MSCas Metal Cassette Panels

The Met-Seam® MSCas cassette offers a simple cladding system solution that is stylish and prestigious in appearance. MSCas is manufactured to create Zinc cladding, Copper cladding, Aluminium cladding or Steel cladding. It is self supporting and can easily be installed on a fully supported substrate or a non- continuous metal or timber support framework.

The MSCas Cassettes can be used on both New Build and Refurbishment projects for External Façades, Internal decorative walls and external Soffits.

Each MSCas cassette is profiled along its length with one edge having a ‘leg’ and the other edge a ‘grove’. The cassettes are connected to the supporting structure with stainless steel screws via the ‘grove’ edge, the ‘leg’ of the next consecutive MSCas cassette is slipped into the grove of the previously installed MSCas cassette and thus hiding the fixings and the process is repeated.

MSCas cassettes can be manufactured in a variety of face widths and lengths to your bespoke requirements; however, designing in dimensions that suit the coil sizes will give the most economical installation. They can be manufactured with or without a shadow gap and up to 4.0m long. Depending on the face width and the installation location will determine the thickness of the metal.

MSCas cassettes can be installed either vertically or horizontally using the same methods. MSCas cassettes are supplied as a complete system, with all necessary flashings, trims, fixings, underlay and accessories, which are available in all of the metal options, ensuring compatibility of material finish and quality.

When installing zinc MSCas cassettes a continuous airflow gap of 50mm should be provided up the rear of the MSCas cassettes to eliminate risk of condensation on the back of the zinc. See our article about White Rust which explains the problems which can arise from condensation on Zinc metal when proper ventilation is not maintained.

Care should be taken in the selection of metals as incompatibility between metals and some timbers can cause adverse reactions. If unsure please contact us for further information. You can also view an article which provides more information and a table outlining Metal Permissable Contacts.

Our technical department will be happy to discuss your design, details and offer the various cladding options available for both appearance and the most economical sizes for zinc cladding, copper cladding, aluminium cladding and steel cladding.

See our brochure for further product information and our portfolio gallery of projects for which MSCas was deployed as the chosen cladding system.

MSTrad Traditional Standing Seam

We profile Met-Seam® MSTrad traditional standing seam panels; they will arrive on site in their own specially designed crate along with all the accessories and flashing to allow the installation to start right away.

MSTrad Traditional Standing Seam systems can be used in both roofing and facades, they commonly have a 25mm high double welted seam or they can have a single welt on facades.

Although Traditional standing seam has been around for centuries, as you would expect techniques, machinery, and tooling have developed. There are some basic principles to its installation, but there are many variations of how one skilled installer forms the flashings and details compared to another skilled installer. For this reason Traditional Standing Seam systems are normally referred to as ‘out of spec’ that is to say that they are difficult to define a detailed specification due to the amount of skill and knowledge applied by the tradesperson on site.

For this reason, unlike our MSPro standing seam system, it is difficult to get any form of system warranty on a traditional installation. Some zinc and copper manufactures do offer a warranty on their materials, however, you need to read the small print as what is actually covered.

This may seem to be a disadvantage in a construction industry that strives to regulate everything, however, it is the freedom of the tradesperson to form a detail using all their skill and knowledge that has been passed down through the generations, that makes a Traditional Standing Seam system ‘Traditional’.

The key to ensuring that you get a weather tight installation is to employ an experienced and skilled installer. Met-Seam work closely with all our installers, offering advice, training and our wealth of experience and expertise to try and insure that all standing seam projects are installed to the highest quality of workmanship.

The widths of the panels are generally determined by the width of the coil of metal; in our opinion the maximum width of any panel should not exceed 530mm. Panels widths can be uniform or have a variety of different widths.

MSTrad Traditional standing seam systems can have short panel lengths with cross welts or it can be installed in ‘long strip’ with a length up to 12m depending on the preferred choice.

MSTrad Traditional Standing Seam systems need to be fully supported on a substrate. In the UK and Ireland this is generally a good quality 18mm WBP plywood or more increasingly a micro ribbed composite panel. The MSTrad Traditional Standing Seam panels are fixed to the substrate using stainless steel Fixed and Sliding clips, it is important to get these clips in the correct positioning to allow the panels to expand and contract.

Our technical department will be happy to assist you on specifications, detailing, drawings and best practice to ensure you get the best possible installation.

MSTrad Expansion and Contraction

The maximum recommended length of a Traditional Panel is 12m when profiled off site and 16m when profiled on site and the maximum width of a panel is to be 530mm. The longer the panel the more likely you are to get an 'oil canning' effect in the pan of the panel and the more difficult it is to handle and transport on site.

For roofing we recommend a minimum of 0.7mm thick for zinc and 0.6mm for copper

For facades we recommend a minimum of 0.8mm thick for zinc and 0.7mm thick for copper

It is critical that our stainless steel FIXED Clips are positioned correct to allow for expansion and contraction and for the correct spacing of both the Fixed clip and Sliding clips. Click here to view a pdf containing a diagram.

It is also important that expansion and contraction gaps are adequate around penetrations such as pipes and chimneys.

The further from the fixed point the panels are the larger the overall expansion will be and this must be taken into consideration when installing the panels around the eaves trim as well as the temperature during installation, plus a number of other factors.

For example - on hotter days the expansion gap on the end of the panel which is folded around the eaves trim will need to be larger to take in consideration for the contraction that will happen. Care must also be taken to make sure that the under fold will never expand to the extent of going beyond the end of the eaves trim.

There are too many variations to mention here, however, such things as the likely minimum and maximum temperatures, the length of the panel, the roof pitch, the orientation of the surface to the sun, the type of metal and the surface colour of the metal all need to be considered when working out the expansion and contraction.