For those homeowners who are considering purchasing new metal shingles for a porch, below are excerpts from one of my customer's experience. We restored the upper tin shingles; he replaced the damaged porch shingles as he describes below.
...very wise to do your homework before proceeding with the project.....I dealt with Berridge Manufacturing Company for the purchase of my Victorian Tin Shingles. They have several styles to choose from and the Victorian style matched my roof pretty closely. Berridge is an excellent company who provides timely, quality products. I highly recommend them.
My specific point of contact at Berridge was Dale Burrows at dburrows@Berridge.com . He was very helpful and provided all drawings, instructions, and needed material. You will need to provide him with measurements for shingle square, hip caps, J-clips, and drip edge length and drip edge angle for your order. Hip caps, J-clips, and drip edge are shipped in crated 10 foot sections. There are two J-clips for every length of hip cap. You will also have to specify shingle color.
I removed the asphalt shingles roof on my front porch (about 50 feet x 20 feet with two hips) and restored it using the reproduction Victorian tin shingles to match the main roof. The tin shingles are superb; well made, excellent paint work, individually rapped, and well boxed and crated for shipment. The materials are very expensive compared to replacement asphalt shingles and so is the installation and shipment. I think I paid about $2500 for the materials and shipping, $3000 for rip-off of the old shingles and installation, and an additional $500 when more material and shipping was required. If I had done the entire house roof it probably would have been about $35K+ for a 3100 sq ft house. Shipping is very expensive because of the material weight. Also you must have several folks on hand to unload the truck when it arrives. Berridge will provide you documents with all material specifications (color, dimensions, style, quantity) and requires you to sign the documents and return them. If the order isn't right, you are responsible. Payment is with check or money order only. No credit cards. Once payment is received and cleared then manufacturing of the material begins.
My other recommendations are that you get the installation contractor to provide and certify to you the material requirements in writing. If you end up short, the additional material shipping costs will be much more than the materials. Figure out up front who pays if this happens. Also, most installation roofers are not experienced with installing tin shingles. Make sure you provide a copy of the manufacturer installation instructions to the installer, they receipt for it and understand it. It would help if you go over the installation procedures with them before starting. If anyone has questions, the manufacture is more than happy to answer them. If it is determined that anything is installed improperly, figure out who will pay before you start work. My roof was relatively simple, more complicated roof styles have other problems that must be dealt with.
I had problems with my installation - not enough material and improper installation. This had nothing to do with the manufacturing company. Berridge was very good and did everything I asked. The installer underestimated the material required and then refused to buy more. They als claimed no knowledge of the installation instructions when I discovered that the hip caps and j-clips were improperly installed. However they were more than willing to "winged it" without asking questions and installed it wrong. So I had to pay for two unplanned material reorders and shipments. You don't want to pay $6000 and have it done wrong.
The good news is the new roof looks great now that its been put right, it matches the original main house roof and will last a very long time.
If you are seeking other ideas for porch roofing to match upper areas that have older tin roof shingles, check Porch problems