and mitigate environmental problems like Urban Heat islands and smog.

Coil coating eliminates other issues associated with other roofing materials, including fixed paint equipment costs, inventory, labor as well as costs associated with EPA compliance and reporting.

www.coilcoating.org