What Does a Commercial Metal Roof Cost in Texas, by System and Size?

A commercial metal roof in Texas runs about $7 to $15 per square foot installed: standing seam $7.50 to $13, R-panel $7 to $9, trapezoid $11 to $15, and a retrofit $10 to $12. Your deck, drainage, prep, and access set the final number. Updated July 2026.

Here's the thing about commercial metal roofing pricing: there is no single "metal roof" number, because a commercial metal roof is really four different systems that solve four different problems. The system you pick moves your cost more than anything else on the estimate, so that's where the numbers start. Every system below is one we install and stand behind.

Updated July 2026. Texas baseline pricing. These are orientation ranges by the square foot of actual roof area, not living space. Your final number moves with the condition of the existing roof, the deck and substrate underneath, any drainage or slope corrections the roof needs, and how hard the building is to reach and stage. If you want the panel-by-panel differences behind these bands, start with the standing seam breakdown or the standing seam vs R-panel comparison.

At the Texas baseline, a 10,000 square foot commercial metal roof runs roughly $92,000 to $197,000 installed depending on system, and a 30,000 square foot roof $275,500 to $590,500. Deck, drainage, prep, and access set your final number. Updated July 2026.

Per-square-foot is how contractors quote it, but capital planning happens in project totals. So here's the same pricing translated into what a whole roof runs by building size. One note before you read it: a building's square footage on the lease is conditioned floor area, and the actual roof is larger once you account for the footprint and slope. The table already does that math for you (actual roof square feet equals conditioned area times 1.25 times 1.05 for a flat pitch), so read across from your building size.

Texas baseline installed cost

Updated July 2026. These are final installed ranges at the Texas baseline. Regional variance across Texas markets runs roughly +3% to +10% above this baseline, driven mostly by local labor and staging. And a metal-over-metal Roof Hugger retrofit isn't shown as a column here, because it's a recover rather than a new-build system: when your existing metal roof's structure is sound, budget roughly $10 to $12 per square foot for that route (more on when it wins below). Whichever line you land on, the final price still depends on your deck, drainage, prep, and access.

Two identical-looking buildings can carry very different metal-roof numbers, and it's almost never the panel color. Here's what actually moves the estimate, so you can read your own bids with a sharper eye.

1. The system you choose. This is the biggest lever. An exposed-fastener R-panel at $7 to $9 and a structural trapezoid at $11 to $15 are both "metal," but they're built for different buildings and different lifespans. Pick the system by what the building does for a living, not by the lowest sticker.

2. Deck and substrate condition. What's under the panels sets your prep cost. If your existing deck or purlins are sound, the new metal loads onto good structure and the number stays clean. If there's rust-through, rot, or a tired deck, that repair shows up as a line item before a single new panel goes down. A real assessment finds this before contract, not on day three.

3. Drainage and slope. Metal sheds water fast, but only if the water has somewhere to go. If your roof ponds, or the internal drains and scuppers are undersized, correcting the slope and drainage is part of the scope and part of the price. Skipping it is how a new roof still leaks.

4. Roof access and staging. How your crew gets material onto the roof matters. A ground-level warehouse with open access prices lower than a multi-story building where every panel is craned up over an occupied space. Height, obstructions, and keeping tenants working underneath all add labor.

5. Panel gauge. Gauge is the thickness of the steel, and heavier gauge costs more up front while standing up better to hail and foot traffic. A 24-gauge standing seam panel runs higher than a lighter 26-gauge, and on a Texas hail-belt building that heavier gauge is often money well spent.

6. Finish: Galvalume versus a Kynar color coat. Galvalume is the aluminum-zinc coating on the steel itself, and it's what protects the panel from corrosion. When you want a color, that's a factory Kynar 500 / PVDF finish coated on top of the Galvalume to hold the color through the Texas sun. The Galvalume protects; the Kynar keeps it looking new. A mill-finish Galvalume panel prices lower than a colored one, so the finish you choose is a real line on the estimate.

7. Tear-off versus retrofit. Whether you strip the old roof off or recover over it changes the whole cost structure. That one is big enough to get its own section below.

A number is only as honest as the scope behind it. Before you compare two bids, make sure they cover the same work, because "commercial metal roof" can quietly mean two very different jobs. Every ARP commercial metal estimate puts the full scope in writing before a contract is signed, and here's what that scope covers.

