Metal Roofing &
Fencing Insights.
Practical guides for Ontario homeowners on standing seam roofing, metal fencing, weather protection, and premium exterior upgrades.
226 articles — page 7 of 10
Fencing in Clay Soil: Drainage and Footing Behaviour
Clay does not drain, shrinks in summer, swells in spring and grips a footing hard. Much of Southern Ontario sits on it, and it changes almost every footing decision.
Matching a Metal Roof to Stone, Stucco and Siding
Wall materials behave differently under a roof. Stone brings its own texture and variation, stucco is a flat field that takes light, and siding has a sheen of its own. A method for each.
Weather-Resistive Barriers Behind Metal Cladding
Behind an impermeable cladding, the barrier is the wall's real defence and its drying path is one-directional. How to choose and install a WRB that suits a metal exterior in an Ontario climate.
Snow Retention Layout: Pad-Style vs Bar-Style, and Why Layout Is Engineered
Two families of snow retention, several variables, and one calculation. Why a single row at the eave is usually wrong, and why guessing at layout fails quietly until it fails all at once.
Storm Damage Triage: What to Do in the First 48 Hours
A clear order of operations after a storm — safety, containment, documentation, then assessment. What you do in the first two days shapes both the repair and the claim.
Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Roofing Contractor
The right questions do not test whether a contractor is friendly. They test whether the answers can be verified, whether the work has been thought through, and what happens when something goes wrong.
Spring and Fall Roof Maintenance for Ontario Homeowners
Two inspections a year, timed around the seasons that actually stress a roof here, catch nearly everything while it is still small. Most of it can be done from the ground.
Water and Air Testing for Metal Roof Assemblies
Laboratory tests spray water and measure air leakage across a metal roof panel under controlled pressure. Understanding what they cover — and what they leave out — is the useful part.
Commercial Metal Roof Maintenance and Inspection Programs
Metal roofing is low maintenance, not no maintenance. What a real inspection program covers, which components wear out first, and why the roof file matters as much as the roof.
Curved and Radius Metal Roofing Panels: How They Are Made and Detailed
Metal can be curved two ways, and each one produces a different appearance, a different minimum radius and different problems at the crown of the curve.
How Road Salt and De-Icing Chemicals Affect Exterior Metal in Ontario
Chloride does two things to metal: it raises the conductivity of every water film and it punches through passive oxide layers. Here is how that plays out on Ontario roofs, eavestrough and fences.
Mounting Solar Panels on a Standing Seam Roof with Seam Clamps
Standing seam is the one roof type where solar can be mounted without drilling a single hole. Here's how seam clamps work, what has to be verified, and how to sequence the two projects.
Sidewall and Headwall Flashing on a Metal Roof
Where a roof meets a wall, the flashing has to go behind the cladding, not be caulked to it — and the missing kick-out at the bottom of a sidewall rots more walls than anything else.
Fencing on a Slope: Racking vs Stepping Panels
A sloped run has three solutions and each one looks different at the bottom rail. Racking follows grade, stepping stays level, and raked panels are custom-made for the angle.
Modern Farmhouse Exteriors With a Metal Roof
The style borrows from agricultural buildings, which is why metal belongs on it. Getting it right is about simple massing, honest proportions and not making everything black.
Fastening Metal Siding for Thermal Movement
A metal panel grows and shrinks every day of its life. Slotted holes, fixed points, fastener selection and galvanic compatibility are what let it do that without buckling, squealing or corroding.
Ice Dams on Metal Roofs: How They Form and What Metal Changes
An ice dam needs three things: snow on the roof, a warm deck above the heated space, and an eave below freezing. Metal changes two of them — and leaves the third entirely to you.
Dents From Hail or Falling Branches: Cosmetic or Functional?
Metal dents. Whether that matters depends entirely on where the dent is and whether the coating survived. Here is how to tell an appearance issue from a performance one.
Verifying a Contractor: WSIB Clearance and Liability Insurance
Asking for insurance documents is easy. Verifying them is the part that protects you. What to request, how to check it with the issuer, and what these coverages do and do not cover.
How Ontario's Climate Shortens Asphalt Shingle Life
An asphalt shingle ages by losing the oils that keep it flexible. Heat drives that process, thermal cycling cracks what is left, and freeze-thaw finishes the edges.
What a Manufacturer's Test Report Actually Tells You
A test report describes one specimen, tested once, to one standard, on one day. Knowing how to read the specimen description is what separates a meaningful claim from a marketing line.
Metal Roofing on Self-Storage, Garages and Outbuildings
Low-occupancy buildings with high consequences: a leak in a storage unit is a tenant claim, and snow off a long roof lands on drive aisles. What actually drives these roofs.
Site-Formed vs Factory-Formed Metal Panels: What Changes and What Does Not
Rolling panels on site removes the length limit and the transverse laps that go with it. Forming them in a plant brings controlled conditions and tested assemblies. Neither is automatically better.
Satellite Dishes and Antennas on a Metal Roof
The technician wants to drill into your new roof. Here's why you should say no, what the alternatives are, and how to handle the mount you already have up there.