Aluminum Roofing · Wisconsin
Aluminum roofing, built for Wisconsin winters and Wisconsin hail
Freeze-thaw takes an asphalt shingle apart from the inside, June hail bruises it, lake-effect ice builds at the eaves, and a July derecho finds every exposed fastener. One interlocked aluminum assembly answers all four. Installed across Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha, Racine and the counties between by crews dispatched from Roseville, MN.
The specification
Installed weight
0.4–0.7 lb per square foot depending on profile
Manufacturer specification
Panel engagement
Four-way interlocking panels, concealed fasteners
Manufacturer specification
Impact
UL 2218 Class 4 verified via Intertek — the highest rating
UL listing
Wind
Warranted to 120 mph, installed to manufacturer specification
Guardian warranty
Corrosion
Does not rust — aluminum, not steel
Material property
Fire
Class A Fire Rated Available — the rating belongs to the complete assembly, two layers of GAF VersaShield® over 15/32-inch plywood
Assembly listing
Finish
Alunar® Coating System, cool-roof reflective finish
Manufacturer specification
Material
Heavy-gauge aluminum, up to 95% recycled content
Manufacturer specification
Minimum slope
3/12 on all profiles
Manufacturer specification
These are properties of the system as manufactured. Full engineering documentation is published by the manufacturer, Interlock Roofing Ltd.
What actually kills roofs in Wisconsin
Not one thing, four. Freeze-thaw comes first: Wisconsin crosses freezing again and again from November to April, water gets into the mat of an asphalt shingle, freezes, and pushes the layers apart — the shingle fails from the inside before anything visible happens on top. Then ice at the eaves, which is a heat-loss problem that shows up as a roofing one. Then hail, which sweeps southern Wisconsin most summers and is why so many roofs from Madison to Waukesha are on their second or third covering in fifteen years. And then wind — a gale off Lake Michigan or a summer derecho — which finds any fastener sitting proud of the weather surface. Interlocking aluminum answers all four with the same assembly. It has no mat to absorb water, it carries the highest impact rating there is, it weighs 0.4–0.7 lb per square foot depending on profile so it adds almost nothing to what your framing carries under snow, and it locks mechanically on all four edges with nothing exposed to back out.
Hail, Class 4, and the storm-chaser problem
UL 2218, administered by Intertek, tests a roof covering by dropping steel balls on it — up to a 2-inch ball, twice on the same spot, for Class 4 — and looks for any crack or opening in the panel. Interlock aluminum passes at Class 4. That matters twice in Wisconsin. First for the roof: it keeps its integrity through the storms that send asphalt to the landfill. Second for the phone: the week after a hailstorm southern Wisconsin fills with out-of-state trucks selling free inspections and insurance-paid asphalt — and Wis. Stat. § 100.65 exists because of them. A Class 4 roof takes you out of that cycle, and it is worth asking your carrier what it does to your premium — some credit it, some do not, and we will not quote a number on their behalf.
Ice dams: what a metal roof does and does not do
We would rather say this plainly on a public page than let you find it in the warranty. Ice damming is caused by heat escaping through the roof deck, melting the underside of the snowpack, and that meltwater refreezing at the cold eave. It is an insulation and ventilation problem that shows up as a roofing symptom. A smooth interlocked metal field helps in two real ways — snow releases sooner so there is less sitting there to melt, and when water does back up behind a ridge of ice it is running over metal and a sealed underlayment rather than into a saturated shingle mat and a rotting deck. What it does not do is stop ice dams forming, and the Guardian warranty excludes ice damming outright. If your house dams now, the fix starts in the attic. We will look at insulation, ventilation and air sealing with you at the estimate, and tell you if the roof is not your real problem.
Snow: shedding is a design decision, not a side effect
A smooth, interlocked, unbroken surface sheds snow instead of holding it, which keeps the sustained load down and stops the freeze-melt-refreeze cycle that works into a shingle roof. That is the benefit. The obligation that comes with it is planning where the snow goes. Snow guards over entries, walkways, driveways and anything parked below are specified at design stage on every roof we quote — placed deliberately, in the right quantity for the pitch and the plane above them. A shedding roof that no one planned for is a hazard; a shedding roof that was planned is simply a roof that does not have half a winter sitting on it in April.
