Questions to Ask When Hiring a Metal Roofing Contractor in Ontario

Question one

Will you actually come out and inspect my roof — including the attic?

There’s good technology now for measuring a roof from satellite imagery, and we use it ourselves for ballpark numbers. But a measurement off Google Earth is not an inspection. It tells you the size of the roof. It tells you nothing about the condition of what’s under your shingles, or whether your attic is ventilated properly.

That second part matters more than almost anything else on this page. We’re putting on a roof that can last fifty years or more. Before we commit to something that permanent, we need to know the substrate is sound — the substrate being the sheeting (or decking) that your roof is built on, the wood layer your shingles are fastened to and that everything above it depends on. That means checking there’s no rot hiding in that sheeting, no active leak, no severe mould, and no structural problem underneath. And most homes, even before they were last shingled, were never ventilated correctly. A metal roofer who doesn’t go into your attic is guessing about the very thing your roof’s lifespan depends on.

Drop in a real inspection photo — it proves the point better than any words.

Question two

What steel are you installing — and can you tell me its coating and paint system?

This is the fastest test there is. Ask a contractor whether their steel is galvanized or Galvalume, and ask how much coating is on it. A professional metal roofer will know without hesitating — they’ll tell you whether it’s G70 or G90 galvanized, they’ll know the paint system on it, and they’ll know why those things matter. Someone who installs metal as a sideline usually can’t, because to them steel is just steel.

Why dig into this? Because where the steel comes from changes everything. A supplier importing cheap offshore steel can come in well under everyone else on price — and that steel can be a lower grade that causes problems down the road. The coating and the paint are what determine whether your roof is still doing its job in forty years or fading and failing in fifteen.

A shot of the actual product reinforces that you know exactly what you’re installing.

Question three

What underlayment goes under the metal?

Here’s another quick one that tells you a lot. Best practice is always to install an underlayment beneath the metal — but with a metal roof it has to be a high-temp product, either a high-temp synthetic underlayment or a high-temp ice-and-water shield. Metal gets hot, and standard underlayment isn’t built for it.

A contractor who’s fluent in metal will bring this up themselves. If you ask and you get a blank look, or they treat underlayment as an afterthought, that tells you how familiar they really are with the product.

Question four

How will you finish the edges, the valleys and the gables?

This is where the real craftsmanship — and a lot of the cost — lives, and it’s where cheap quotes quietly cut corners. With steel shingles and standing seam, the right way to finish is to lock the ends of every sheet: at the drip edge, at the rakes and gables, and into the valleys. That takes specialty tools and a lot more labour.

The shortcut is to run the panels into J-trim instead, or to screw the ends down, or to run shingles to the centre of a valley and cap over the cut edges. It’s faster, it’s cheaper, and it’s not the same roof. Bending a lock on every shingle and locking it into a valley is what separates a roof that stays maintenance-free from one that gives you trouble later.

You don’t need to become a roofing expert to use this. Just ask how they handle the gables and valleys, and listen for whether they talk about locking the panels or trimming them in.

A close-up of a properly locked valley makes this section land instantly.

Question five

Who’s in charge of quality control, and will they be on my roof?

People love to ask whether a company uses its own crews or subcontractors, as if one is automatically better. In my experience, it doesn’t decide whether the job gets done right. I’ve seen excellent work and sloppy work from both. An in-house crew is no guarantee of quality control, and a good subcontractor can be outstanding.

The better question is: who is responsible for the quality of the installation, will that person be on site, and who do I call if something goes wrong during the job? That’s what actually protects you. A company that can answer it clearly has thought about accountability. A company that can’t is hoping you don’t ask.

Question six

Can I see every warranty in writing — material, workmanship, and components?

When two quotes both say “warranty included,” they can mean wildly different things. There are actually three layers of warranty on a metal roof, and salespeople usually only mention one:

The material warranty

Covers the product itself — the steel and its finish. Ask for it in writing.

