Residential Metal Roofing Company and Contractor Trueworks Roofing™ interview Todd Miller with Isaiah Industries, who is a residential metal roofing expert.

Todd Miller is the President of Isaiah Industries, which is a leading manufacturer of specialty residential metal roofing. Todd has over 40 years of industry experience and is widely recognized for this knowledge and ability to guide contractors and property owners through the successful process of roofing.

To schedule a residential metal roof consultation, fill out our form here. or give us a call at 713-581-3087

RESOURCES SHARED IN THIS EPISODE:

Isaiah Industries Website

Kassel and Irons Website

Ask Todd Miller Website

Metal Construction Association Website

Roofing for Homeowners Associations Website

Connect with Todd Miller

Follow Todd on LinkedIn

Email Todd Miller

Ask Todd Miller Website

Connect with Trueworks Roofing™

Request a FREE Roof Consultation

Follow Trueworks Roofing on Facebook

Follow Trueworks Roofing on Instagram

Follow Trueworks Roofing on Twitter

Follow Trueworks Roofing on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Our YouTube Channel

If You Would Like to Interview Joel or Laura for your podcast, send an email with more details.

If you would like to be a guest on Houston Roofer Podcast, send an email with your contact info and why you would make a great guest.

Are you considering investing in a new roof than this podcast is for you.

Welcome to the Houston roofer podcast, where we take a deep dive into the

roofing industry and provide you with the latest industry trends, informative

interviews, answer all of your roofing questions and provide a buyer's

guide for your next roofing project.

So that you can be confident in the decision that you're

making now, here's your host.

Hello everyone.

And welcome back to Houston roofer today.

We're super excited to have Todd Miller on the show.

Todd is the president of Isaiah industries, which is a leading

manufacturer of specialty.

Residential metal roofing.

Todd has over 40 years of industry experience and is widely recognized for

his knowledge as well as his ability to guide contractors and property owners

through the successful process of roofing.

And he's also an expert on the metal roofing Alliance, ask the experts board.

So welcome, Todd.

We're super excited to have you.

Fantastic.

Well, thank you very much for this opportunity.

I'm looking forward to it.

awesome.

Todd.

Well, we're super excited of course, to have you here.

So we're gonna talk about all things metal roofing today.

So we get so many questions from our homeowners about metal roofs.

so we wanted to have you as one of the industries, leading metal roofing experts

on the show to talk about metal roofing.

but first before we get started, just give us a little bit about

your background, a brief little bio.

Sure I'll, I'll keep it short.

I've been in this industry, my entire career.

Our company was started by my father back in 1980.

And, I joined the company full time in 1986 and have been here ever since.

And, the company is, interesting fact here.

The company is currently owned by, myself and my best friend from

college, who joined the company in 1988.

And then he and I had bought out dad's interest.

I guess about 10 years ago, but we manufacture a variety of

primarily residential metal roofs.

We do some standing sea, but we also manufacture a lot of stamped products

to look like shake or slate or shingles.

And we sell our products throughout north America.

Do a fair amount of exporting as well.

We sell a lot of product into Japan and the Caribbean and some other places too.

Wow.

That's amazing.

So you mentioned Isaiah industries, which you're the president of give

us a little background on that.

So you said your dad started it, I guess so, but when did it

start and how far has it come?

What's it like now?

Sure.

So it's interesting back when the company was started, dad had started it with

the acquisition of some product lines from Kaiser aluminum that were used

primarily for commercial applications.

So back in the eighties, we were producing roasts for pizza hut and dairy

queen and IHOP and seven 11, lot of other chains, toys, us dunking donuts.

About the time that I came into the business in the mid eighties, we saw that.

That commercial business was going to be really prone to

architectural fads and cycles.

you know, in the early eighties, pizza hut was building

hundreds of stores every year.

By the late eighties, they were closing hundreds of stores every year.

And so we just didn't see that as a real firm place to be.

And there were a few guys out there.

Who were selling a couple of our product lines, residential.

in fact, Houston, Texas was one of those areas.

And so my job was to go out and spend lots of time with those guys,

learn what they were doing, , and then go out and replicate it across

the country with other contractors and, you know, today, our company.

90% residential.

We do occasionally stumble across a commercial job.

We, we get involved with churches.

We get involved with multifamily on occasion, but the bulk of

our products are used for single family, residential reroofing.

You kind of mentioned the, the company name, Isaiah industries.

the company name, back about 10 years ago.

the company was started as classic products and, over time that

became more of a brand name.

Forest than the corporate name.

