Best shingles

[LabLuvR]

Having been a member here for a short while I quickly learned there are some very knowledgeable folks here. So, who better to turn to than this site. I am pretty sure that my roof is going to need a re-shingle job in the not so distant future. After some consideration we are going to opt for the architectural style shingle. What companies make the best shingles and what is the best way to get a good fair price with good quality work. Thanks!!!!!!

 

[LarryRB]

I did my own roof last year, 46 square.. I bought Ownes Corning 50 year architectural shingles and after looking at all the lumber yards within 25 niles, Lowes had the best price by far.. I made one big mistake though, I ordered 140 bundles and fell short almost another 50.. The new architectural's at least Owens Cornings, need four pkag each to make one square,, not the old tried and true of three to make a square. The new shingles, even standard 20 yr three tabs, come as a millimeter in width..

 

[shvl73]

I'm not sure if IKO is a brand available in your area. Their Chateau 35 line has the traditional felt mat vs. the fiberglass mat that caused alot of shingle failures, cracks & blow offs. Hasn't been a problem for a while in New England, but it was enough of an issue that many people remember and look for a shingle w/o fiberglass. It seems that a fiberglass base is predominate in the industry now however.

 

[ronjhall]

I had the shingles on home and gararge replaced a couple of years ago with GAF Timberline 30 singles. They are a Fiberglass Asphalt Shingle.
I went to the local supplier of shingles in my area, Got a list of installers from them. Four of the ones I picked came out and quoted my job.
The GAF site above has a a lot of information on selecting a shingle and installation.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Shingles brands are different for all areas. IKO, GAF are some of the most available all over. Here Elk is the one we use over the others unless the customer wants something specific. We have had very good results with Elk and used them on our barn when we did that. Go to the lumber yards and see what they have. Check multiple lumberyards and see if there is a certain brand they all carry as GAF is available almost everywhere which is good as you know that the lumberyards trust the company to all stock them. A warranty is no good if the company is no longer around. There is a new company selling shingles are one or two yards here called BP. I have never heard of them till this year and for that reason we will not use them till they have been around for a few years.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

When you jump to a 40/50 or lifetime shingle your shingles weigh a lot more as they are thicker. If you packaged them the same way you would a 20-30 year shingle most people would not be able to lift the package. For this reason the companies went to a 4 bundle per square package. If you read on the packages it tells you how many bundles are in a square. Also, I am not sure if you are referring to millimeter as talking about metric shingles or not but if so depending on where your shingles are made will determing if you get metric or standard shingles. If the company is in the US then they are standard, Canada is metric.

 

[LarryRB]

probably helped out on at least 30 roofs over the years and did two complete for ourselves,, Not an expert by any means, but done enough to a general concensus... It was written all over, I was told, and just one of those things, I had 3 bundles on my mind and that's all there is to it. The 50 yr O-C do have some serious weight to them. I also need that as were right on Hamilton reservoir and the winds at times are considerable.. THe snow loads are considerable also,, I went with the complete pkg incl ridge vent/soffit, all Owens Corning.

 

[dummy]

<font color="blue"> A warranty is no good if the company is no longer around. </font> Unfortunately, on almost all "installed" products, the manufacturers warranty only covers material. Finding a reliable contractor is getting to be more and more difficult. The installer's warranty may or may not be any good. Be sure to get, and keep, a materials receipt to validate your manufacturers warranty.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

We had a problem about 15 years ago with GAF's 3 tab shingles. We installed them on a house and they wouldn't stick. The tabs kept blowing off. Called up GAF as it was in the first year and they wanted us to send them some shingles to test. Sent them in and they said the shingles were fine but payed us to go back and tar down all the tabs. We very seldom use GAF products anymore after that. We still go back there to fix shingles every couple years as it is one of our neighbors and she is a very old lady who doesn't need these headaches. Warrantys are a funny thing, make sure you get a warranty or save a warranty from the package and read it so you know what is covered. Shingles won't usually leak, any leak is from the installer. The Warranty will only cover premature failure of the shingles like the shingles not sticking or the material breaking down after 5 years. Our accountants house is a little over 10 years old ($300k house) and his shingles are shot already. House has all the venting it needs and such but the shingles are junk. We didn't install them and he doesn't remember what brand so all we can do is recommend a brand for him to change to.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I have never dealt with Owens Corning for roofing as I don't know anyone here that carrys it, same with the ridge vent. I am curious about it though and will look into it more and see if there is a dealer somewhere near here. Our main lumber yard we use to deal with went under so we are in a flux about who to give most of our money to now. It is hard to find a good lumber yard to work with.

