Cheap materials of any kind are cheap for a reason - and this is true whether you're buying metal roofing or any other type of building material. When it comes to roofing, in most regions a cheap metal roof will out-perform a cheap shingles many times over. The cheapest asphalt shingles are what are often chosen by folks who have one consideration in their material choice:  low price. Nothing is cheaper than the cheapest asphalt shingles, and  lots of people choose them for this reason only. Which is a good thing if you're in the roofing business, by the way, because every time someone chooses a cheap shingles it guarantees two roofers a job - the one putting it on today, and the one replacing it in a few years. And that's a guarantee, because there is no recovering them once they've lost their elasticity and adhesion (that's what happens to asphalt when it ages) and they have no more value at all. Have a look a the picture below - it's a "30 Year" shingle roof after just six years!

The cheaper metal roofs are rarely a permanent solution, but at least they have a value that no asphalt roof can ever have. Even when the metal roof looses its finish or has its exposed nails or screws compromised for one reason or another, it still has value. In most cases it can be "re-hab'd" by repainting and replacing any damaged fasteners. At worst, a metal roof that has been allowed to come apart can be recycled as valuable scrap metal and have another valuable life elsewhere.

Unless you're just after a quick fix, we wouldn't recommend the cheapest roof. But here's the quick-and-dirty answer - if you're going to look at the low-end of roofing and your horizon is longer than the next five or ten years, then even an economical metal roof offers many times the value of any cheap asphalt shingle.

Want to know more? Get our FREE metal vs. shingle comparison sheet now.