Love The Look Of Metal Roofing But Worried About Sound? What Are Your Options?
If your current roof is nearing the end of its life, you may be browsing your replacement options and marveling at the wide variety of materials available. From recycled rubber roofing tiles to clay or terra cotta tiles, aluminum sheets, asphalt shingles, or cedar shake shingles, your design choices are nearly endless.
Often, many homes are at their best with a simple, streamlined metal roof -- but if you've spent time camping in an aluminum-roofed cabin, you may be worried about the noise level you'll experience after your new roof's installation. Read on to learn more about dampening the acoustics of your metal roof to ensure that falling rain, hail, or snow will create ambiance instead of requiring you to turn up the television volume.
Are all metal roofs naturally loud?
Most roofing materials are naturally sound-dampening, whether rubber tiles that absorb sound or asphalt shingles that are backed with a heavy layer of fiberglass. However, metallic surfaces tend to refract both light and sound, and even something as relatively small and light as a raindrop can create an echoing effect throughout the room below.
Fortunately, not all metal roofs are created equal, and choosing a thicker sheet of aluminum can provide you with some insulation against noise. You may also want to look at your shingling options -- in some cases, rather than installing metal roofing in single flat sheets adjacent to each other, you may be able to feather them over top of each other to provide some more thickness.
What can you do to ensure your metal roof will dampen sound?
The key to a quiet metal roof lies in good insulation. Not only will this help keep annoying sounds at bay, high-quality insulation can prevent your roof from serving as a conduit for heat -- whether absorbing heat from the summer sun to warm an air-conditioned house or allowing furnace heat to dissipate through the roof during the colder months.
In most cases, you'll be able to beef up your home's insulation at the same time the new metal roofing is installed, either by placing thick sheets of fiberglass insulation beneath the moisture barrier or utilizing cotton batting or another more eco-friendly material. If you're unable to install this insulation before your roof is replaced, utilizing some spray foam insulation to fill in any cracks or crevices beneath your metal roof should be all you need to enjoy a quiet (and dry) evening beneath your new aluminum roof.