We used a 40 year 6 in 1 on our house when we reroofed it a few years ago and a 50 year archtitechual on our barn when we built that last year. There are a lot of shingles out there now compared to 10 years ago which is nice as we don't do too many of the same style each year.

 

[LMTC]

Our roofer used a standard Owens Corning 20 year 3 tab shingle 19 years ago on our new house. 2/3 of house is in direct sun, 1/3 under tree. Routinely take 20-30mph winds during storms, worst I've seen are gusts to lower 60s. They have held up well. They could make it perhaps a couple more years according to the roofers I've had out, but as we need work anyway (unnoticed branch has rubbed through the shingles), we are re-roofing this year. At roofer's recommendation we'll be using Owens Corning Super...a standard 25 yr 3 tab shingle. I think our cost from the roofer on the shingles is in the $34/square range.

 

[LarryRB]

Bob,
try this,
www.owenscorning.com/around/roofing/roofhome.asp
All Lowes now carries this brand, I bought the highest end, 50 yr architecturals and love them,,easy to install and they look great,, hold up under very high wind/snow situations, with not a problem

 

[dummy]

Sorry about that, kinda hit the wrong reply button. Either way, at least I was on the right post. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Our roofer used a standard Owens Corning 20 year 3 tab shingle )</font>

That's the only thing I've used.

 

[SPIKER]

I would opt to go for the NEXT grade the 30/40 year singles are a bit heavier and have better glue on them.

like others said, also make sure they install correctly... pull off the OLD and repair any damage, add the tar paper/felt heavier is better. also putt up proper water dams and make sure the gutters are safe/good or put on new ones too.. KEEP one of the OLD paper Shingle Package covers... fold it up and stor it in a plastic zip lock baggie. (I stapled mine to the roof joist in the attic!)

also make sure you are there when they are installing. many roofers will simply install them with out pulling the plastic glue strip cover off. (they did this on mine a few years back as I couldn't be there) and I lost some singles already... not sure if ALL singles are this way or not? (theses had/have an extra bead of glue across then and a thinn plastic strip covers this GLUE bead. that plastic is susposed to be REMOVED as the shingle goes ON.

the cost ot get longer life shingles is not that much (maybe 10~15/square) it will HELP and hopefully last longer than they EXPECT.

hope that helpds.

MarkM /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( that plastic is susposed to be REMOVED as the shingle goes ON )</font>

Mark, it's my understanding that the little cellophane strip is only there to keep the shingles from sticking together in the bundle and is not normally removed during installation, but on the last roofing job I did, we removed it on each shingle.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

You are right Bird, unless he is talking about another type of shingle I have never seen yet. If you read the packages and some companies even print on the plastic strips it says "Do Not Remove". The only time you have to remove these strips is when you take the shingles apart and the strip is stuck to the tar on the lower shingle and peels off the back of the shingle it was suppose to be on. This is not suppose to happen but does from time to time.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Thanks Larry, I searched and found their site. I do not have any Lowes around here and the nearest dealer is 84 lumber 40 miles away. Much too far for us to go for shingles unless we are working in that area. If you end up a bundle short you would kill a couple hours just going and coming back. I guess for now we will stick with Elk as we have had good luck with them but it is nice to know the rep OC has so if we need them we will use them. Later.

 

[LarryRB]

I'm trying to remember what the figures were, however, the cheapo IKO 20 yr 3 tabs, were 18 per bundle or so at out local yard and the 50 yr O-C architecturals were 17.25.. Of course you need four instead of three bundles to make a square.. The cheapo O-C 20 yr 3 tabs are a third thicker than IKO and the rest of them.. They (O-C) are making a very high end product for sure.. I have a contractors account with Lowe's and the closest one to me is 25 miles away..

 

[dmccarty]

LabLuvR,

We are building a new house and we used Certainteed Shingles. I think they where the Country Manor brand. They have a lifetime warranty for whatever that is worth. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif But at least it does give a hint, I hope, to the quality of the product. I have always heard that everything being equal the more weight in the shingle the better. These things took FIVE bundles per square. I don't know what the total cost was but it was an extra $4,400 to get these shingles and have them installed. The are good up to 110 mph winds.

Hope this helps,
Dan McCarty