And so we went through a period where we wanted to change the corporate name,

that would allow us to have a variety of brands beneath that corporate name.

And, we chose Isaiah, , after the, major prophet Isaiah from the old Testament.

And, so we, let our faith shine and it opens up lots of doors for

conversations about that as well.

That's incredible to hear.

Where it started and how y'all have acclimated with the times.

, and you're very relevant and I love that you've now really entered

mainly into the residential space.

And this is what this podcast is for, because there's so much interest

in homeowners and residential.

Jobs that, you know, there, there's still some questions out there

and obviously y'all are answering them all for everybody and, really

giving the client what they need.

But I mean, as an interesting fact, in you're 40 years, correct.

Give or take, right.

Sorry.

No, that's correct.

In your 40 years experience, what's your biggest takeaway?

From everything, you know, what's something that sticks in your mind

on the day to day is like, wow, that's something that I'll remember.

You know, this is kind of a broad based thing, but, something

I have been thinking a lot about lately is the consumer buying process.

And I've really seen that change a lot over the years.

You know, 30 years ago, a homeowner was.

Having something done to their house and they would stick to the old rule.

Well, I'm gonna get three estimates and I'll either take

the middle one or the low one.

And, you know, I think they, what they've found is that, that didn't

always lead to the best results.

And then of course we've entered the whole.

Amazon age now where, uh, we are so accustomed to buying things on

the basis of reviews and referrals.

And, you know, we want to have that confidence from a non-biased party,

from another customer that, yes, this is a good product or yes, this

is a good contractor to work with.

I don't think any homeowner, especially today where.

For all of us, our time is so precious.

I don't think anyone enjoys that process of thinking.

I'm gonna have to meet with three contractors and get three bids on this.

And so what we're seeing more and more is homeowners are using the

internet as a way to really hone in on, either the product they want and

then let that product guide them.

To an experienced contractor or they hone in on the contractor, they want

and let the contractor guide them to what, you know, they think will

be the best product for their home.

people wanna work with people they trust, they want to work with people that.

They recognize as having some expertise.

I mean, ultimately that's what the whole I'm gonna get.

Three bids thing was about, it was partly about price, but it was also

a lot about finding that contractor you were most comfortable with.

And you've had the greatest confidence in that they could get you what you

needed and, and meet your needs.

And you know, now people are using the internet to find that.

So I think the big change I've seen is.

people are starting to realize, you know, I, don't have to

go out and get three bids.

I don't have to go through this misery of a whole bunch of contractors

coming to my house and me having to carve out time for all of them.

Instead I can look for the products and the contractors I like, and, Work

specifically with the experts I want.

And so I think that's been a big change I've seen happen.

And I think it's kind of exciting because, you know, you take a company,

like, true works that really focuses on the consumer and, you know,

focusing on doing some leading edge things and podcasting and trying.

Create a more educated consumer.

That's what consumers want is they want someone who provides them that education.

And you know, what, what you end up is in the role of not selling per se so

much is just providing information and leading them to the decision that's

right for them because, a decision on roofing that is right for one homeowner.

May not be right for their next door neighbor, because if their

next door neighbor says, you know, I'm, I'm gonna probably sell

this house in two or three years.

They have different goals today with reroofing.

Then the homeowner says they're gonna carry me out of this house.

I will live here until I die.

they have very different goals from each other, so Yeah.

It's, it's good.

That is good stuff.

Yeah.

We definitely see that on our end, a much more educated client, educated home buyer.

Who's done tons of research prior to them ever calling us, especially for roofing

systems, like a metal roofing system.

So yeah, we totally agree, and see that.

We wanna nerd out a little bit and, get into some of

the, the facets of this right.

Of a metal roof.

So, and some of the science of it.

So first of all, just big picture, cost what's the difference.

And I know it's, there's a lot of variations, but what's the difference

between, you know, in cost between a metal roof and say a typical asphalt Shing.

Sure.

It's a good question.

And, you know, I, I mean, my typical answer to that is you're probably looking

at two to three times the investment.

, however, there can be variations that may change that dramatically.

For example, you may be able to go over your existing layer of asphalt

shingles, with a metal roof.

You generally don't wanna do that with another asphalt shingle in most cases.

And so that can bring some cost savings.

The other thing then that you start to help the consumer look at is, okay.

You may pay more upfront for the metal.

Especially in a state like Texas, if it reduces your cooling costs

throughout the year by 20% or 15% or 25%, you know, how much does

that bring back to you over time?

