5V Crimp Metal Roofing in Pompano Beach, FL

Bare Galvalume is steel with an aluminum-zinc coating and no paint, and it gives the plain silver roof seen on older Florida cottages. HomeGuide lists Galvalume corrugated panels at $500 to $1,000 per square installed. Where you live decides whether it makes sense, since mill-finish Galvalume loses its warranty close to the coast with at least one manufacturer, so homes east of the Intracoastal should read the salt-air guidance before picking it.

Painted 5V uses the same steel sheet with a factory paint system over the metallic coating, so you get a color and a second layer between the steel and the weather. White is the common pick here. The Florida Solar Energy Center put a white 5V steel roof on one of its test homes when it measured how roof color affects cooling. Ask whether the paint is a PVDF finish, the finish sold with long chalk and fade warranties.

On a 5V roof, the screws do the work that hidden clips do on standing seam. In Broward, the panel's product approval sets the spacing. One current Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance for a 26-gauge 5V panel sets these limits:

• Screw. #10-14 by 2-inch hex-washer-head with a sealing washer, long enough to pass through the sheathing by at least 3/16 inch.
• Field of the roof. Rows no more than 18 inches apart up the slope.
• Perimeter and corners. No more than 3 inches apart, because uplift is strongest there.
• Panel edges. No more than 12 inches apart.

Every panel under that approval has to carry a permanent "Miami-Dade County Product Control Approved" label, and a copy of the approval must be available on the job site. Washers age faster than the steel, which is why exposed-fastener roofs need a re-screw schedule.

5V suits small, simple roofs: a back porch, a detached shed, a two-room cottage. The approval requires each panel to run in one piece from eave to ridge, so a short porch roof needs no end laps.

Porches are often pitched low, though. Lapped panels need sealant in the side laps below 3:12, and under a certain pitch metal panels aren't allowed at all, so check the minimum slope before you settle on 5V. A small roof still needs a permit and inspections here.

The difference is where the fasteners are. A 5V roof has hundreds of screws through its face, while standing seam hides its clips inside raised seams:

If price and an old-Florida look come first, 5V makes sense. If you would rather not have someone back on the roof for the screws later, standing seam is worth the extra money.