Commercial Metal Roofing in Texas: Standing Seam for Heat and Hail

Pick the situation closest to your building and land on the page that answers it in full. Commercial metal roofing is part of ARP's broader commercial roofing services, and every system below is one we install and stand behind.

Here's the thing about metal on a commercial building: the system you pick is a 30-to-50-year decision, and the wrong one shows up as leaks at the seams and fasteners long before the panel itself wears out. That's why the pages above go one level deeper than this one. This page orients you, and each of those pages answers the specific question you came with.

Standing seam is the roof we recommend first on most commercial buildings, and it's ARP's commercial-metal flagship for one concrete reason: we form the panels ourselves. Our own on-site roll-forming machine runs each panel to the exact length of your roof, so a 180-foot run is one continuous panel with no end laps to leak, and nothing arrives pre-bent or transport-damaged on a flatbed.

The strength of standing seam is in the name. The fasteners are concealed under the seam and clipped to the deck, so there are no exposed screws sitting in UV and thermal cycling for 25 years. Panels are typically Galvalume (a coating on the steel that protects it from corrosion), and when you want a color, that's a factory Kynar 500 / PVDF finish coated on top of the Galvalume to hold the color through Texas sun. The Galvalume protects; the Kynar keeps it looking new.

An overlay is the right call about a third of the time we look at a commercial roof. The other two-thirds, it's the most expensive shortcut a building owner can take. The difference is the deck wet-test — not the contractor's mood about which job they want.

Standing seam works across a wide pitch range, and it's where site-forming earns its keep on long, uninterrupted roofs.

Often, yes, and it's one of the smartest capital moves a property manager can make. If your building already wears a metal roof that's leaking at the seams or screws but the structure underneath is sound, you don't automatically owe a full tear-off. A metal-over-metal retrofit installs a brand-new metal roof directly over the old one.

The engineering that makes it work is the Roof Hugger sub-purlin system. Roof Hugger framing notches over your existing ribs, levels the plane, and creates the attachment structure for the new panels, so the old roof stays in place as a work platform and the building never sits open to the weather. ARP is a lead Roof Hugger installer, and that experience matters, because the retrofit lives or dies on how the new fastener pattern loads back into the existing purlins.

Short version: a retrofit skips the tear-off, skips the disposal, and usually keeps your tenants working under a dry roof the whole time. It isn't right for every roof (a rusted-through or structurally tired deck still needs replacement), but when the bones are good, recover beats replace on cost and disruption.

This is the question most property managers actually arrive with, and the honest answer depends on what the building does for a living.

• R-Panel is an exposed-fastener, screw-down panel: the screws go straight through the face of the metal into the purlin. It's economical, it goes down fast, and it's the right call for agricultural buildings, warehouses, and industrial structures where the roof is a workhorse, not a showpiece. The trade-off: every one of those exposed fasteners has a rubber washer that ages, and washers are the first thing to need attention down the road.
• Standing seam hides its fasteners under the seam, so there's no field of washers to maintain and no screw penetrations sitting in the weather. It costs more up front and it's the long-game roof.
• Trapezoid is the structural standing-seam profile: a heavier, high-load panel built for low-slope commercial and large clear-span roofs where the panel itself carries part of the structural job.

If you're weighing R-panel economy against standing seam longevity for a specific building, that's a real decision with a real answer.

A commercial metal roof in Texas runs roughly $7 to $15 per square foot installed. Standing seam lands at $7.50–$13, R-panel at $7–$9, trapezoid at $11–$15, and a Roof Hugger metal-over-metal retrofit at $10–$12, with deck, drainage, and access moving the final number.

Updated July 2026, Texas market pricing. These are orientation ranges. Your final number depends on the existing roof condition, deck and substrate, drainage and slope corrections, and how hard the roof is to reach and stage. Every ARP commercial estimate puts the full scope of work in writing before a contract is signed. No surprise change orders sprung on day three.

For the full cost breakdown, sample project totals by building size, and what's in and out of each estimate, see the commercial metal roofing cost guide.