And so a lot of times with metal roofing, what they end up looking at is helping the

consumer look more at their cost per year, rather than just their plain old cost.

I mean, I've got an.

Interesting quick story.

Several years ago.

My parents, I mean the founder of our company and his whole life

was metal roofing at that point.

they, they built a new home and of course they put one of

our products on their new home.

Well, the home that they had lived in had asphalt shingles on it

and they found when they sold the house, they had to put a new roof.

he even opted for asphalt shingles again, because, it probably wasn't going to

immediately bring back the extra resale value to him, of investing in the metal

roof right before he sold the home.

Now, if he would've said, well, I'll sell this home in 15 years, that would've

been an entirely different scenario because in 15 years, another asphalt

shingle would be even more expensive.

He would've enjoyed energy savings over 15 years.

But in this case he was like, I might as well just put asphalt on it.

And, so there's a house there that it's about due for re-roofing.

Now it's been about 15 years, so maybe we'll get it.

This.

I think that's great.

Can you explain the difference between some of our customers ask us this, but an

exposed fastener system versus concealed fastener roofing system for metal.

we see a lot of exposed fasteners used in the agricultural

industry and exposed fastening panels are basically, vertical or longitudinally

run sheets of corrugated metal, and they're laid up on the roof and.

The good guys will pre-drill their holes, but some guys don't, but then

the screws are driven right through them too, Fasten them to the roof deck.

And so you've got these exposed screws and they will use screws.

Typically they have a rubber grommet on them, some sort of rubber or

neoprine grommet or washer on it.

And then a cap head to help protect that, that gro.

What those systems don't have is any allowance for the expansion

and contraction of the metal and metal will expand and contract

with temperature changes.

I don't have those figures of my fingertips, but it's

actually kind of shocking.

I mean, if you take a 30 foot long piece of metal, that it can, vary.

Temperature change.

And so what happens when you've got those exposed fasteners and you get temperature

changes that metal is pulling against the fastener and something has to give,

and there's a couple things that happen.

The fasteners will just naturally sort of back out and loosen up and then

start to loosen up to the point of where they'll they'll shift, with.

Expansion contraction.

And then you also get the fastener hole starts to wallow out a little bit.

And as soon as those things start to happen, obviously you've got a

situation where water can get in around those fasteners can infiltrate.

The roof system can get into the attic and of course, cause problems on the

other hand, concealed fast systems, which.

Primarily do have their use in residential and also some commercial and what I

call monumental buildings, churches, and so forth, but concealed fastener

products, those fasteners are all concealed by the design of the products.

So you don't have these exposed screw heads also because

the fasteners are concealed.

A lot of times the fasteners have been designed.

On top of not being exposed, they've been designed to allow for

the thermal movement of the metal.

They may go through clips.

They may go into slotted holes, a variety of ways to allow for that

metal to expand and contract without.

Fatiguing those fasteners over time.

So those are the two primary differences.

We do see exposed fastener products being used residential.

I'm not a huge fan of it, but then I also do understand that some folks are

saying, you know, I'd like a metal roof, but if I have to do some maintenance on

it every few years to tighten the screws or replace the screws I'm willing to do.

and so it just becomes a consumer choice and that's

one of the things I like about metal roofing is you do have a

pretty wide range of products and selections and price points.

If you look at asphalt shingles, you got some price points out there, but.

By and large, the products are all relatively similar.

I mean, the chemistry of, of how they're made is very, very similar, but in metal,

there's, there's a few more decisions there that the consumer has to be aware

of, to make the right decision for them.

Yeah, that's great.

so basically exposed fastener systems typically would just require more

maintenance so, you know, every few years, those grots may, kind

of deteriorate, whereas a concealed fastener system is gonna be more of

a water, tight roofing system, so.

Probably more optimal, but tell me a little bit about a couple

of the different metals that you use in your roofing systems.

And maybe, steel versus like aluminum.

What do you recommend as far as that goes.

Sure.

So the, the two general types of metal that are most prominent in

metal roofing are, as you said, steel and aluminum, steel for the most

part, being the lion share of that.

Now steel breaks down further into Galvao and, and galvanized and gal gave loom

steel has a anti corrosive coating on it.

Primarily of aluminum to help discourage the steel from rusting.

Galvanized has an anti corrosive coating of primarily zinc on

it to keep it from rusting.

And, it's kind of long story.

Someone was asking me earlier today, in fact, well, what about cut edge protection

and bit of a long story to explain that, but in a typical environment, what

happens is when it rains, you'll get zinc.

