Are Metal Roofs Noisy?

If you’re thinking about a metal roof for your home, you have a lot to consider such as reflectivity, its impact resistance to color, and your home’s exterior aesthetic. However, another factor to consider is also the noise level. With a metal roof, rain, hail, and other elements can create much more noise than a traditional shingled roof.

Knowing if your roof will add to the noise level of your home is an important consideration—something every homeowner should research if they are thinking about installing a metal roof. Metal roofs will last at least 50 years if they are properly installed, so it is a good idea to know if you’ll be able to hear extra noise because of them. The extra noise from the elements may bother some people more than others. After making the investment in a new roof, the last thing you will want to do is deal with the sound of the rain or wind hitting against the metal panels, disrupting your peace for decades.

Choosing the correct roofing material for your replacement is a big decision, but with so much information online, making a choice can be overwhelming. There are considerations that every homeowner needs to make when deciding on a new roof for their home, including the fact that you will hear some noise during rain and sleet if you decide to hire a roofer to install a metal roof.

Will a Metal Roof Be Loud During Rain?

Yes, you’re going to hear a faint sound from the rain hitting the roof. The intensity of the sound will depend on whether your new metal roof is placed over solid decking. With solid decking, the sound from the rain will be much quieter because the wood, or decking, located between your ceiling and the metal panels will absorb some of the noise.

If you don’t have solid decking installed, you will hear the rain and have to rely solely on your ceiling’s insulation to lessen the sound. Either way, a metal roof will give off some noise during rain. It’s impossible to completely avoid the sound of rain with metal roofing, but many people find the sound of rain hitting their metal roof soothing and calming.

There is also a new solution to help dampen noise on metal roofs. A standard metal roof installation can be upgraded with wood fiber insulation boards. Your roofer can install these boards between your roof’s decking and the roof’s metal panels. Wood fiber insulation boards will add an extra layer to further absorb sound from rain, even in heavy rainstorms.

With this upgrade, the sound of the rain and wind will have to travel further through the insulation boards, roof decking, and your ceiling’s insulation. Please remember that adding the insulation boards won’t completely block out the noise, but it can dramatically decrease its impact.

Adding upgrades like wood insulation boards can affect the cost of your new metal roof, so ask your contractor for pricing differences so you can prepare accordingly.

Is a Metal Roof Louder Than Other Roof Types?

Good quality metal roofs are made of various durable materials like galvalume, aluminum, copper, zinc, and stainless steel. And while all these materials are great solutions for metal roofing, they are the only roofing types that noticeably echo the noise from the rain. Asphalt and other roof types, such as slate, concrete, and clay, absorb sound better because of their material composition. A metal roof will always be a bit louder than the other roof types, so if the sound of rain is a big concern for you, then installing a metal roof might not be the best choice.

Can’t Decide If a Metal Roof Is the Right Choice for You?

You now know that a metal roof is going to make some noise during rain, ice, or sleet. Though this noise can’t be blocked completely, it can be dampened with wood insulation boards. Further, you have to ask yourself if this sound would be soothing or annoying. Many people actually enjoy hearing rain hitting the roof, so you will need to ask yourself if you’re sensitive to this sound or if it would be something you would be happy listening to.

If you’re still on the fence, then you should put your preferences as a homeowner first. If you are worried that a metal roof will make it hard to sleep at night during a rainstorm, a metal roof could be a deal-breaker for you. If on the other hand, you are a homeowner who has fond childhood memories of the “pinging” sounds of rain on the roofs of your family’s barn and porch roofs, then a metal roof could be perfect for you.

The sounds that your metal roof will make in your home could be therapeutic or a nuisance depending on the perspective you have on what constitutes noisiness.

Making Your Metal Roof Work for You

The roofs of yesterday gave metal roofs a reputation for being noisy materials for homes, but advancements have been made in the composition of residential roofing materials. So today, metal roofing is constructed to make much less noise while still providing optimal protection for your home. Since most re-roof installations today are done on homes where shingles were installed previously, excessive noise from rain or other harsh elements will not be an issue in most homes where a new metal roof is installed.

Many homeowners say that their metal roof is quieter than their old shingle roof when there’s a solid deck, high-quality material for underlayment, and insulated attic airspace below. The combination of materials serves as an excellent noise buffer, and you should consider using them if you want to move forward with installing a metal roof.

Your new metal roof should not be excessively noisy if your installer takes the proper precautions to add additional layers to your roof’s structure during construction. The metal roofs available on today’s market are by far the home improvement industry’s best-ever metal roofing options for lower noise levels. The composition of modern metal roofing makes for much better sound proofing, so you can have an ultra-strong protective layer for your home, that won’t be a sound nuisance once installed.