Sources: Fabral, Maintenance Instructions for Fabral Panels; Kloeckner Metals (August 13, 2016); NRCA.
Metal roof maintenance is mostly about the small parts, not the panels. The steel or aluminum sheet itself rarely needs anything; what wears are the fasteners and their rubber washers, the sealant at laps, trim and penetrations, and the paint finish. A good routine is an inspection at least once a year, which panel maker Fabral sets as its maximum interval, plus a check after any major storm, with gutters and debris kept clear in between. In Central Florida, where sun and summer storms work on a roof all year, twice a year is the safer rhythm.
This guide covers maintenance on a metal roof for homes and commercial buildings: what to check on standing seam and exposed-fastener systems, how to clean panels without voiding a finish warranty, and what to leave to a roofer. For how we install and repair metal on houses, see our residential metal roofing page.
Standing seam or exposed fastener: why it matters
The type of metal roof decides most of the maintenance. A standing seam panel runs from ridge to eave with its edges folded and locked together, and the clips that hold it sit inside the seam. There is no hole through the metal in the field, and the panel can move as it heats and cools. It is the lower-maintenance profile.
An exposed-fastener panel, often sold as 5V crimp, R-panel or corrugated, is screwed through its face with gasketed screws. It costs less and installs faster, but it has thousands of holes, each sealed by a rubber washer that ages in the sun. On that roof, the fasteners are the maintenance plan.
The metal roof maintenance checklist
| Check | What to look for | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Fasteners and washers | Screws backed out, washers dried or cracked, holes worn into slots | Every inspection; exposed-fastener roofs especially |
| Sealant | Sealant pulling away or eroding at laps, ridge closures, penetrations and trim | Every inspection |
| Flashing and trim | Loose eave, rake and ridge trim; flashing at walls and curbs that does not move with the panel | Every inspection and after storms |
| Gutters and debris | Leaves, branches and stray metal resting on panels; gutters and downspouts blocked | As needed; remove debris right away |
| Ponding | Water that stands on panels after rain | After heavy rain |
| Finish | Chalking, fading, scratches through the paint, rust at cut edges and fasteners | Yearly |
| Storm damage | Lifted panels or trim, dents from debris, missing fasteners | After every named storm |
Sources: Fabral; Kloeckner Metals.
Most of that list is checked from the ground with binoculars, or by a roofer on the roof. Fabral's own instructions note that steep metal roofs can be slippery and a qualified metal roofing contractor may be needed for inspections. Painted metal is slippery when wet, which in Orlando means most summer afternoons, and standing seam can dent if it is stepped on between the ribs. Call us rather than going up to check a fastener yourself.
Fasteners and washers
Every exposed-fastener roof eventually leaks at its screws. The neoprene washer under each head dries out in UV, and the screw backs out slightly each time the panel expands and contracts. Over thousands of daily heating cycles the hole wears into a slot, and the washer no longer seals it. Kloeckner Metals, a steel supplier, advises replacing fastener gaskets at the end of their expected life even if they look fine, because they do not last as long as the steel roof.
The fix is scheduled rather than heroic: walk the fastener rows, re-drive loose screws, and replace worn ones. At mid-life, a through-fastened roof often gets a full fastener replacement with oversized screws and new washers, which keeps it serviceable long past the point where the original screws failed. On a standing seam roof there are no face fasteners to maintain, so attention goes to the clips at the edges and the trim fasteners.
Sealant, flashing and trim
On a standing seam roof, the parts that wear are the sealant at end laps and penetrations, and the trim. Kloeckner notes that it is rare for sealants to last more than 20 years, and says anything pulling away or eroding at penetrations and perimeters should be replaced. Fabral calls for resealing curbs, gutters, flashings, closures and penetrations as needed to keep the system weathertight.
Flashing is where metal roofs leak that look fine from the street. A pipe boot or wall flashing that was detailed for a shingle roof does not move with a metal panel, and the panel's daily movement tears the seal open. When we find a leak on a metal roof, it is usually at one of these details rather than in the panel.
Also look for anything resting on the roof. Fabral says to remove vegetation and debris that touches metal panels immediately, including branches, leaves and grass, and to keep gutters and downspouts clear. Stray screws or metal shavings left from other trades can rust and stain a finish.
Cleaning metal panels
Florida rain rinses most metal roofs well enough. When a roof does need cleaning, follow the panel maker's instructions, because aggressive cleaning can damage the coating and void the finish warranty. Fabral's guidance, as an example from one manufacturer:
- Clean as needed with a 5% solution of a common commercial detergent in water, using a cloth, soft-bristle brush or pressure washer, then rinse completely
- Remove mildew with the detergent, trisodium phosphate and bleach mixture it describes, but do not use bleach on Galvalume
- Remove tar, grease or oil with denatured alcohol, isopropyl alcohol or mineral spirits, then rinse with water
- Rinse salt deposits off with fresh water where salt spray reaches the roof
Other manufacturers publish their own lists, and what they allow differs. Check yours before anyone takes a pressure washer or a chemical to the roof.
Scratches, rust and the paint finish
Most of a metal roof's rust protection sits in the metallic coating under the paint: galvanized zinc or Galvalume. Rust starts at cut edges, at scratches that go through to bare steel, and around fasteners. That is why trim is hemmed and cuts are touched up on install.
Sources disagree on touch-up paint later on. Fabral says touch-up paint should be used on scratches, sparingly, with a small artist's brush, and a zinc-rich primer first where a scratch goes through the zinc coating on galvanized steel. Kloeckner discourages field touch-up paint on scratches and dents that do not puncture the roof, because it chalks and fades faster than the factory finish and adds no corrosion protection. The practical answer: leave a cosmetic scuff alone, and have a roofer treat anything that reaches bare metal with the panel maker's own touch-up product.
Oil-canning, the wavy look across a flat panel face in raking light, is cosmetic on its own and does not leak. It points to how the panel was installed rather than to a maintenance problem.
Steel roof maintenance in Central Florida
A few things make metal roof maintenance here different from the advice written for other parts of the country:
- UV. Sun cooks exposed sealant and fastener washers faster than it ages the panel, so those are the items that come due first.
- Heat cycling. Panels heat up every morning and cool in the afternoon storms, which is what works fasteners loose and pulls sealant open.
- Hurricane season. NOAA dates the Atlantic season from June 1 to November 30. Check trim and edge fastening before it, and look for lifted panels and dents after any named storm.
- Salt air. Salt reaches inland on a sea breeze, which is one reason the finish and substrate matter more here.
The National Roofing Contractors Association recommends inspecting a roof at least twice a year, in spring and fall, and after severe weather. For a metal roof in Central Florida that means once before hurricane season and once after it, with a photo record each time. Most warranties expect a roof to be maintained, and a dated record is how you show it. Our roof maintenance checklist lays out a full routine for a Central Florida home.
We look after metal roofs on homes and on churches, schools and commercial buildings across Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Orlando and the surrounding communities, including roofs we did not install. For a commercial building, see our commercial metal roofing page or our roof maintenance programs. For a house, our residential metal roofing page explains standing seam and exposed-fastener systems in more detail, or you can schedule an inspection.