Steel Roofing in Trail and the West Kootenays.
What a steel roof is
Steel is the roof for people who want to stop thinking about their roof. Panels shed snow instead of holding it, stand up to wind, and keep their looks for decades. Around here that’s not a style choice. It’s why so many barns, shops and hillside houses wear metal.
We install two kinds. Standing seam locks its panels together over hidden clips: clean lines, no fastener heads in the weather. Exposed-fastener metal panel costs less and suits shops, barns and outbuildings. Both are only as good as their details.
To be plain about what we do: we install steel panels, we don’t build them. The flashing, vents, custom drains and chimney caps that finish the roof come out of our own metal shop in Trail, bent to fit your building.
What a steel roof asks of you afterward
Steel is low-maintenance, not no-maintenance, and we’d rather say that now than have you find it out:
- Exposed fasteners age. The gaskets under the screw heads harden over the years. On a panel roof that’s a checkup item, not a failure, but it’s a real one.
- Sliding snow goes somewhere. A steel roof unloads all at once. Decks, doors, gas meters and anything parked below need to be out of the path, or the roof needs snow guards. We plan that with you before the panels go on.
- The details are the roof. Flashing at walls, chimneys and valleys is where a metal roof leaks if it leaks. Ours comes out of our own shop for exactly that reason.
- Panels can be walked, carefully. If someone has to get up there for a satellite dish or a chimney, call us first. Panels dent, and a dent in the wrong place holds water.
Steel is one of five systems we install. If your roof is flat or shingles fit better, see torch-on, TPO, PVC or shingle roofing.
How we install it
- Tear off and inspect, or strap over a sound deck where the assembly calls for it.
- Underlayment rated for metal, run tight and sealed at the penetrations.
- Panels set straight and fastened the way their maker specifies: clips for standing seam, gasketed screws for exposed-fastener panel.
- Shop-made flashing, trim and caps, plus snow guards where sliding snow needs control.
Common questions
Standing seam hides its fasteners inside raised, locked seams. Metal panel screws down through the face. Standing seam costs more and asks less of you afterward; exposed fasteners want checking as the roof ages. Trail Roofing installs both across the West Kootenays and quotes what suits the building.
Yes. Steel sheds snow instead of holding it, which is why you see it on so many Kootenay buildings. Where sliding snow could land on decks, doors or gas meters, we fit snow guards to control it. Trail Roofing plans that with you before the work starts.
No. We install steel roofing panels, but we don't build them. Panels come from the mill. What our Trail metal shop does make is the flashing, vents, custom drains and chimney caps that finish the roof, bent to fit your building. That combination is how Trail Roofing gets steel details right in the West Kootenays.
Our work
Steel roofs our crews have built around the West Kootenays.
Who this is for
- Residential: Homes and cabins that want to shed snow and stop re-roofing.
- Commercial: Shops, barns and commercial buildings with pitched roofs.
- Industrial: Pitched industrial buildings and cold storage. Ask us about industrial work.
Service area
We install and repair roofs across the West Kootenay: Trail, Rossland, Nelson, Castlegar, Kaslo, Salmo, Fruitvale, Grand Forks, Warfield, Montrose.