Aluminum Roofing Systems for Salt-Air Homes
Aluminum Standing Seam (.032 and .040)
Aluminum standing seam is the common choice for homes close to salt water. The code minimum for aluminum panels in the hurricane zone is 0.025 inch, but the approved systems run thicker. One Miami-Dade approval for a 0.032-inch panel shows how much the document controls:
- Thickness. One Florida approval lists 0.032 inch as its minimum and accepts 0.040 inch.
- Clips. Galvanized steel, not aluminum, with two screws each.
- Clip spacing. 18 inches in the field and 12 inches at the perimeter and corners.
- Design pressure. Up to -97.5 psf at the edges.
The listed clip is part of the tested system. A "better" substitute still breaks the approval.
Aluminum 5V Panels
5V crimp comes in aluminum as well as steel, and it is the lower-cost aluminum option because the screws go straight through the panel. One approved 0.032-inch aluminum 5V panel for Broward and Miami-Dade lists:
- 24-inch coverage with 3/8-inch ribs
- #10 screws, 1½ inches long, with sealing washers
- screw rows 16 inches apart for -116.25 psf, or 12 inches apart for -183.5 psf
No major cost guide prices aluminum 5V on its own line, so get it quoted. The 5V crimp page covers the profile itself.
Mill Finish or PVDF-Painted Aluminum
Mill finish is bare aluminum. Painted aluminum carries a PVDF finish over it. Near the coast, the paint warranty is what you are buying. One maker sells aluminum only prepainted. Its finish warranty runs 40 years beyond half a mile from salt or brackish water and 35 years inside that line, with a yearly fresh-water rinse required inside it. If a quote offers mill finish, ask what warranty covers it. Colors and finish ratings are explained on the standing seam page.
Stainless Fasteners and Clips
On aluminum, both the code and the panel warranty have something to say about the screw. Florida's code says metal panels are fastened with the approved manufacturer's fasteners. Where the maker names none, it allows stainless steel on any metal roof, and aluminum fasteners only for aluminum panels on aluminum supports. Panel warranties ask for the fastener to be insulated from the panel, for example with a rubber washer, and exclude damage from overdriven screws. Ask which screw the approval lists and check the box when it arrives.
Flashing Metals That Don't React
Flashing touches the panels, so its metal matters. The hurricane-zone list of allowed accessory metals includes copper and lead sheet alongside steel and aluminum, and not all of them belong next to an aluminum roof. Panel warranties exclude:
- contact with lead or copper
- water running off copper or lead flashing or piping onto the panels
If you want copper accents, keep them off the slopes that drain onto aluminum.
Why Pompano Beach homeowners call Pompano Metal Roofing
- One independent roofer per request, never a call list
- Ask for tear-off, deck repair and permit as separate lines
- No fee to homeowners for the referral or the estimate
- Your details go to that one roofer and nobody else
Aluminum or Galvalume Steel: How Close to Salt Water
Galvalume is steel with a coating of about 55% aluminum, 1.6% silicon and the rest zinc. It costs less than aluminum and dents less. Near the coast, the warranty usually decides between them:
1,500 feet
One maker's PVDF warranty on Galvalume is "null and void" for panels within 1,500 feet of a salt water environment or hit by salt spray.Half a mile
Another offers no warranty on prepainted or mill-finish Galvalume within half a mile of the seacoast, salt water or brackish water.Aluminum inside the line
The same maker still warrants prepainted aluminum there, for 35 years instead of 40, as long as it's rinsed yearly.Your distance
Ask how the maker measures it and whether a tidal canal behind your house counts as salt or brackish water. Have the answer written on the quote.
Inland homes well past those lines can use Galvalume without giving up the warranty, and save the difference.
Aluminum Roofing Cost
Aluminum costs more than steel for the same profile. Guide figures, installed:
| Cost guide | Installed price |
|---|---|
| HomeGuide | $700 to $1,700 per 100 square feet, about $10,500 to $42,500 in total. Material alone is $300 to $900 per 100 square feet |
| Forbes | $8 to $18 a square foot |
| Modernize, standing seam | About $25,000 to $42,500 on a 2,500 sq ft roof |