What's in an ARP commercial metal estimate:

• Full existing-roof assessment with photo documentation
• Deck and substrate inspection and a written condition report
• The complete scope of work, in writing, before you sign
• Panel gauge, Galvalume and finish spec, clip and fastener pattern named on paper
• Manufacturer-specified installation for the system you selected
• All penetration flashings: HVAC curbs, drains, pipes, and wall terminations
• Code-required drainage and slope corrections, noted before work starts
• Building permit, pulled in every ARP service area
• Manufacturer warranty registration
• Final walkthrough with you or your building owner, plus debris removal and cleanup

What's usually out (and should be quoted separately if the roof needs it):

• Major structural or deck replacement beyond a stated allowance, if the assessment finds a failed deck
• Interior repairs from prior leaks (drywall, insulation, tenant-space finishes)
• A full engineered drainage redesign, if the building's original drainage was undersized
• Rooftop equipment that needs to be lifted, reset, or re-curbed by a mechanical trade

None of that is padding. It's the difference between a quote that holds and a "low" number that turns into change orders once the crew is on the roof. The full list of what every commercial estimate includes is the same discipline across every system we install.

Here's a piece of good news that catches a lot of property managers off guard: if your building already wears a metal roof that's leaking at the seams or screws, you may not owe a full tear-off. A metal-over-metal retrofit installs a brand-new metal roof directly over the old one, and on the right building it's the smartest capital move available.

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. That route runs about $10 to $12 per square foot, and it skips the tear-off, skips the disposal, and usually keeps your tenants working under a dry roof the whole time.

A full tear-off and replacement runs higher, because you're paying to strip and haul the old system before the new one goes down. That's the right call when the existing deck is rusted through or structurally tired: no retrofit is worth installing over a roof that can't carry it. Short version: when the bones are good, recover beats replace on both cost and disruption, and when they're not, the tear-off is the honest answer. The way to know which one your building qualifies for is a deck assessment, not a phone quote. Compare the metal-over-metal retrofit against a full replacement to see where the line falls.

We don't compete on the lowest bid, and we'll tell you that up front. What you get instead is a number built from an actual assessment: an ARP estimator walks the roof, tests the deck, measures the real runs, and writes the gauge, finish, clip pattern, and flashing details into a scope you can hold before you commit a dollar. On standing seam, that scope also names our biggest cost advantage, because we form the panels ourselves on our own on-site roll-forming machine, so a long run is one continuous panel with no end laps to leak and nothing arriving pre-bent off a flatbed.

That estimator work sits under real commercial-roofing authority. Randal Williams is a former commercial high-rise field engineer and Xactimate expert with 15+ years in roofing and construction. He has scoped and documented more than $7 million in insurance claim work across Texas, including single commercial claims above $2 million, supporting property managers and building owners through the claims process as the contractor of record.

On the roof, the crew is led by an ARP project manager, and vetted install teams we deploy and supervise do the work with your project manager inspecting at the milestones that matter. One project manager runs your job from contract through warranty registration, so the number you signed and the roof you get are the same thing. ARP is a GAF GoldElite Commercial Contractor, registered with every municipality across our Texas service areas.

A number that comes in well under the ranges above isn't a bargain, it's a warning. Here's what's usually missing when a commercial metal bid looks too good to be true:

• A standing seam price under about $7 per square foot. Real concealed-fastener standing seam doesn't get installed that cheap. Nine times out of ten, that number is quietly an exposed-fastener R-panel with standing-seam wording on the proposal.
• No gauge and no finish named. If the bid doesn't state the panel gauge and whether the color is a Kynar / PVDF finish over Galvalume, you can't tell what you're buying, and the contractor can substitute down to hit the price.
• A retrofit quoted with no sub-purlin system. "We'll just screw the new panels over the old ones" is not a retrofit. Without a real attachment system like Roof Hugger loading the new fasteners back into your structure, that roof is a callback waiting to happen.
• No written scope before the deposit. A vague one-page quote is where metal roofs leak in year eight. The scope, the flashings, and the drainage corrections all belong on paper before you sign.

If a bid is missing these, the gap between it and an honest number isn't profit you're saving, it's work that won't get done.

A leaking or aging metal roof doesn't get cheaper by waiting. Every season the seams and fasteners keep working, water keeps finding the deck, and a repair that could have been a retrofit turns into a tear-off. The move that protects you is putting real numbers and a real scope in front of ownership before the roof forces the decision on your timeline instead of yours.

That's what an assessment gives you: a walked roof, a tested deck, and a written scope with the price attached, so you can plan the capital instead of reacting to a leak. Book your free commercial metal assessment and we'll put the scope and the pricing on paper. If you're still deciding which system fits the building, compare standing seam against R-panel first.

For the systems behind these prices, these guides cover every commercial metal option ARP installs, from the standing-seam flagship to a metal-over-metal retrofit.

• 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).

Pricing basis:

• ARP's current pricing (Texas), July 2026: commercial metal system bands and building-size installed ranges. Final pricing depends on deck condition, drainage, prep, and access.

Manufacturer Certifications:

• GAF GoldElite Commercial Contractor
• Elevate Red Shield Licensed Contractor
• UNIFLEX Premier Elite Contractor

Industry Membership:

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