Molecules out of the galvanization that come and are deposited on those cut edges.

And in essence, protect those cut edges over time.

However, if you're in a real corrosive environment, let's say you're right.

On a salt coast, or let's say you're in an area that's extremely prone

to acid rain, which actually we don't have too many areas like that here in

the, here in the United States anymore.

But you know, an extremely cursive environment.

We'll speed up that whole process.

So you may get rust on those cut edges before the zinc or the aluminum

has had a chance to protect it.

And so that's the reason that a lot of times such as my general

recommendation is if you're within mile and a half or so of a salt water

coast, I would lean toward aluminum.

You know, outside of that steel certainly makes a good roof.

there is a little bit more.

much how I say onus on the installer with a steel roof, because you wanna make sure

you cut the steel correctly, where you've got a nice, crisp, clean she actions.

So you don't expose a lot of steel.

I have seen contractors saw cut steel roofing, and you know what happens

when you saw cut steel, you get this horrible jagged, rough edge.

And that probably will be a rough spot because it exposes

us so much bear carbon steel.

so there's a little bit more onus with the steel roof on the

contractor to do things right.

If you do scratch the metal, which.

You're dealing with sharp pieces of metal.

You're gonna occasionally scratch the paint finish, on a steel roof.

If it's a deep enough scratch, you're gonna wanna put some touch

up, paint on it to protect it.

But you know, well done a steel roof, works great.

An aluminum roof can work great as well.

If someone was in an extreme hail area, I could probably make an argument

that, steel would be a better choice than aluminum because it's a stronger.

On the other hand, if you get softball size tail, like you guys can get in Texas.

So sometimes.

There isn't much at all that survives that

that's very informative.

It's great to know those different options and especially geographically,

you know, how it applies to anyone from the west coast to, you know,

middle America, in your knowledge.

And just to let everybody know what is, you know, the average

lifespan of a metal roof.

And I mean, if there's different, longevity to different types of

installations, whether it be like a metal type shingled, because there's,

you know, perforations in there.

yeah, if you could just educate all of us, I'd like to know, how long

is a metal roof supposed to last?

Yeah, that's a good question.

I, I think that.

the primary factor on how long a metal roof is going to last is

the type of finish that's on it.

And there are four basic types of finishes used on metal roofs.

I'm going to exclude the high end natural metals like zinc

and copper, zinc and copper.

Make great roofs very long lasting 80 9,000 year old hundred year roofs.

They don't need any sort of extra coat on them, but when

we're dealing with steel and.

There are some coat options.

Probably the base level is a clear acrylic coating and we

see this used on Galvao steel.

We don't typically see it used on galvanized nor on aluminum, but the

clear acrylic coating, really wash us away after about five to seven years.

And so at that point, you just have the plain Galal loo exposed.

At that point, it depends a lot upon how harsh that environment is.

Again, a corrosive environment is.

Take Mar of a toll faster on the metal, but you know, an UN pain or a, what we

call acrylic coded clear coded metal roof.

Probably in most environments, you'd get you 20 to 30 years of service.

now at some point, if you start to see some surface rust starting

to develop, you can paint.

Roof and get another 20, 30, 40 years out of it by, by painting an

actual color on it at that point.

we go up from the clear coatings and we get into a type of paint chemistry

called polyester, and there's a lot of variance of polyester paints.

There's.

One called super polyester, which, you know, typically is at the top,

but the polyesters are good finishes.

We see those used a lot in the agricultural and some in the

commercial and industrial markets.

we see them a little bit in residential.

They don't have the fade and chalk resistance that the next

type of paint Fe I'm gonna talk about does, they will get you.

Really good looking paint finish for about 10 to 12 years, but then they will start

to accelerate in terms of fade and chalk.

And again, you're dealing with a paint and finish that if someone suddenly

looks up there in 30 years and says, you know, my that's changed color enough.

I'd like to paint it.

You can paint the roof and, don't have to replace it.

You just repaint it.

But I would generally say with a polyester finish, especially in Texas, you're

probably gonna be at about 20 to 25 years.

And someone's gonna say, eh, I think I'd like to freshen the

up with a new coat of paint.

So then above that we get into the PVDF finishes.

Those are oftentimes referred to by their trade names of kin R and LAR.

, These are the best finishes in terms of fade and chalk resistance.

They've got the best warranties for fade and chalk resistance, and even in

Texas or other Southern exposure areas.

These finishes are gonna be 40 years plus before someone says, eh, that's

change, finish, change, color enough.

I'd like to paint it.

