Metal Shingle Roofing Styles
Asphalt-Look Steel Shingles
These are the plainest metal shingles: pressed steel panels with a staggered, dimensional face that reads like architectural asphalt from the curb. Most are galvanized or Galvalume steel with a baked-on paint finish. Each piece covers several "shingles" at once. One manufacturer's steel shingle, for example, covers 12 by 39 inches in 29-gauge G90 galvanized steel, interlocks on all four sides and is held down by clips on a solid deck.
They suit houses where long vertical seams would look out of place, and roofs with lots of hips, valleys and dormers, since short pieces turn corners more easily than full-length panels. What the gauge and paint lines on the quote mean is covered on our standing seam metal roofing page. The same rules apply here.
Some steel shingles are made to be laid over one layer of old asphalt with no tear-off. Their makers say so, but the code decides whether your roof qualifies, and a deck nobody has seen since the last re-roof is a gamble. That rule is on our metal roof over shingles page.
Slate-Look Metal Shingles
Slate-look shingles are pressed with thin, square-cut edges and a flatter face, often in blended greys or blacks to mimic natural stone. They give a colonial or a Tudor the look of slate, with no stone tiles to crack when someone steps on them.
They come in steel and aluminum. The code sets a minimum thickness for aluminum: 0.019 inch for press-formed shingles. Aluminum doesn't rust and steel dents less, and our aluminum roofing page covers that trade-off. Preformed copper shingles must weigh at least 12 ounces per square foot.
Cedar Shake-Look Metal Shingles
Shake-look shingles carry a deep wood-grain emboss and irregular butt edges, painted in browns, weathered greys or cedar tones. They're the choice for a house that once had real cedar, or a Cape Cod or ranch where the owner wants that texture without wood's upkeep.
Fire is where they part ways with wood. Michigan's residential code (R902.1) counts metal sheets and shingles on a noncombustible deck as Class A, the top fire class. On the plywood or plank deck most houses have, the class comes from testing the whole assembly under UL 790 or ASTM E108. So ask for the Class A listing of the exact shingle and underlayment.
Metal Tile Profiles
Pressed-steel tile profiles copy Spanish barrel tile or flat interlocking clay tile in painted steel. They fit a Mediterranean or Spanish-revival front better than a brick ranch. Like other metal shingles they go on a solid deck unless the product is designed for spaced sheathing. If you want a tile shape with a textured stone finish instead of paint, that's stone-coated steel roofing, which uses granule-coated panels and its own install methods. Painted steel tile can dent from hail or a falling branch like any thin metal, and the stone-coated page explains what an impact rating does and doesn't promise.
Why Livonia homeowners call Livonia Metal Roofing
- Estimate in writing, at no cost
- Gauge, panel profile and paint finish named in the quote
- Re-roof permit listed in the written scope
- One independent local metal roofer per request
- Homeowners pay nothing for the referral
Michigan Code Rules for Metal Shingles
The 2015 Michigan Residential Code is the edition in force, and Section R905.4 covers metal roof shingles:
Slope
Not below 3:12, or 25 percent (R905.4.2). Standing seam panels go lower, and the minimums for each panel type are on our low-slope metal roofing page.Deck
A solid or closely fitted deck, unless the shingle is made for spaced sheathing (R905.4.1).Materials
The shingles have to meet the code's metal roofing standards and its minimum corrosion protection, such as Galvalume AZ50 or G90 galvanizing for steel (R905.4.4).Valleys
Valley flashing has to be corrosion-resistant metal reaching at least 8 inches each way from the centerline, with a splash diverter rib at least 3/4 inch tall and end laps of 4 inches or more, over a full-length, 36-inch strip of underlayment (R905.4.6).Underlayment and ice barrier
Required as for other steep-slope roofs, explained on our underlayment and ventilation page.
One local detail: the code wants that valley underlayment cemented or self-adhering where January averages 25°F or colder. The 1991-2020 January average at Detroit Metro Airport is 25.8°F, right at the line. Ask whether your valleys get self-adhering membrane. We'd want it.
What a Metal Shingle Quote Includes
HomeGuide's 2026 national guide puts metal shingles at $6 to $14 per square foot installed, and says labor makes up 50% to 60% of the total. A cut-up roof with dormers and valleys costs more than a simple gable. Other line items to compare:
- Steel or aluminum, and the gauge
- PVDF or SMP paint; HomeGuide says SMP starts to fade after about 10 years
- Tear-off and deck repairs, or an overlay
- Ice barrier, underlayment, ridge vent and trim
- Snow guards over doors and decks, since metal shingles shed snow too (snow guards)
How metal shingles compare with standing seam and asphalt on price is in our cost section on the homepage.
How the Work Runs
Livonia Metal Roofing passes your request to one independent local contractor, and that contractor does the measuring, quoting and installing. On a metal shingle job the crew starts at the eave with a starter strip, then works up the roof course by course, locking each piece into the one below and fastening it through the hidden flange, following the manufacturer's instructions as the code requires (R905.4.5). Valleys, walls and chimneys get flashed as the courses reach them, so the flashing ends up under the shingles above. Ridge and hip caps go on last. A permit and a licensed contractor are expected on a Livonia re-roof; both are explained on our metal roof replacement page.