You will not find a price per square on this page. Any number published on a website is a guess about a roof nobody has measured, and on metal the spread between two honest quotes for the same house is wide enough to make a published figure actively misleading. What is useful is knowing which line items drive the number, so that when two quotes disagree you can see where the disagreement actually is.
Substantially more than asphalt, and the gap widens with complexity
Standing seam costs more than an asphalt roof on the same house, before anything else is discussed. That is a material cost difference, a labour skill difference and a fabrication difference all at once. On a long, simple, uninterrupted slope the gap is at its narrowest. On a roof carved into small planes by hips, dormers and valleys, the gap widens a long way, because every one of those becomes fabricated trim rather than another bundle of shingles.
So the first thing to establish is not a price, it is whether the roof in question is a good candidate at all. A quote for a bad candidate is an expensive quote for a compromised result.
What actually moves the number
| Driver | Why it moves the price |
|---|---|
| Panel gauge | Thicker steel costs more per square and is stiffer and flatter. It is the most common quiet difference between two quotes that look alike on the front page. |
| Seam type | A mechanically seamed roof needs a seaming machine and the labour to run it down every seam. A snap lock roof does not. The seamed roof costs more and performs better at low slope. |
| Panel width | Narrower panels mean more panels, more seams and more labour per square, and usually a flatter looking roof. |
| Run length and plane count | Long unbroken runs are efficient. A roof split into many small planes converts field work into fabricated flashing work, which is the expensive kind. |
| Penetrations | Every pipe, flue, vent and chimney is a custom detail cut into a panel that would rather not be cut. Count them before you compare quotes. |
| Trim fabrication | Ridge, rake, eave, valley, wall and counter flashing are folded metal. Whether they are shop fabricated for your roof or bent on site changes both the price and the fit. |
| Deck preparation | Re-sheathing over plank decking so panels lie flat is a separate trade and a separate cost, and on older stock it is frequently the difference between a good result and a wavy one. |
| Tear-off and disposal | How many layers are coming off, and where they are going. Ask whether the quote assumes one layer or finds out on the day. |
| Snow retention | Snow guards over doors, walks and driveways are hardware plus labour, and they are the item most often left off a quote and added later. |
| Permit and inspection | Changing material triggers a permit in unincorporated St. Louis County, and so does replacing more than a quarter of the decking. Ask who is pulling it. |
One Missouri credit worth knowing about, and one thing no roofer may offer
If a storm is part of why you are replacing a roof, there is a Missouri tax credit worth checking with whoever prepares your return. RSMo 135.445 provides a credit equal to a homestead insurance deductible incurred during the 2025 calendar year, capped at 5,000 dollars, and the credit is transferable. It is subject to appropriation and to the department's process, and no new credits are authorised after 15 October 2026, so it is a closing window rather than a standing programme.
Source: RSMo 135.445. Check the current statute text and speak to a tax preparer. This is not tax advice and the sunset date above is the reason to ask now rather than later.
Where the snow lands, whether ice dams care, and what the ticking is.