And then finally, we've got another type of entirely different type of

finish available, which is called a stone coating or an aggregate coating.

And this is basically very similar to the aggregate that's on asphalt

shingles, except it's being glued to a steel shingle base.

these are very attractive products.

They can do some cool things with color, and.

In the consumer's mind, they kind of create a bridge.

Okay.

Asphalt shingles, they got stones on them, the same stones, just on

a steel base, it's gonna be better.

And there absolutely will be.

So that's another option for consumers as well.

, I think most folks will generally recognize that the painted

finishes are going to get you.

A more durable trouble free, coating than the stone.

Well, but there's still a good option too.

There's lots of good stone coded products out there.

so you've touched on, the different types of codings and,

that there are some color options.

I mean, it seems like there.

A lot of different applications.

Touch on the kind R just for a second.

Because us as a company, we do mainly focus on presenting that

to homeowners since it is the most long lasting, it's, very.

Minimal fading.

The before and after pictures are beautiful.

, and very hard to pick, which one's the before and which one's the after.

Right?

So on those, I know standing steam has their own set of colors and, any other

types of Fages have their own colors, but, how many are there, is there a

lot, can you, create your own custom, you know, what, what are the options.

You know, interesting question.

So in the standing sea market, we have kind of seen our industry morph to,

probably 20 to 25 sort of standard colors.

So as you look at different manufacturers, you're gonna see, they

may put different names on the colors, but you look at their color charts.

You.

Okay, this is the same color, just a different name.

And, you know, that's kind of been one of the ways our industry has

kind of consolidated, not in terms of companies or ownership, but consolidated

our supply chain as if you will.

By coming down to some standard colors.

The interesting thing is those of us on the metal shingle side.

Tend to have our own proprietary colors that no one else has.

And you know, a lot of times we've designed those carefully

to match our products.

We're seeing, uh, especially in the metal shingle industry, you see, a lot of what

we call print coats, which means that the product can have multiple colors on it.

So there may be a, base color down on the metal, and then there

might be one or two or three.

Other colors layered on top of that to give some really neat effects.

You know, a little bit like when you look at synthetic or, or laminated

flooring and you see how the colors are brought out, there's some

similar things being done on roofing.

, you brought up a good question though, about custom colors and, I actually

don't think any other companies offer this, but, we actually offer a unique

thing called our Thermo bond finish.

And Thermo bond is a.

Powder applied at PVDF finish.

So we actually apply it on top of a standard applied PVDF finish.

We electrostatically spray the powder on, we cured at 450 degrees and they sort of,

through something called thermoplastic.

They, they kind of fuse together.

But we can actually.

One off custom color roofs.

And, we've gotten involved in particular with some really cool historical projects.

We had, one where, they sent us an old piece of tile.

They wanted us to match, we had another one where I visited and.

Brought back old wood shingles that they wanted to match.

And, we color match those on one off projects.

And I think we might be the only manufacturer that can

do one off custom color roof.

So it's, that's kind of fun.

Our, our folks always enjoy the challenge of matching something

that someone sends to us.

That's amazing.

That's incredible.

A true custom, one of a kind roof.

Yeah.

Todd, our homeowners ask us a lot of times when they're interested in a metal roof,

they want to know, is it energy efficient?

You know, let's talk money in their pocket, right.

What's it gonna do?

As far as their cooling bill, goes.

So we will oftentimes hear from homeowners, that it reduces their

cooling bill by any place from 20 to 30%.

Yeah.

You know, every home has its own.

Characteristics in terms of, you know, even where they keep their

thermostat or how often they open doors or windows and things.

But, that's pretty typical is 20 to 30% and there's a couple ways that happens.

Most of the paint finishes used in painted metal roofing today

have reflective pigment in them.

So even in dark colors, we can get some decent reflectivity.

And for many years there was a federal tax credit for metal roofs that had that

reflective pigment that tax credit expired at the end of 2021, our government has

had a history of sometimes renewing.

Retroactively at the end of the year.

So there's a chance, even though we can't tell consumers, if they buy

this year, they'll get the tax credit.

There's a chance it could get renewed toward the end of the year.

So it's partly the reflective pigment that causes the energy efficiency.

The other part that we find is with the metal shingles, we

end up with a dead airspace.

Thermal break between the metal and the roof deck.

And I'm telling you, you know, any piece of metal, just like

your car, it sits out in the sun.

You go put your hand on it's hot.

and the metal on the roof, it's gonna do the same thing.

But if the roof system is designed, so that, that metal rather than be against

the structure is against a dead airspace.

