Metal roofing answers a specific Franklin County problem. The same eastern-Missouri storm corridor that bruises asphalt shingles, with the tornadoes, large hail, and 75-plus mph straight-line winds of the federally declared March 14-15, 2025 disaster that hit Franklin County, is exactly where a properly installed standing-seam panel earns its keep. A 26-gauge steel panel does not lose granules, does not curl in the summer heat off a south-facing slope in St. Clair, and does not give up its seams in the freeze-thaw cycle that works every Villa Ridge roof through the winter. When a homeowner tells us they never want to climb a ladder over this roof again, metal is usually the honest answer.
Emmendorfer Exteriors has installed metal here since long before it was a trend. Founder Matt Emmendorfer started as a roofer in 1990, moved the family operation from Overland to Union around 2003, and his sons Tom and Tim run the crews today. Metal is not a side service we farm out. The same in-house family crew that does our shingle work sets the panels, which matters because a metal roof lives or dies on the details, the clip spacing, the seam crimp, the flashing at every valley and chimney. A storm-chaser who rolled into Pacific after the last hailstorm cannot fake thirty-five years of knowing how a Missouri roof actually fails.
The honest part comes first. Metal costs more up front than asphalt, and not every home in New Haven or Sullivan needs it. If a quality architectural shingle is the smarter spend for your house and your timeline, we will tell you that on the roof, not after you have signed. But for the steep, exposed slopes around Pacific and Villa Ridge, for a low-slope porch shingles cannot protect, or for a homeowner who wants a roof that outlives the mortgage, standing-seam metal is the strongest product we install. The panel profile and color go on your written estimate before we order a single sheet.
Metal is unforgiving of shortcuts. A panel set wrong telegraphs every mistake for forty years. Here is what happens once you approve the estimate.
We strip the old roof to the wood and check every sheet of decking. Metal needs a flat, sound substrate to lie true, so any soft or rotten plywood comes out now. We never lay metal over an old roof to save a day, because a wavy deck shows through a metal panel forever.
Metal runs hotter than asphalt in the Missouri summer sun, so the field gets a high-temperature synthetic underlayment, with an ice-and-water membrane in valleys, at eaves, and around every penetration. This is the layer that stops the freeze-thaw and ice damming a Franklin County winter throws at the eaves.
Standing-seam panels lock to concealed clips, not face-driven screws. Nothing penetrates the weather surface, which is the whole point. The clips also let the metal expand and contract through Missouri's temperature swings without buckling or backing screws out the way an exposed-fastener panel does over time.
We machine-seam or hand-crimp the vertical ribs so the panel laps shed water uphill of every fastener. Then we custom-bend flashing for valleys, sidewalls, chimneys, and the roof-to-wall transitions where a porch meets the house. Bad flashing is where most metal roofs leak, so this is where we slow down.
We magnet-sweep the yard for screws and metal shavings and haul every offcut. Customers tell us our cleanup is our signature. We get in, do the work, and get out without leaving a footprint, the same way we have since 1990.
We match the panel to your home, your slope, and your budget instead of selling the one product we stock. Most Franklin County metal jobs fall into one of these.
Our primary metal system. Concealed-fastener 24 to 26-gauge steel panels with a baked-on Kynar finish that holds its color for decades. This is the long-life roof for the exposed slopes around Pacific and Villa Ridge and for any homeowner who wants to stop replacing roofs every storm cycle.
A more affordable corrugated or ribbed panel for barns, shops, garages, and outbuildings across rural Franklin County. It screws through the face rather than hiding the fasteners, which trades some longevity for a lower price. We use it where it fits the building and the budget, and we say so plainly.
Porches, additions, and shallow-pitch areas that asphalt shingles cannot protect get a standing-seam or low-slope metal detail tied cleanly into the main roof. For true flat sections we run a TriBuilt low-slope system or Carlisle TPO instead, sealed against the ponding that follows a Missouri downpour.
Panels come in a wide range of Kynar colors so the roof reads right against your siding, whether that is LP SmartSide, Royal, or CertainTeed. We bring color chips to the roof and match in daylight, and the color goes on your written estimate before we order so there are no surprises off the truck.
Both are good roofs. We tell you straight which one earns its cost on your specific house, not which one carries the bigger ticket.
| What you care about | Usually shingle | Usually metal |
|---|---|---|
| Up-front budget | Lower cost now, proven value | Higher cost now, lower lifetime cost |
| How long you will own the home | Moving in under 15 years | Staying long-term or forever |
| Roof slope and exposure | Moderate pitch, sheltered | Steep or wind-exposed slopes |
| Hail and impact concern | Malarkey Class 4 impact shingle | Steel sheds and dents over puncture |
| Porches and low-slope areas | Not suitable for shallow pitch | Standing-seam handles low slope |
| Look you want | Traditional architectural shingle | Clean modern standing-seam lines |
We bring the same in-house family crews and the same written-estimate promise to every town in Franklin County.
A real Emmendorfer walks your roof, names the panel and color in writing, and tells you honestly whether metal earns its cost on your home. Free and no obligation across Franklin County.
