Metal siding question

The sheets of metal I have are 13' long. My greenhouse is 8' tall. I can cut all of these to 8' OR I can put the metal on sideways as the greenhouse is 24' long. Would take about 6 sheets to do the entire back without having to cut that much.

My husband is unsure on this as the metal roofing has the ridges in it. He thinks doing it sideways invites rust. Opinions please. Stock photo of the kind of metal I'm talking about.

I think it could be used sideways. I believe the question of rust is if water pools along the ridges. If the pitch or slope of the roof is steep enough that water runs over the ridges, then I think you'll be all good. Maybe send your husband up on the roof with a panel and a canteen full of water

That stuff works fine if it's a 90 degree wall, you said "the back" so if it's the back wall, yeah it's ok.
If your roof is good and level, and you put it sideways, yes, rust will happen.
If your roof is off level, it'll drain, no problem.
If it's on the roof, you can give it a bit of diagonal slope. You can set them not QUITE square so any run off goes down and off, that is more complex though. Makes your roof ridge messy to seal up, consider that too. Cutting them isn't difficult. Depends on where you want to put the most work. You can do cuts on the ground, roof ridge work is on the roof :)

I'll be using the same metal on the roof and the back wall but would keep the roof, which has a 2" slant, straight for better drainage. THe back wall is 90 degrees. I'd prefer to put it on sideways. Easier install.

We bought a chicken coop from a local Mennonite business, that builds on site, and they put it on the roof horizontally. So far, we've not had any problems, but it's also our first season with it. I was curious about it, and looked again, the last time we were there, to see if they did it to all of them, and they did. It seems that the seams at the top seal more effectively, if they're mounted horizontally, and keep more of the rain out, with a lesser leakage problem, from the top. They still put flashing up there, but the rain can't blow up, underneath the flashing as easily, with the horizontal mount.

elle sagenev wrote:I'll be using the same metal on the roof and the back wall but would keep the roof, which has a 2" slant, straight for better drainage. The back wall is 90 degrees. I'd prefer to put it on sideways. Easier install.

Back wall can be sideways, zero issues. :)
The channels in roofing metal aren't exactly 90 degree angles, they are slightly trapezoidal in cross section. When they are sideways, that's enough to keep the ridges from holding water.

Carla Burke wrote: We bought a chicken coop from a local Mennonite business, that builds on site, and they put it on the roof horizontally. So far, we've not had any problems, but it's also our first season with it. I was curious about it, and looked again, the last time we were there, to see if they did it to all of them, and they did. It seems that the seams at the top seal more effectively, if they're mounted horizontally, and keep more of the rain out, with a lesser leakage problem, from the top. They still put flashing up there, but the rain can't blow up, underneath the flashing as easily, with the horizontal mount.

Well I might just do the roof sideways now too!!

Hi Elle,

"VersaTube" models sold as kits sell those that orient the ribs either horizontally (as shown below) or vertically, for those who wish that design.  First, I agree that horizontal runs on steel that is along a vertical wall will probably be fine....minimal rusting for your design.  Second, we have some Versatube buildings in northern Minnesota with horizontal rib orientation that do ..... okay.  If you don't mind a bit of leaking where some of the seams are not sealed, you can probably get by.  That said, I would caution against them in really high snow-load areas, unless that have been re-inforced with extra supports.....that I do believe the company sells as an add-on.  Finally, a further caution that we covered an older quonset with horizontal runs of steel.  I was an aging wood structure that was on the way out without some serious re-engineering efforts.  As detailed elsewhere on the forum, that quonset collapsed completely under heavy snow this past winter.  To be fair, that snow caused the collapse of some fairly modern dairy barns, churches, schools, etc. in the area, so it was pretty massive.  But I don't think it helped that the horizontal runs of steel probably held snow better than vertical orientation, the latter of which would have more easily allowed the snow to slough off.  I guess in our area, I'm rather done with horizontal rib orientation on roofs, but would still use it on walls if needed.  Good luck!

elle sagenev wrote:Well I might just do the roof sideways now too!!

Snow slides off roofing metal installed the normal way. It might accumulate if turned 90 degrees, perhaps causing loading problems.

elle sagenev wrote:The sheets of metal I have are 13' long. My greenhouse is 8' tall. I can cut all of these to 8' OR I can put the metal on sideways as the greenhouse is 24' long. Would take about 6 sheets to do the entire back without having to cut that much.

My husband is unsure on this as the metal roofing has the ridges in it. He thinks doing it sideways invites rust.

Elle, we have two building made putting the metal on sideways like you describe.  They are 5 years on and I have not seen any rust.  Like this:



Source

John Weiland wrote:Hi Elle,

"VersaTube" models sold as kits sell those that orient the ribs either horizontally (as shown below) or vertically, for those who wish that design.  First, I agree that horizontal runs on steel that is along a vertical wall will probably be fine....minimal rusting for your design.  Second, we have some Versatube buildings in northern Minnesota with horizontal rib orientation that do ..... okay.  If you don't mind a bit of leaking where some of the seams are not sealed, you can probably get by.  That said, I would caution against them in really high snow-load areas, unless that have been re-inforced with extra supports.....that I do believe the company sells as an add-on.  Finally, a further caution that we covered an older quonset with horizontal runs of steel.  I was an aging wood structure that was on the way out without some serious re-engineering efforts.  As detailed elsewhere on the forum, that quonset collapsed completely under heavy snow this past winter.  To be fair, that snow caused the collapse of some fairly modern dairy barns, churches, schools, etc. in the area, so it was pretty massive.  But I don't think it helped that the horizontal runs of steel probably held snow better than vertical orientation, the latter of which would have more easily allowed the snow to slough off.  I guess in our area, I'm rather done with horizontal rib orientation on roofs, but would still use it on walls if needed.  Good luck!

I did not consider snow load. We don't get a ton of snow but when we do it does tend to be a lot at once. I will do the roof so the snow can slide off. Thanks guys!!!

Anne Miller wrote:

elle sagenev wrote:The sheets of metal I have are 13' long. My greenhouse is 8' tall. I can cut all of these to 8' OR I can put the metal on sideways as the greenhouse is 24' long. Would take about 6 sheets to do the entire back without having to cut that much.

My husband is unsure on this as the metal roofing has the ridges in it. He thinks doing it sideways invites rust.

Elle, we have two building made putting the metal on sideways like you describe.  They are 5 years on and I have not seen any rust.  Like this:



Source

I really like the look of it sideways like that. I tried to convince my husband we should side the house like that. He said it'd look like an industrial building. Maybe but I like it!

elle sagenev wrote:

I really like the look of it sideways like that. I tried to convince my husband we should side the house like that. He said it'd look like an industrial building. Maybe but I like it!

What if you painted it brown, with the ridges black, so it looks like wood? Metal siding is durable on a house!

If you need more help.  Contact our team at Westerner Products (https://westernerproducts.com/).  We work with metal siding, metal roofs, steel roofs, metal lattices and metal shades everyday.