Then it can't conduct that heat right into the structure.

Hmm.

And so we had some studies done a number of years ago by

Florida solar energy center.

And part of the comparison they did was a highly reflective

white standing seam roof.

And, you know, white is the Cadillac standard in terms of reflectivity.

It has a natural reflectivity of about 65%.

They compared one of our brown metal shingles that at the time

had a reflectivity of about 17% to that white standing scene.

We were actually keeping the attic cooler beneath the brown metal shingle than they

were beneath the white standing scene.

And it's all because that standing seam sits right on the roof deck and conducts

that heat right down to the structure.

Whereas the metal shingle has set dead airspace or what we call a

thermal break and it doesn't conduct that heat right to the structure.

So, that was pretty cool.

Test results.

It's it's still on the internet.

If you search Florida solar energy center, roofing study from, I wanna say

2001, you'll find the results of it.

Oh, that's fascinating.

That's amazing.

It makes a lot of sense.

It's just the same concept as like a double pane window, basically.

Exactly.

Mm-hmm exactly beautiful.

Okay.

So tell me how important is it.

I know it is for you guys at Isaiah, but.

Why is it important to have us sourced steel or aluminum?

And, and what are some of your, things a homeowner would watch

out about or be careful about, you know, if it wasn't, let's say

sure.

You know, our, steel industry in the United States seems to always be changing.

Our company has always had a general rule that we only source domestic metal.

And there have been a couple times when metal has been an extremely

tight supply that we have bought foreign metal and most, every time

I've regretted it, because of the quality, that that we got now.

The quality was still to our standards, but, you know, we would Fang things like

inconsistencies in the shape of the metal.

We would find holes in the metal sometimes.

But, you know, manufacturers can watch for that and, and protect

the consumer against that.

where the consumer really has to be careful is some of the stuff that's

coming in from offshore, where it's simply an offshore produced product.

And.

You may not know what you're getting.

So if we buy steel, I specify G 90 galvanized.

And no matter where I get it from again, it's 99% domestic, but even

if I should buy some offshore, I can still make sure it's G 90 galvanized.

But if you buy a product that's coming from offshore, you may analyze that

product and find it's nowhere close to G 90 mm-hmm , which means there's

not much zinc on it, which means you have very little cut edge protection.

I would really encourage people to, to watch that.

And one of the great ways to, protect yourself against that.

There's an organization called.

Metal construction association or MCA.

The website is metal construction.org, and they have a certified metal

roofing program that our company and some other manufacturers belong to.

And part of that certification is that we can verify.

Where our metal comes from, what quality is, is what

standard it is when it was run.

And so any product out in the field, we have labeled or marked it in a

way so we can identify exactly where that steel came from or exactly

where that aluminum came from.

And the consumer really PR and part of the program too, is it has to be high quality.

I can't verify that.

Producing junk product.

it has to be high quality product, but for the consumer, that kind of

takes some of the guess work out.

If you simply ask, your contractor, is this an MCA certified product

or at the very least, does this meet MCA certification standard?

That's awesome.

Great tip.

And they'll find with us that, that all of our products do.

Yeah, absolutely.

That's great.

That's one of the reasons, obviously we use products from Isaiah

industries is because of, we know that we're getting and providing the

client something of great quality.

You guys hold that in such high standard.

We really appreciate that.

So one, question that.

Makes me laugh, but all my homeowners ask this when they wanna talk about a metal

roof, they go, is it loud when it rains?

What are your thoughts about that?

You know, I've, I've had very few complaints over the years and, you

know, tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands of rifts.

I remember two times where the folks had what I call California

construction over their master bedroom.

And by that, I mean, they laid in bed and they looked up at.

Painted underside of their roof deck.

Oh.

And in those situations they said, you know, it makes enough noise at night.

I'm not real happy.

And, you know, we came up with some solutions to put some sound deadening

insulation on the top of the roof deck to eliminate their concern.

But no, generally speaking with normal construction where you've got.

You know, as insulation in your attic or on your ceilings, you

usually have either an attic space or some sort of airspace in there.

The main complaint we get is from folks who said, you know, I

thought I'd be able to hear that it would help me sleep at night.

I don't hear it.

I know it, my wife and I's house, we spend a lot of our

time in our family room and.

Very rarely, I'll go to take the dogs out and be like, oh, I didn't have a clue.

It was raining out here.

We just don't hear it at.

Wow.

That's incredible.

, so there is, another big question that we get from people seeking metal estimates.

