Ask Dr. Steel: “Why Should I Use Stainless Steel Roofing Nails?”

Recently a friend of mine was installing a new roof and asked me over one Saturday afternoon to help him install some shingles. It turns out one of the reasons he was putting on new shingles is because the nails holding his others had rusted and corroded to the point where even a moderate wing gust was ripped them right off the roof. I took a look at what he was using to nail the new shingles down with, regular roofing nails and told him that in a few years we'd be right back up here doing the same thing again. You see, people don't realize that regular nails corrode and rust over time because their basic component is iron. I began talking about stainless steel roofing nails with him and why he should spend a little extra money now to avoid another major job down the road.

The basic anatomy of a roof is plywood which is nailed to the roof joists which in turn has a felt protective layer nailed onto it and finally shingles which overlap and form the basic water and protection for the entire roof. Your roof sees all sorts of weather and is exposed everyday of the year to the harshness of the sun and the downpours of rain. Rain and other moisture are best friends with those iron roofing nails that most people use. No sooner do you have them nailed in and they are already starting to rust and corrode. There is a better solution, and I took my friend and we headed out to our local home improvement store to pick up some stainless steel nails.

Stainless steel roofing nails are rust and corrosion resistant. Thanks to the chemical makeup of the alloy steel even if a nail is sheered right in half it still won't rust because the protective barrier reforms automatically. Rust isn't just a problem you have to worry about on the top part of the nail, it also works it way deep throughout the entire nail corroding away and robbing the strength that the nail has. My friend found this out as his shingles started blowing all over the neighborhood. Stainless steel roofing nails on the other hand don't have this corrosion problem and remain strong for years. In fact, a stainless steel roofing nail will far outlast any roofing material you can put on your house. That just goes to show how tough these guys are!

When we got to the home improvement store the first words out of my friends mouth was, “These cost more than the regular roofing nails I just bought. I'm not sure if it is worth the extra money!” It is true that stainless steel roofing nails cost more than regular roofing nails. However, you have to look at the long term cost and not just the amount of money coming out of your pocket at time of purchase. The stainless steel roofing nails are going to provide a lifetime of not only strength and holding power, but also remain looking as good ten years from now as they do today. Remember the old saying, you can spend money and do it right or save money and do it all over again.

After I talked my friend into buying the stainless steel roofing nails we headed on back and made quick work of installing the shingles. A few months passed, and it was of course the middle of summer with afternoon thunderstorms and a hot, humid temperatures. Towards the end of summer I went over to pay a visit and asked him to come on up to the roof and let's take a look at a shingle. We gentle lifted a shingle up and the stainless steel roofing nail was still as shiny as the day we put it in. Not a sing of rust or corrosion anywhere. I think it was at that moment my friend began to realize the benefits of stainless steel.

Remember, you get what you pay for in life. Nobody likes to work on roofs. So you have a choice when it comes to doing the job – either do it right the first time with stainless steel roofing nails or get ready to mark out time on your calendar every few years to replace rusted, corroded nails that let your shingles decorate the laws and gardens of the entire neighborhood.