At the risk of stating the obvious, low-slope roofing creates challenges for almost any roofing material because moisture in any form doesn’t leave the roof as fast as it does on steep slopes. The longer it stays on the roof, the better chance water has to get where you don’t want it.

Paul Kazlov, president of Global Home Improvement in Feasterville, Pa., offers mechanically seamed standing seam panels as a best possible low-slope roofing solution. He recalls a phone call from a homeowner who was tired of setting out buckets in his house because the rubber roof was leaking.

“I told him best case scenario, his new rubber roof would last 12 years, but he’d be lucky to get nine years,” Kazlov says. “Even if he gets 12 years, he’s going to need four rubber roofs to last as long as a metal roof. When you present it like that, they say, ‘Where do I sign?’”

For this project, Global Home Improvement ran the panels onsite — some as long as 45 feet — with its Englert Metal Man machine. Kazlov says the A1300 mechanically seamed standing seam profile can be installed on a slope as low as a 1/2-inch over 12.

The rubber roofing was removed, leaving 2 inches of existing ISO on top of a tongue-and-groove redwood deck — which serves as the cathedral ceiling. A peel-and-stick underlayment was installed over the insulation before the roofing was installed.

Because Kazlov promised the home-owner a watertight system, Global Home Improvement employed the use of stainless steel in the valleys and in the crickets on two large chimneys so the material could be soldered. Soldering helps ensure no leaks on a low-slope roof.

The job was completed several months ago, but the homeowner is still a big fan of Global Home Improvement. “I talked to him a couple a weeks ago and he’s still happy,” Kazlov says. “Metal is the best solution for low-slope roofing. We also do a lot of porch enclosures that were formerly rubber, and when we explain what we can do with metal, people jump in the air and clap their hands.”

And they put their buckets away.