Before and after pictures are always fun, right? These ones show a 20-year old concrete tile roof that had to be replaced because so much water ended up seeping through. It was a big headache for the homeowners - the picture at left shows how big sections of the roof had to be torn up so the wood beneath could be replaced before the new roof was installed.

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!

It's always interesting to see "during" photos of some of the projects with which we're fortunate enough to be involved. This is one such project - a spectacular custom home in the heart of California wine country. The home is being constructed on the most fabulous lot possible - perched on a hill with unobstructed views for miles and miles of one of the most beautiful valleys in all the world. 

One of the more common requests we get is for the "cheapest" metal roof, and it makes us wonder if people expect that even a cheap metal roof will them the legendary performance of metal roofing with the added benefit of being as inexpensive as other types of roof material. The answer, unfortunately - and to the surprise of very few people, it would seem - is that metal is for the most part like everything else. You get what you pay for. While it's true that metal offers enormous value over almost any other type of roof, choosing the cheapest metal roof may not maximize that value in the way some people think. Here are three reasons why:

We're really excited to be the material supplier for a project in Florida - a roughly 80-year old biological laboratory building of historical significance known as the "Cookie House."

Here's a look at one of the installers from our network as he installs an MRN coated steel tile roof. Note the underlayment and batten system - part of the reason a quality metal roof like this one will last generations on this home!

We answered this question on Quora the other day, and we thought we'd share it here too.

Longevity. t's one of the benefits - and selling points - of metal roofing. And the proof of that is in the metal roofs that you can find around town. These are coated steel roofs that look as good today as they did the day they were installed - five, ten, twenty years ago and even longer! Here's a little video of a coated steel tile roof more than a decade after installation - and it looks fantastic. No maintenance issues, no problems with the intense sun exposure here in northern Nevada, no issues from our freeze-thaw cycles or high winds. Just a great-looking roof that has done its job from the start and will continue to do so for the indefinite future. Kudos to these homeowners for making such a smart buying decision so long ago!

No doubt about it, time are rough. Underwater homes, shadow inventory, foreclosures and other depressing signs of how our current recession has hit the housing market aren't making anyone jump for joy - particularly those of us in the home improvement industry. And what about homeowners in houses badly in need of major repairs or replacements, like a new roof? We've heard from a few of them looking for honest feedback to the question, "Shoud I replace my roof as cheaply as possible or does it make sense to upgrade to something like metal?" If you're asking yourself the same question, follow it with another and you'll have your answer:

Q. “Can I increase the energy efficiency of my home by choosing a particular roofing material?”