The workmanship (installation) warranty

This is the one people gloss over, and it’s critical. The installation warranty says that if something fails during the warranty period because the installation was wrong, the contractor will come back and fix it. Picture a chimney or a skylight that was flashed badly and starts to leak. That’s not a material failure, so it isn’t a material-warranty claim — it’s an installation failure, and the workmanship warranty is what covers it. Here’s the part to remember: if the installation warranty isn’t written into your contract, it’s worth nothing at all.

The component warranties

Almost nobody brings these up. Your vents, your caulking, your screws — these components carry their own separate warranties that rarely get mentioned when a salesperson is sitting in your living room. Ask about them.

Question seven

Are you WSIB-covered, properly insured, and certified to work at heights?

This is the boring paperwork that becomes a nightmare when it’s missing — and in Ontario, some of the responsibility quietly lands on you, the homeowner. Three things to confirm, and ask for proof on each:

WSIB. Contractors are issued a WSIB clearance certificate, and you’re entitled to ask for it. Don’t just take the certificate — the clearance number can be verified on the WSIB website, so check it. This matters because under Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, the person hiring a contractor for construction work is responsible for making sure that contractor is registered and paid up.

Liability insurance. Every contractor working on your home should carry an active liability policy, and they should be able to hand you written proof of it. If your roof gets opened up, the rain comes, and your home takes serious water damage, that policy is what stands between you and a bill the contractor may not be able to pay out of pocket.

Working at heights. In Ontario, workers on a construction project who could fall three metres or more and use fall protection must hold valid working-at-heights training. Here’s the part homeowners don’t realize: if you hire several trades to work at once, OHSA can treat you as the “constructor” — which can make you responsible for everyone’s safety and compliance on your property. Hiring one contractor who acts as the constructor, and who can show their crew is trained and insured, is what keeps that liability off your shoulders.

A real working-at-heights shot proves the safety standard rather than just claiming it.

Question eight

Who can vouch for your work?

Any contractor should be perfectly comfortable giving you references. For a purchase this size, ask — and how they react to the request tells you something on its own.

Here’s a twist most homeowners don’t think of: ask for references from different kinds of clients. A homeowner reference is fine, but most homeowners aren’t well versed in how roofing is supposed to go. If the contractor has worked with builders or other trades, ask for one of those references too. Someone who works in the trades can judge the quality of the work in a way you can’t — and they’ll tell you straight.

Question nine

What does your deposit and payment schedule look like?

Deposits cause some heartburn, so let me be transparent about ours and why. If a homeowner isn’t financing the roof, we take one third on signing the contract, one third when we begin, and one third on completion. Some people don’t love it; most understand it once it’s explained. We take those protections so that we’re not holding the whole bag if someone decides not to pay at the end. That’s a structure you can use as a benchmark against other quotes.

What should make you nervous is the opposite: a contractor demanding a very large chunk of the total up front. There’s no good reason for it, and it leaves you exposed.

Question ten

Does the price actually make sense?

This is the one I’d tattoo on a homeowner’s hand if I could. I’ve seen it over and over: if a metal roof quote isn’t costing at least roughly twice what you were quoted for asphalt, you are almost certainly not getting a roof that’s installed to last. I’ve never seen a metal roof installed properly for less than about five or six dollars a square foot. Below that, you didn’t get a deal — you got a roof that won’t be maintenance-free, and you’ll be replacing it before the paint even wears out.

When one quote comes in dramatically cheaper than the rest, there are really only two explanations, and usually it’s both: the steel is cheaper (often imported and lower grade), and the labour is cheaper because the details are being cut — the locked edges, the valleys, the strapping, the underlayment. Remember that the majority of a metal roof’s cost is still the labour. A rock-bottom labour number isn’t a bargain; it’s a preview of where the corners will be cut.

Understanding why a proper metal roof costs what it does — how the labour, the gauge, and the paint system add up — is worth a closer look on its own. But the short version is the number above: if a quote falls well below that floor, the savings are coming out of the steel, the details, or both.