Just knowledge from our company about your company is especially

in new construction as well.

Even whenever there's not a lot of development around to really

reference you don't really know what everybody's building.

What their plans look like, but even with a homeowner who has an existing

roof, that wants to go metal, how difficult is it to get HOA approval?

And what are the options that a homeowner.

sure.

I have worked with a lot of HOAs over the years.

In fact, we even have a website called roofing for homeowners associations.com

and we've worked with a lot of HOAs to help walk them through that process

of adapting their covenants to.

Maybe accept the types of metal rifts that fit well in their community.

And.

Reject the types of metal rifts they don't want.

And one of the thing, common things I'll hear from HOAs is, you know, well, we

don't want something that's gonna show rust in five years, or we don't want

something that's gonna fade, or we don't want something that looks real commercial,

bright colors or something like that.

And so I have worked with a lot of HOAs to help them rewrite those covenants.

I've done that sometimes by meeting with them in person sometimes by video

conferencing sometimes just by email.

It really is possible for them to choose the metal roofs that are appropriate and

will add, value to their homes and also provide good, aesthetic appeal as well.

You just gotta kind of help 'em walk through that process.

In 40 years I've only seen a couple of HOAs.

Just flat out.

We couldn't budge them.

but it hasn't happened very often.

And sometimes I've also seen a couple homeowners have been kind of clever.

So, if they had like a pool house or a small shed, they would go ahead and roof.

It Andd say, Hey, if you don't like this, I'll take it off.

But come take a look at it.

And invariably, when they did that, the powers that we were like, oh,

that's exactly what we need our name.

How do you get that?

. Yeah.

So it's just a lot of times a lot of education and helping them

understand that, they're preconceived notions of what a metal roof may

be, may not be accurate anymore.

That's incredible that you go that extra mile to educate

that's one of our big things in our company is the more education.

And as we touched on at the very beginning, that's

what consumers are wanting.

They want you to do the legwork because the Internet's huge, you know, and there's

so many contractors, there's so many different roofing installation types.

And if you can put it in a beautiful educated package for them, That, that

creates trust knowledge, and just a sense of security of this big investment

as we talked about on a price point.

And also the fact that, you know, you do have all these different

color options, so you have different things to present to the HOAs.

Okay.

Well, if I can't get the, you know, patina green that I want,

you know, can I go this route?

And so there are options that way, because this is a very.

Customizable installation and a great way for a homeowner to really

express themselves through their roof.

And it's really, really awesome that you have all these different steps

that you can take, whether it be color options, whether it be HOA approvals,

whether it be all the websites that you referenced, which we will put in

the notes, we'll put links to all these websites and what they do, that you've.

But it just seems like just a win for the client, such a great investment.

And especially with a company that's apparently, you know, just definitely

gonna go the extra mile for them.

, one thing I wanna pull out too on HOAs is metal rifts make a super base to

put solar on typically if someone's looking at putting PV panels on their

house, you know, if they've got an asphalt shingle, that's more than 10

years old, the PV company is gonna say, you gotta get a new roof first.

There's no point in putting these panels on top of your roof.

A metal roof.

What we commonly see is homeowners will invest now in a metal roof

and they'll start to enjoy the energy savings of that metal roof.

And then they'll be like, okay, now I know what my energy bills are

going to be like after the metal.

Now I'm ready to put a solar roof on top of it.

And, you know, typically they'll find they can go with a little bit smaller

system than what they would've gone with before they put the metal roof on.

But even in 10 or 20 years, that metal roof is just as solid and

stable and good of a base to put solar on as it is when it's.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well that's, that's amazing.

So HOAs, they typically are.

They have that clause in there to keep out our panel.

They don't want barn type roofs in there.

And you guys have, you mentioned it already, but.

A metal shingle.

You have several different kinds.

When I tell people about this, they're like, I didn't even know.

I always get the response.

I didn't even know there was such thing as a metal shingle so tell me a little

bit about how you guys came up with that.

And a little bit of the evolution of where that's come to today.

Today.

You know, it surprises a lot of people and that is the common comment.

Didn't know this existed.

probably today's metal shingles have their roots back in the

late forties, believe it or not.

so it's not entirely new technology, but, what we found was that with

the development of better paint systems, it started to make a

whole lot more sense for consumers.

I mean, and, and in.

There were metal shingles made back in the Victorian era.

And I can take you to some old town old towns.

I remember visiting wa the Hatchie Texas once and saw lot of old

Victorian era metal shingles there.