Lake-effect snow, and why the once-only argument is stronger here
Snow off Lake Michigan lands wet and heavy and then freezes, which puts more sustained load on a Milwaukee or Racine roof than the same depth of dry snow and feeds the ice at the eaves. Interlocked aluminum sheds it, and at 0.4–0.7 lb per square foot depending on profile adds almost nothing to what the framing carries. An asphalt roof in a mild climate might see its whole rated life. In Wisconsin it rarely does: ice, hail and freeze-thaw take it out early, and every replacement is a tear-off, a disposal bill, a deductible if insurance is involved, and a crew on the driveway. That is the cycle interlocked aluminum removes. "The last roof the house needs" is a stronger argument here than it is almost anywhere in the Lower 48 — not because the product is different here, but because the alternative fails faster.
Choose your profile
Every profile is the same interlocked aluminum underneath — the choice is architectural, and it is made in nine designer colors. Slate and Cedar Shingle read at street level as the material they are named after; Shake reads as hand-split cedar without the fire and rot that come with it; Mediterranean Tile gives the barrel-tile silhouette without the clay, and Standing Seam the clean vertical line. Solid Copper is there for people who want the roof to weather and change. All profiles need a minimum 3/12 slope. Full product specifications are published on the manufacturer's site.
Aluminum roofing questions, answered
Is aluminum a sensible roofing material for Wisconsin?
It answers the things that actually shorten roof life here. Wisconsin crosses freezing forty-odd times a winter; water works into an asphalt shingle's mat, freezes and delaminates it. Aluminum has no mat and absorbs nothing. It carries a UL 2218 Class 4 impact rating verified via Intertek, the highest there is, in a state where summer hail is a common reason a roof is replaced early. It is light under wet lake-effect snow. It does not rust. And it sheds rather than accumulates. Class A Fire Rated Available on the complete assembly.
How much does an aluminum roof cost in Wisconsin?
More than asphalt on the day, and we do not publish a price per square on this site. A Wisconsin roof price depends on pitch, complexity, tear-off, what is under the old covering, how the eaves are detailed for ice, how far you are from our Roseville crews and whether a hail claim is in play — the things a national average hides. What we will do is measure your roof and give you a fixed written price that does not move afterwards. Our cost page explains the inputs in full.
Will hail dent it?
Interlock aluminum is UL 2218 Class 4 impact rated, verified via Intertek,: a 2-inch steel ball dropped twice on the same spot with no crack in the panel. That is the highest rating a roof covering can hold. Very large hail can leave a cosmetic mark on any metal roof — we will not pretend otherwise — but the panel keeps its integrity and keeps shedding water, which is what a roof is for. Ask your carrier what a Class 4 roof does to your premium and to your cosmetic-damage terms; policies differ and we do not quote for them.
What does the light weight actually buy me?
At 0.4–0.7 lb per square foot depending on profile the roof itself adds almost nothing to what your structure carries when a wet lake-effect winter is sitting on it — the load your framing is designed for goes to the snow rather than to the roofing. It also means the system goes over most existing decks without structural work.
How are the panels fixed down?
Concealed fasteners into the deck, and every panel locks to its neighbors on all four sides. There is nothing exposed on the weather surface to back out under a gale off Lake Michigan, and no free tab for a July derecho to lift. Wind resistance is warranted to 120 mph installed to manufacturer specification.
Will it stop ice dams?
No, and we will not tell you otherwise. Ice damming is driven by heat loss through the roof deck, which makes it an insulation and ventilation problem before it is a roofing one. A smooth interlocked metal surface helps — it sheds sooner, and it does not rot when meltwater backs up behind an ice ridge — but it does not eliminate dams, and ice damming is a stated exclusion in the Guardian warranty. If your roof is damming now, the honest first conversation is about your attic, and we will have it with you at the estimate.
What happens to the snow when it lets go?
It comes off sooner and in smaller quantities than off a roof that lets a whole season build up and then releases it at once. That is a benefit, but it is also a design decision: snow guards over entries, walkways and parking are planned at the estimate, not added afterwards when something has already been hit.
Does aluminum go brittle at twenty below?
No. Aluminum keeps its ductility as temperature falls rather than losing it, which is the opposite of what happens to an asphalt shingle's binder. The panels also expand and contract through the range a Wisconsin year puts them through, and the interlock is designed to let them move rather than to fight it.
How long does it last?
It is engineered and warranted as the last roof the house needs. The Guardian Lifetime Limited Warranty covers the original homeowner for life and transfers once, with the second owner covered for 50 years. In Wisconsin that argument carries more weight than it does in a mild climate, because ice, hail and freeze-thaw take asphalt roofs out early — every repeat you skip is worth more here.
Crews dispatched from Roseville, MN, covering Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha, Racine and the counties between.
