They’re calling it the “Miracle House on Maui” — the two-story,
nearly century-old wooden home nestled between the Pacific Ocean
coastline and historic Front Street. 

Once a picturesque piece of
paradise, the entire coastline — including the historic community of
Lahaina — now looks like a charred wasteland, ravaged by an
unprecedented and horrifically deadly wildfire that seemingly spread in
an instant last August.

None of the man-made structures within a
three-block radius of the home withstood the overwhelming flames and
intense heat that engulfed this corner of the island for an entire
night. Yet, there it stands, with its still-white outer walls and overly
conspicuous red metal roof. 

While overtly grateful for their
luck — and heartbroken for their neighbors’ misfortune — owners Trip and
Dora Millikin didn’t hesitate to credit their metal roof for playing a
role. They told NPR they removed five layers of asphalt shingles from
the roof during renovations completed just last year. That foresight and
desire to trim down large vegetation nearby prevented the spread of
flames from large embers that proved so catastrophic everywhere else. 

It’s not the first time we’ve seen metal roofs heralded for surviving extreme weather. Roofing Contractor
reported on similar stories emerging from Hurricanes Ian in 2022; Ida
in 2021; and Michael in 2018. The last of which, where a Panama City
home with a metal roof survived 155-mph winds and downed trees, inspired
the Metal Roofing Alliance’s annual ‘Survivor Awards’ campaign. 

“People are learning about metal roofing’s longer life spans, more modern looks, advances in coatings and color schemes, and overall resiliency. Stories like the ‘miracle house on Maui’ are helping singe that into consumers’ consciousness.”

Nor will it be the last. 

Metal,
used for decades in commercial and industrial roofing, continues to
climb roofing’s revenue tree in residential settings. The MRA reports
that from 1998-2022, the percentage of homeowners replacing traditional
shingle roofs with metal increased by 15%.

Roofing contractors are
taking notice as well. In both the commercial and residential markets,
metal roofing trailed only single-ply in terms of systems used by
contractors that responded to RC’s 2023 State of the Industry
annual survey. Metal was also second in revenue generation, and
accounted for 15% of all revenue among majority-residential roofing
contractors submitting the survey.  

Bone Dry Roofing President, and RC
contributor, Gene Judd recently told us he’s seeing requests for metal
roofs increase in popularity, particularly in storm-battered
Florida. Across 17 residential branches, he said the company used to
receive around five to six calls a year from homeowners interested in
installing a metal roof. Now, they receive five to six calls a week, per
market, with interest. 

People are learning about their longer
life spans, more modern looks, advances in coatings and color schemes,
and overall resiliency. Stories like the “miracle house on Maui” are
helping singe that into consumers’ consciousness. 

A lot still
needs to play out for metal to truly penetrate single-ply’s dominance in
the marketplace. For starters, insurers and policymakers continue to
make changes that influence everything from lead generation to product
selection; tariffs and raw material shortages, similar to what the
industry experienced post-COVID-19, could also change circumstances
quickly. 

But metal may be making its best argument yet as a
desirable roofing alternative to the norm, and it’s letting extreme
weather events do all the talking.