Find Metal Roof Restoration Companies

Roofers who walk your roof and show you how to save it, roofers who just want to paint it and call it restoration, and roofers who’ll never suggest anything but total replacement-those are the three kinds of companies you’ll meet when you start asking around Nassau County for metal roof help. The whole point of this article is to give you a simple way to tell those three apart before you waste time on the wrong estimates, because I’ve seen too many property owners burn through three bids, two site visits, and hours of research only to pick a contractor from the wrong category entirely.

You’ll run into all three types on jobs like aging commercial buildings along Old Country Road, big custom homes near the South Shore, and warehouses in Hicksville or Farmingdale. Some companies truly specialize in metal roof restoration-they know coatings, seam repairs, and adhesion testing by heart-while others are painting crews who bought a sprayer and started calling themselves “restoration specialists” when they saw how much those contracts pay.

If you can’t tell which column a company belongs in, you don’t hire them yet.

Roofers Who Restore, Roofers Who Paint, and Roofers Who Just Replace

Real restoration companies work on roofs that still have solid bones-panels you can save, frames you can keep-and they’ll tell you if yours doesn’t. They bring adhesion testers, core samples, and step-by-step prep plans that take days, not hours. Their bids read like repair specs, not paint quotes, and they’ll walk you through what they’re fixing, not just covering up.

Paint crews are easier to spot once you know the pattern. They push same-day turnarounds, skip testing, and talk mostly about warranty years and color choices instead of rust treatment or seam reinforcement. They work fast, quote low, and disappear before the second winter when the coating starts peeling at every fastener line. I’ve peeled their work off with two fingers plenty of times.

Replace-only contractors aren’t bad-they’re just doing a different job. They’ll always recommend tear-off and new panels because that’s the service they sell, and honestly, sometimes that’s the right call. But if you want to explore restoration first, you need to start by talking to people who actually restore metal roofs for a living, not crews who’ll humor you for ten minutes before steering the conversation back to replacement bids.

Is Your Metal Roof Even a Good Restoration Candidate?

On a 25-year-old metal roof in Westbury, the first thing I want to know is whether it should be restored at all. Age alone doesn’t disqualify a roof-I’ve restored 30-year panels that looked awful but tested solid-but you need to check a few basics before you start shopping for restoration companies. Surface rust is fine; deep pitting that goes through to substrate isn’t. Leaks at seams or fasteners can be sealed; leaks from torn panels or rotted framing usually can’t.

When I inspect a commercial building or a big residential job, I’m looking at panel condition first-are they flat and tight, or wavy and loose?-and then checking decking underneath for soft spots or sagging. If panels are physically sound and decking is solid, you’re probably a candidate. If panels are buckling, fasteners are pulling through, or I can feel soft wood when I step near a seam, we’re talking repair or replacement, not coating. It’s pretty much that simple.

What a Good Candidate Roof Looks Like

A roof worth restoring has panels with surface oxidation or chalking-cosmetic stuff-but no holes, tears, or major rust-through. Seams might be lifting a little, but they’re not split wide open. Fasteners are tight enough that you’re not looking at dozens of loose screws per panel. The substrate under the metal is dry and firm, not spongy or stained from years of slow leaks. Basically, the roof needs a refresh and some sealing, not surgery.

In Freeport, a marina office had a 30-year-old metal roof that looked terrible but still had solid panels and framing; two local roofers pushed full tear-off because they don’t do restoration work, but a quiet company out of Mineola walked us through core samples, mil-thickness plans, and a phased prep schedule that included adhesion testing, seam reinforcement, and a two-coat elastomeric system. Five years on, the roof still looks new, and I use that job as my textbook “good candidate, good contractor” example every time a Nassau County owner calls asking if restoration is even worth considering. The Mineola crew knew exactly what to check and what to fix, and they put it all in writing before they mixed a single gallon.

If your roof fails the structural checks-sagging decking, major rust holes, loose panels everywhere-skip the restoration shopping and focus on repair or replacement. You’ll save yourself the disappointment of getting three restoration bids that all come back saying “this isn’t a restoration roof.”

How Real Metal Roof Restoration Companies Act on Site

Here’s the test I use to tell a true restoration company from a “we’ll just paint it” crew: watch what they do the first day they show up. One August on a low-rise office building in Carle Place, I watched a national “coatings” outfit power-wash the roof in the morning and spray their elastomeric in the afternoon-same day, no dry time, no adhesion test, no rust treatment between wash and coat. Six months later I was back on that roof with the owner, peeling loose coating off chalky metal with two fingers and explaining why proper prep and adhesion tests matter more than any 20-year brochure promise. That outfit basically painted over oxidation and called it restoration, and the coating never bonded in the first place. A real restoration company would’ve walked that roof, tested adhesion, scheduled rust treatment and seam work, and then coated after everything was clean, dry, and ready.

