After the original shake shingles had sustained significant storm damage, the owner of a residence in Orlando, Fla., sought a new metal roof that would be the "last roof we put on this house." RAE; Co. of Ocala, Fla., responded by installing approximately 12,000 square feet of panels (Snap-Clad). (Photograph courtesy of Petersen Aluminum)

Thanks to the high-end niche that metal has carved in the steep-slope residential roofing market, it's likely that these shake, shingle, and panel systems are weathering the new housing slump a bit better than most commodity products.

Although the installed cost of residential metal can be four times that of asphalt shingles, this price variation should insulate metal from the worst of the new housing slowdown.

"There's still a demand for traditional, high-quality materials that are well applied," Dale Overmyer, a Washington architect and principal of Dale Owen Overmyer, says. "Metal roofs fall into that category."

The architect most often uses metal roofs on residential projects in historic Georgetown, where the housing slump has yet to hit.

Asphalt shingles will continue to dominate in the new construction and reroofing markets, where they are the undisputed favorites among builders and roofing contractors alike. According to RSI's 2007 State of the Industry Report, asphalt-based products make up 70 percent of the average roofing contractor's volume in the new construction market. For this reason, fiberglass shingle suppliers are most likely to feel the pinch when the building market drops off.

As of December 2006, metal comprised 11 percent of the average steep-slope contractor's new roofing work — up 5 percent from RSI's 2002 State of the Industry Report.

While metal's market share comes nowhere close to that of asphalt shingles, its use among roofing contractors has nearly doubled over the past several years.

Moreover, it doesn't take a statistician to figure out that metal is not growing at the expense of asphalt shingles. At approximately $1 per square foot for 50-year laminated products, these two materials are in completely different categories.

According to RSI's survey, wood shakes and shingles are taking a beating. These products currently represent only 2 percent of the average contractor's annual volume — down from 5 percent several years ago.

Despite the best efforts of associations, such as the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau, to educate consumers on the Class A fire-rated products available, the use of untreated wood and the spate of California forest fires have dampened enthusiasm for wood-based roofing products.

Plastic or rubber-based composite roofing shingles, tile, slate, and synthetic look-alikes are metal's true competitors in the residential roofing market, and all offer durability far in excess of wood's 20-year life cycle.