Five Rules
We tell the truth about ice dams
A metal roof does not prevent them. Ice dams are caused by heat escaping into the roof assembly, and that mechanism is unchanged by what the roof is covered with. Metal sheds snow, which removes much of the fuel and genuinely helps. Most of this trade implies otherwise, and it is the most expensive misunderstanding a homeowner can buy into.
We price the roof, not the footprint
Roof area is 6–45% larger than footprint depending on pitch, and complexity moves a metal number more than size does. A quote built from your floor area has not been built from your roof.
Every figure we publish is sourced
Cost bands, service lives, pitch factors, the fifty-year arithmetic — all of it is on the cost page with where it came from and what it leaves out. We do not publish a resale-value figure because we have not found one we would stand behind.
We recommend asphalt when asphalt is right
Selling in three years, budget genuinely not there, a simple roof on a building you do not intend to keep — those are real situations and metal is the wrong answer in them. A specialist who cannot recommend against their own specialty is a salesman.
We say when it is not ours
Insulation and air sealing, gutters, solar, masonry, structural engineering. There is a whole page pointing at other people, and the first section on it is the trade most of our ice-dam enquiries actually need.
What Is Different About Roofing Here
Freeze-thaw, more than snow depth. Repeated freezing and thawing cracks asphalt binder and loosens granules, which is why national lifespan figures flatter asphalt in New Hampshire. Metal expands and contracts without cracking. That single mechanism is most of the case for metal in this climate.
Improvised roof geometry. The Lakes Region is full of camps that became houses by addition — a main gable, a shed roof off the back, a dormer, a porch tied in wherever it fit. Every junction is a valley or a flashing detail, and complexity is what drives a metal quote.
Connected farmsteads. House to ell to shed to barn, each at a different height and pitch, joined by details somebody improvised in 1840. Metal genuinely suits this building type, and the junctions are where the work is.
Houses nobody is in. A great deal of this region is seasonal. An ice dam on an occupied house announces itself; on a house closed from October to May it runs water into the wall for months. That is the honest second-home argument for a roof that sheds snow rather than holding it.
Where We Work
Twenty towns across Belknap, Carroll, Grafton and Merrimack counties.
| Town | County | Typical roof forms | Exposure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laconia | Belknap | Mill-era gables, post-war ranch hips, converted-cottage add-ons | City ground, moderate exposure; plough and shovel piles at the eaves |
| Gilford | Belknap | Hillside gables, walkout-level rooflines, lakeside complexity | Belknap slopes get real wind; snow loads vary sharply with elevation |
| Meredith | Belknap | Camp rooflines, shed-roof additions, steep village gables | Bay-side moderate; open ground near the water takes wind |
| Wolfeboro | Carroll | Historic village gables, lakefront estates, steep Colonial pitches | Moderate; village shelter, open exposure on the frontage |
| Moultonborough | Carroll | Large lake-house roofs, camp gables, deep valley-and-dormer complexity | Ossipee slopes hold snow; open frontage takes wind off the lake |
| Alton | Belknap | Small bay-cottage gables, hillside gables, newer simple roofs | Mount Major slopes get wind and hold snow; bay frontage is sheltered |
| Gilmanton | Belknap | Antique farmhouse ells, connected barn roofs, simple rural gables | Open rural ground; wind across fields, deep snow on north aspects |
| Belmont | Belknap | Post-war gables and hips, newer simple rooflines | Inland, moderate exposure; ordinary Lakes Region snow load |
| Tilton | Merrimack | Village-era steep gables, mixed post-war forms | River-valley ground; moderate snow, wind funnelled along the valley |
| Northfield | Merrimack | Newer simple gables, some village-era forms | River-valley ground; moderate exposure |
| Franklin | Merrimack | Mill-era steep gables, multi-family roofs, dense village forms | River confluence; moderate snow, valley wind |
| Sanbornton | Belknap | Antique farmhouse ells, rural gables, hillside walkouts | Upland and open; deep snow, real wind across cleared ground |
| Center Harbor | Belknap | Village gables, lakeside camp roofs, newer construction | Sheltered by the hills; moderate, with snow held on north aspects |
| Holderness | Grafton | Squam-area complex roofs, camp gables, ledge-sited construction | Hills and ridges; heavy snow, strong wind on exposed sites |
| Ashland | Grafton | Village-era steep gables, mill-town forms, newer simple roofs | River-valley; moderate snow, funnelled wind |
| Bristol | Grafton | Newfound lake-house roofs, village gables, hillside forms | Newfound slopes hold snow; open lake frontage takes wind |
| New Hampton | Belknap | Rural farmhouse ells, barn roofs, newer simple gables | Open rural ground; drifting and real wind exposure |
| Plymouth | Grafton | Village and college-town forms, multi-family roofs, newer construction | Pemigewasset valley; real snow, moderate wind |
| Tuftonboro | Carroll | Lakefront complexity, camp gables, rural simple roofs | Ossipee-side ground holds snow; open frontage takes lake wind |
| Barnstead | Belknap | Farmhouse ells, Suncook camp gables, newer rural gables | Open rural ground; drifting, and deep snow on sheltered aspects |