How They Act the First Day Tells You Everything

A company that truly specializes in metal roof restoration will insist on testing adhesion-they’ll apply small patches of coating in different areas and check bond strength a day or two later. They’ll walk every seam, mark loose fasteners, and talk about which areas need extra prep or reinforcement before any coating happens. They ask about your leak history and check those spots up close, and they’ll take pictures and notes instead of just eyeballing from the ladder. Paint crews skip all that-they quote you a “system” price over the phone, show up ready to spray, and talk mostly about color, warranty years, and how fast they can get it done.

If someone quotes you a “system” price over the phone without seeing the roof, I start counting red flags. Restoration bids should be built on what they see during inspection, not pulled from a price sheet based on square footage alone. The crew should talk about prep steps in detail-washing, chemical rust treatment, seam caulking, fastener tightening-and they should spell out dry times, number of coats, and what happens if weather delays the schedule.

On a site visit, here’s what you ask: “How are you testing adhesion?” “What do you do at seams before you spray?” “What’s your rust-treatment process, and how long does it have to cure?” If they give you clear, step-by-step answers with timelines, write their name in the Real Restoration column. If they say things like “we just clean it really well and spray,” or they can’t explain what product they use for rust, or they insist they can finish in one day no matter the weather, put them in the Paint Crew column. Replace-only contractors will politely tell you they don’t do restoration and offer you a tear-off price instead-honest, but not what you’re shopping for.

Three-Column Notebook Test

Three Parts of a Restoration Proposal You Can’t Afford to Skim

There are three parts of a restoration proposal I refuse to skim: surface prep, coating system specs, and warranty terms. If the proposal is vague on prep-just says “clean and coat”-it’s vague on performance, and that company goes straight into the Paint Crew column or off my list entirely. I want to see washing method, rust treatment product and cure time, seam reinforcement details, and fastener checks spelled out line by line. I want coating system specs that include manufacturer name, product line, mil thickness per coat, and number of coats with dry time between each. And I want a warranty that clearly states what’s covered, who backs it-manufacturer, contractor, or both-and what maintenance I’m expected to do to keep it valid.

Prep, Specs, and Real Warranties

Proper prep language looks like this: “Power wash with biodegradable detergent, rinse, allow 48-hour dry. Apply rust converter to oxidized areas, cure 24 hours. Reinforce seams with butyl tape and elastomeric caulk. Tighten loose fasteners and seal with elastomeric patch.” Real system specs read like this: “Manufacturer XYZ elastomeric coating, two coats at 15 mils dry each, 48-hour cure between coats, applied per manufacturer guidelines.” A real warranty tells you the contractor guarantees workmanship for X years and the manufacturer covers coating performance for Y years, and it lists the maintenance you need to do-usually annual inspections and keeping drains clear-to keep the warranty alive.

At a church in Valley Stream, the board hired the cheapest bidder to “seal” their metal sanctuary roof; the crew sprayed over active leaks, skipped the seams entirely, and never documented what product they used or how many coats they applied. After the next nor’easter, water poured behind the altar, and I ended up helping the board interview three new metal roof restoration companies using a strict checklist that included prep steps, product specs, and written warranties instead of just comparing price. That experience taught them-and reminded me-that a cheap bid with no detail costs way more in the long run than a higher bid with every step spelled out.

If the proposal is vague on prep, it’s vague on performance-cross them off your list.

Using Nassau County Conditions to Narrow Your List

In coastal areas like Long Beach and Island Park, salt in the air changes who you should even call. You need a restoration company with corrosion experience, not just generic elastomeric coating jobs from inland counties. Ask them for references within five miles of the ocean and look for details like extra rust treatment steps, higher-mil coatings, and seam work that accounts for salt-driven expansion and contraction. Meanwhile, if your building is in Hicksville, Farmingdale, or along Old Country Road-more inland, more industrial-you’re dealing with pollution, temperature swings, and warehouse-style flat roofs that need different prep and different references. A company that’s only done South Shore homes might not know how to handle a low-slope commercial roof with standing water issues, and a crew that’s only painted inland warehouses might underestimate what salt does to fasteners and seams.

From Shortlist to Winner: Your Last Filter Before You Sign

Once you’ve narrowed your list down to two or three real contenders, it’s time for one last filter: reference calls, photo reviews, and a final walkthrough. Call their recent Nassau County restoration jobs-ask for addresses and job dates, not just names-and drive by if you can to see how the roof looks a year or two later. Ask those owners if the crew showed up on schedule, if they cleaned up, if there were any leaks after the work, and whether the company came back for touch-ups or maintenance. Then do a walkthrough with each contractor and ask them to talk through their plan step by step on your actual roof, pointing out problem areas and explaining exactly what they’ll do. By the time you’re done, you should be able to write each company’s name in the right notebook column-Real Restoration, Paint Crew, or Replace Only-and pick the one that earned the first column with proof, not promises.

TWI Roofing has seen plenty of Nassau County property owners sort through this same process, and honestly, the three-column test works because it turns a sales-heavy decision into a checklist you can verify. When you meet companies who talk about adhesion testing, show you prep timelines, and hand you local references you can actually visit, you know you’re dealing with real metal roof restoration companies, not just roofers with a spray rig and a dream.