A commercial metal roof is only as good as the company that specs it, forms it, and supervises the install. Here's what you're actually getting when ARP is the contractor of record:

• We own the roll-forming machine. Standing seam panels are formed on site, to your roof's exact lengths: no end laps, no transport damage, no waiting on a mill run. That's a capability most commercial roofers subcontract out; we don't.
• We're a lead Roof Hugger installer. Metal-over-metal recover is a specialty, not a sideline. The retrofit experience is on staff.
• GAF GoldElite Commercial Contractor. ARP holds GAF's top commercial designation, which anchors the rest of our commercial work (EverGuard single-ply). Metal itself is largely brand-agnostic and site-formed, so what backs your metal roof is the panel spec, the gauge, the Galvalume and Kynar finish, and the fastening schedule, not a sticker.
• Everything is documented. A written scope before signing, photo documentation through the install, and a warranty ARP personally backs.

And you're not hiring a logo. On a commercial metal project you work with an ARP estimator who walks the roof and writes the scope, a single project manager who runs the job from contract through warranty registration, and vetted install teams we deploy and supervise, with your project manager inspecting the crew's work at the milestones that matter. Behind all of it are Randal and Preston Williams, the father-and-son team who own ARP and sign the warranties. ARP is a GAF GoldElite Commercial Contractor, Elevate Red Shield Licensed Contractor, and UNIFLEX Premier Elite Contractor, registered with every municipality across our Texas service areas.

Whether you hire ARP or someone else, ask every commercial roofer who quotes your metal roof these three. The answers tell you more than any rating.

1. "Do you form the standing seam panels yourself, or truck them in?" On-site roll-forming means your panels match your roof's real lengths and never arrive pre-bent from a flatbed. A roofer who subs out the forming is a middleman on the most important part of the system: the panel. Ask to see the machine.

2. "Show me the written scope, gauge, finish, and fastening schedule before I sign anything." A real commercial metal proposal names the panel gauge, the Galvalume and the Kynar/PVDF finish, the clip and fastener pattern, and the flashing details at every curb and parapet, in writing, before a deposit. Vague quotes are where metal roofs leak in year eight.

3. "For a recover, are you engineering the attachment or just laying panels over the old roof?" A metal-over-metal retrofit needs a real sub-purlin system, like Roof Hugger, that loads the new fasteners back into the existing structure. If the answer is "we just screw the new panels down over the old ones," walk away. That's how a retrofit turns into a callback.

We're a strong fit for some buildings and an honest wrong fit for others. Here's the line.

We're a great fit if you:

• Want the panels site-formed and the full scope in writing before anyone touches the roof
• Manage a building you plan to hold long-term and want a partner for the next 20 years, not one transaction
• Need photo documentation to hand up to ownership or a board
• Want one project manager from assessment through warranty registration

We're probably not the right fit if you:

• Need the lowest bid in the market above all else
• Need work to start within 24 hours with no assessment or documentation
• Manage a building under roughly 1,000 sq ft, where our minimum scope isn't economical
• Have been quoted a price that doesn't allow the roof to be installed properly

Anyone who tells you a six-figure commercial roof decision is simple is selling you something. The owners I respect want to see the math — what's included, what the warranty actually covers, what depreciates and how. Anything less than that, and you're not making a decision. You're trusting a number on a page.

If that's the kind of decision you want to make with real numbers in front of you, book a commercial metal assessment and we'll put the scope and the pricing on paper.

• Roof Hugger sub-purlin retrofit framing: the metal-over-metal recover system referenced in the retrofit sections. ARP is a lead installer.
• Galvalume: aluminum-zinc coating on the steel substrate (corrosion protection).
• Kynar 500 / PVDF: factory-applied color finish coated over Galvalume (color and UV retention).

Manufacturer Certifications:

• GAF GoldElite Commercial Contractor (EverGuard single-ply)
• Elevate Red Shield Licensed Contractor
• UNIFLEX Premier Elite Contractor

Industry Membership:

• BBB A+ Accredited
• CTRCA (Central Texas Roofing Contractors Association) Member