I get the appeal of tile, but I keep coming back to the weight factor—especially with older homes up north. Have you ever run into issues with structural stress after a few heavy winters? I’ve seen rafters sag a bit under the combined load of snow and tile, even when the prep looked solid. Metal’s definitely easier to deal with for repairs, but I wonder if anyone’s had luck with lighter synthetic tiles in these climates... seems like a possible middle ground, but I haven’t seen them in action through a real Minnesota winter yet.
The weight of real tile is a dealbreaker for me up here, honestly. I’ve seen what happens when a heavy snow year lines up with a heavy roof—nobody’s happy, especially not the insurance folks. Metal’s noisy but it just works, and it sheds snow better anyway. I’ve heard about those synthetic tiles too, but can’t say I trust them yet. One neighbor tried them and they got super brittle—maybe it was a bad batch, but still. For now, I’d rather deal with metal repairs than gamble on new stuff in these winters.
I’m with you on the weight issue—real tile just isn’t practical up here unless you’re building from scratch and over-engineering everything. I went with standing seam metal after my old asphalt roof caved under an ice dam. It’s loud in the rain, but I’ll take that over worrying about snow load. Tried patching a neighbor’s synthetic tile last winter and it just crumbled in my hands...maybe it was the cold, maybe just cheap stuff, but I’m not sold either. Metal’s not perfect, but at least I know what to expect when the snow piles up.
“Tried patching a neighbor’s synthetic tile last winter and it just crumbled in my hands...maybe it was the cold, maybe just cheap stuff, but I’m not sold either.”
I had a similar moment with composite shingles—looked fine until the first deep freeze, then they started cracking at the edges. I ended up going with metal too, mostly for peace of mind. The noise is real, but I’ll take that over worrying about leaks or collapse. If I had to do it again, I’d double-check insulation and venting—ice dams are brutal if you miss anything.
I get the metal roof appeal, but I actually went with concrete tile on our place up north and it’s held up better than I expected—even through a couple nasty cold snaps. The trick was making sure the underlayment was rated for freezing temps and paying extra attention to flashing details. It’s heavy, yeah, but the snow seems to slide off easier than it did on my old asphalt roof. If you’re not set on metal, I wouldn’t rule out tile—just gotta make sure your installer knows what they’re doing.