So, so it's been around a while, but paint systems and things, the

ability to produce at higher speeds and still produce good product.

Those things have all helped to make it more practical and attainable.

For homeowners today than it used to be.

But yeah, typically these panels are interlocking on all sides.

That's certainly something to look for.

There are some metal shingles that are not, but I would look for a panel that

has some sort of interlock on all sides.

And then, you know, you've got designs out there, both product designs and.

Paint designs or coding designs that can make these products look

like Cedar shake or slate or tile or traditional asphalt shingles also.

So a lot of good variety homeowners can choose from.

again, part of what I love about metal roofing is that

wide variety, both aesthetically price point and, performance.

Yeah, absolutely.

We've had the pleasure to install some of your, metal roofing

systems for our clients and that they're breathtakingly beautiful.

And mostly we love that they're gonna last, for decades and

decades and decades ahead.

So it's just a great product.

Tell us, what are you most excited about, about the future of metal

roofing and Isaiah industries and what you guys are doing?

Sure.

You know, we're always looking at the industry and looking for new

developments and new places we can go.

I do think, although the PVDF or kind R pain finishes today are

incredible, incredible performers.

Great results coming out of those products and it's actually

pretty proven technology.

I do think we're gonna see some even better finishes, coming down the road.

I think we're gonna continue to see more in terms of those multi HUD finishes.

So again, it doesn't have to be all brown or all gray or something.

And then those multi hu finishes allow us to make the products more realistic in

terms of looking like slate or something.

Yeah, I, I think those are some of the areas we're gonna see development.

I mean, way down the road, we're definitely going to see more

integration of solar into metal roofing.

There's a lot of work being done in that area right now.

Some products are out there, but they don't have near the efficiency

of just putting PV panels up on top of a, of a good metal roof.

but I think we're gonna see more of that happening.

Yeah, I, I think we'll continue to just see market share growth

and anytime you're include, you're seeing market share growth.

You're gonna see new products being developed and new styles coming along

and new looks for consumers to choose.

Yeah, it's amazing.

this has been great.

, I think all of our listeners will have gotten a lot from this.

So, is there anything else you'd like to add that we didn't get to talk about?

You know, we really have covered it all.

I feel like I should add something.

, yeah.

I, I don't know.

You, you really have done a great job of asking questions and

covering a lot of territory here.

I think the big thing though, is.

I think it's important as a consumer to make sure that you align yourself

with a contractor who spends time hearing what it is you want to

accomplish with your next roof.

And, you know, if you find yourself with a contractor who just comes

in and says, here's what we handle, it's the best thing for you?

Trust me.

Maybe look for someone who takes a little more time with you because, every house,

every homeowner, has some very specific and unique needs and they have, you know,

you as a homeowner, have a right to be able to express those needs and have a

contractor that then listens to those needs and comes back and guides you in

a good direction to have your needs met.

when you don't do that, Is when you oftentimes end up with decisions you

regret later and saying, oh, I made this big investment, but it didn't really

accomplish what I wanted to accomplish.

So I think that's a big advice for consumers.

Find, find a contractor who listens and, asks you questions.

That's great.

Well, tell us, what's the best way for our audience to get

ahold of you and look you up.

Sure.

if they wanna connect with me professionally, I'm on LinkedIn.

Mm-hmm you can just search Todd Miller metal roofing, and you'll find me.

I also have an educational website for consumers@asktoddmiller.com.

, probably my easiest email as Todd T D D at.

Ask Todd miller.com.

And then of course, they can learn more about our products@castleandirons.com.

That's K a S S E L and irons I R O ns.com.

, that's one of, one of the brands of metal roofing, that we produce that.

Of course we have worked with you.

Good folks.

absolutely.

We'll put all those links in the show notes.

So, well, Todd, thank you so much.

This has been a blast and we'll have to have you on again sometime we wish

you all the luck in the future, sir.

Well, thank you so much.

I good luck with everything and, it was a pleasure to connect and, look forward to

seeing you next time in I'm in Houston.

Absolutely.

Talk to you soon, Todd.

Thank you so much.

Bye-bye.

Thank you for listening to the Houston roofer podcast.

If you found this episode valuable, please subscribe to the show.

So you never miss an episode and take a moment to share it with your friends.

Visit our podcast website to listen to all the latest

episodes@wwwdothoustonrooferpodcast.com and follow true works

roofing on social media.

Our handle is true.

Works roofing and.

Check out our website, www dot true works.

roofing.com or call us at area code seven one three nine oh three roof.

To schedule a roof repair or roof replacement consultation.