If I understand correctly from your description, what you mean by "striations" is that the panels are not totally flat between the ribs of the seams, but have creases in them that run parallel to the seams...right?

I associate that look with commercial buildings, warehouses, and storage facilities. I think it is too busy to use on a house and is not the look you want.

I have a modern house that was designed to mimic the farmhouse style, and I have a standing seam metal roof. I don't think it would look good if the roof had striations in addition to the standing seams.

Just my opinion....

Thanks for the input, kudzu9. You are right about the striations - two "creases" that run parallel to the seams. They seem to be recommended for standing seam profiles that are installed using nail strips rather than clips. Apparently they eliminate oil canning, which would certainly be a worthy objective. Our style of our house is somewhere between a barn and a farmhouse so maybe the look of the striations would be ok. But quick question... was your roof installed with clips? And have you had any oil canning?

Our house has a clip system and flat panels in between. We almost got striations but didn't because we have vertical siding and we thought it would just be too many vertical lines. If we had a different siding, we may have gone with the striations.

I actually assumed we would have some oil canning from time to time, depending on the weather. It's not a structural defect. Also, if you drive around and look closely at metal roofs in your area, you will probably see that they all have a little oil canning that you never noticed. We also went with a light colored roof which I hear diminishes the appearance of oil canning.

Good luck!

nchrome-
My roof has standing seams a foot apart and the panels are held in place with screwed-in clips that are installed at the exposed edge of each panel after the seam is snapped down on top of the adjacent panel. It's correct that the striations (low profile stiffening ribs) that you are talking about are for the purpose of reducing or eliminating oil canning. I have not had oil canning in my "non-striated" roof, and that may have to do with both the way it is installed and the fact that it is fairly heavy gauge. One reason that you see variations in the costs of standing seam roofs is that the less expensive ones are made of lighter gauge metal (which is more prone to oil canning), and they only be acrylic-coated (which can fail and peel more readily). I know that a good metal roof is expensive, but you only want to do it once, so it's best to bite the bullet and get a better quality roof, which is typically made of 24 gauge steel or .032" aluminum panels coated with high quality resin-based material, which is baked-on in multiple layers. My roof is supposedly a 50 year roof; I am approaching 15 years and there is no sign of deterioration. With the bids you are getting, have you been informed about the gauge of materials and the types of coatings?

Below are a couple of pictures of my roof, if that is any help. Because the structure is a pretty austere design, I prefer the simple, clean-looking roof.

One other point. Oil canning shows up most on shiny, reflective roofs. My roof has sort of a galvanized, semi-matte look, so if I had any oil canning, it would be less pronounced than with a slick, painted surface.

Thanks, kiwigem and kudzu9. The roof we are looking at is 24 gauge, PVDF coating, so we should be good there. And we have chosen a mid-gray, so not the best but not bad as far as oil canning, I would think. The look should be similar to the roof at the attached link. Will continue to process your input...

Here is a link that might be useful: [roof with striations[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/stanwood-equestrian-residence-stanwood-wa-contemporary-exterior-seattle-phvw-vp~796048)

BTW, kudzu 9...love your house. Elegant in its simplicity.

nchome-
The striations in the link you provided are pretty subtle. I could live with that...looks good.