Metal Roofing &
Fencing Insights.
Practical guides for Ontario homeowners on standing seam roofing, metal fencing, weather protection, and premium exterior upgrades.
226 articles — page 4 of 10
Getting a Roof Ready for Ontario's Spring Storm and Hail Season
Spring is when winter damage surfaces and convective weather arrives. A methodical walk-around in March and April finds the small problems while they are still small.
Reading a Paint Finish Warranty: Film, Chalk and Fade
Finish warranties are written in three categories that cover three different failures, on different terms. Knowing how the categories work tells you what a warranty document is actually promising.
Post-Frame (Pole Barn) Construction and Metal Roofing
In a post-frame building the steel roof is part of the structure, not just a cover. Understanding diaphragm action, uplift load path and purlin spacing changes how you plan a build or a re-roof.
Oil Canning in Metal Roofing: What Causes It and How Installers Minimize It
Oil canning is waviness in the flat part of a metal panel. It has several separate causes, most of them controllable, and it is worth understanding before you sign a contract.
Galvanic Corrosion: Which Metals Must Never Touch on a Roof
Galvanic corrosion needs three things at once — two different metals, electrical contact and an electrolyte. Here are the pairs that destroy roofs, and the fastener rules that follow.
Repairing Scratches and Scuffs on a Metal Roof
Not every scratch needs fixing, and the wrong touch-up looks worse than the scratch did. How to tell surface scuffs from real damage, and how to repair the ones that matter.
Butyl Tape, Sealants and Closures in a Metal Roof Assembly
Butyl seals compressed joints. Gunnable sealant seals gaps. Foam closures block air and snow. Confusing the three — or using hardware store silicone — is how details fail.
Welded vs Mechanically Fastened Fence Panels
Welding makes a rigid panel and destroys the temper around the joint. Mechanical fastening keeps the metal strong and puts the load on screws. Both are right, for different jobs.
Re-Roofing vs Roof Coating and Restoration
A coating over a sound roof is real maintenance that buys real years. A coating over a failing roof is money spent hiding a problem. The condition of what is underneath decides it.
Metal Siding vs Vinyl Siding: An Honest Comparison
Vinyl is inexpensive, light and easy to repair. Metal is stiffer, holds colour better and behaves better in fire. Both have real weaknesses. A straight comparison for Ontario homeowners.
Above-Sheathing Ventilation: Battens and Counter-Battens Under Metal Roofing
A vented air space between the deck and the panel drains water, dries the deck, breaks the thermal path and reduces condensation. Here is how the detail is built and when it earns its place.
Sealant and Butyl Failure on a Metal Roof: Lifespan and Re-Sealing
Sealant is the shortest-lived material on a metal roof. Knowing which sealants are doing real work, which are only a backup, and how they fail tells you what actually needs attention.
Ice in Eavestroughs: Why It Forms and What Actually Helps
Every Ontario winter produces the same photos — a trough packed with ice and icicles down to the porch rail. The trough is not the cause. Here is the real mechanism and the fixes in order of effectiveness.
Summer Heat: Roof Surface Temperature and What Reaches the Attic
A roof in full sun runs far hotter than the air around it. What decides how much of that heat gets into the house is reflectance, emittance, thermal mass and what sits under the deck.
Touch-Up Paint on Metal Roofing: When It Helps, When It Hurts
Manufacturer touch-up paint matches the colour but not the chemistry. Used in the right places it protects bare metal. Used in the wrong places it creates a permanent, glossy mark.
Re-Roofing an Occupied Commercial Building With Minimal Disruption
The roof is only half the job when the business underneath keeps running. Sequencing, dry-in discipline, noise, fire watch, alarm coordination and how a metal retrofit changes the equation.
Exposed-Fastener vs Concealed-Fastener Metal Roofing: The Real Trade-Offs
One system screws through the panel face. The other hides every fastener inside the seam. The difference is not just appearance, it changes maintenance, thermal movement and where each belongs.
AZ50 vs AZ55: What the Galvalume Coating Number Actually Means
AZ50 and AZ55 are coating weights, not grades — and the difference between them is smaller than the difference between painted and unpainted product. Here is how the designation works.
Finding and Fixing a Leak on a Metal Roof
Metal roofs rarely leak through the panels. They leak at penetrations, flashings, fasteners and terminations. Here's how to trace a leak to its actual source and what to do about it.
Thermal Expansion and Contraction: How a Metal Roof Is Designed to Move
A long steel panel can change length by more than half an inch between a January night and a July afternoon. Every good metal roof detail exists to let that happen freely.
Fence Panel Spans and Post Spacing: What Governs the Limit
Post spacing is not a style choice. It is set by whichever runs out first — rail deflection, post bending at grade, or the footing's ability to resist overturning.
Roof Repair vs Full Replacement: How to Decide
Plenty of roofs get replaced when a flashing needed fixing. Plenty get patched for years when they were finished. A practical way to tell which situation you are in.
Metal Siding vs Fibre Cement: Weight, Water and Maintenance
Fibre cement does not dent and takes paint beautifully. Metal does not absorb water and never needs repainting. The real differences are in weight, cutting, joints and how each one handles moisture.
Insulation and Metal Roofing: Vented Attics vs Cathedral Ceilings
A vented attic separates insulation from the roof. A cathedral ceiling does not, and every problem gets harder. What changes between the two, and why the eave is where both of them fail.