Blue R-Panel Metal Roof Replacement in Calhan, CO

R-panel is a ribbed, exposed-fastener steel roof, and this Calhan project replaced a rural home’s roof with it in bright blue, along with new gutters. The owner paid for the work directly; the contract was signed in September 2023 and the finished roof was photographed in October 2023. On the open plains of eastern El Paso County, wind is the first design question for a roof like this.

The problem

The homeowner needed a new roof and gutters and wanted a durable, economical metal roof suited to a rural property. Calhan sits on flat, open ground where storms build with little to slow them down. The National Weather Service surveyed a tornado that tracked north of Calhan on June 7, 2012, and its storm records list 1.00-inch hail 5.5 miles north of town on May 7, 2015. A roof here has to stay attached first and look good second.

Scope

• Roof: new R-panel metal roof in blue (first photo).
• Ventilation: turbine vents through the panels, each flashed to the ribbed profile (second photo).
• Gutters: new gutters as part of the job.
• Size and pitch: not recorded in the job file for this project.

The process

1. Permit. The Town of Calhan is one of the jurisdictions the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department serves, so the permit comes from PPRBD whether the home is in town or out on acreage.
2. Design wind. PPRBD’s design wind speed for homes is 130 mph with exposure category C, the open-terrain category that fits most of the plains. Fastener type, spacing and edge trim follow from that.
3. Panel layout. Panels run eave to ridge in single lengths where possible, so there are fewer end laps for water to find.
4. Penetrations. Vents and pipes are flashed with boots or curbs shaped to the rib profile (second photo).
5. Trim and gutters. Ridge, rake and eave trim fastened for wind, then gutters hung to carry the fast runoff a metal roof sends to the eave.

Timeline

Contract in September 2023; job photos in October 2023. Fall is a good window on the plains: the summer hail season has passed and the ground is usually dry for delivery trucks.

What this project shows about roofs near Calhan

• Fasteners are the roof’s wind rating. On exposed-fastener panels, the screw pattern and the trim attachment do most of the work in a windstorm.
• One office, simple paperwork. PPRBD permits roofs in town and on surrounding acreage.
• Ventilation still matters. A metal roof over an attic needs the same air movement as any other; turbine vents are one way to get it on a ribbed panel.

For local storm history and permits, see our Calhan roofing page. To compare R-panel with standing seam and stone-coated steel, see Colorado Springs metal roofing, and for storm repairs see wind damage repair. See all recent projects.

Sources: NWS Pueblo, June 7, 2012 El Paso County Tornadoes; NWS Pueblo, Storm Data, May 2015; PPRBD, Basic Design Information; PPRBD, jurisdictions served; International Code Council, 2021 IRC Chapter 9 (Section R905.10, metal roof panels).

Photos From This Project

Photos are from this job, edited to remove addresses, faces and license plates. Locations are given by town or area only.

Integrity Roofing and Painting is veteran-owned and family-run since 1990, an Owens Corning Platinum Preferred contractor with 650+ Google reviews. Call our Colorado Springs office at (719) 488-2800; we respond the same business day.