3 Tips On How To Select Roof Shingles

There are many shingle brands on the market today so how will you know which is the right brand for you?
Well, you need to do some research to figure out which brand will be most suitable and reliable, because you don’t want to run into problems down the road.

Here are 3 things you have to look at when researching a brand:

How long they have been in roofing business

• You don’t want to buy roofing product from a newly established manufacturer because you don’t know if they will be around in 10 years to honor product warranties.
• You don’t know if product they offer is develop well enough.

What warranty they offer

You need to check warranties different shingle manufactured offers because there may be a big difference between what they offer in that regard. Right now standard (limited) manufacturer warranty for architectural shingles is anywhere from 15 to 30 years. To understand exactly what you getting you need to read the fine print. Of course warranty from a company which is in business for 50 years is worth much more than one from somebody who just started.

How often do they change their product

It is important to do research how often roofing material manufacturer changes their product line. You want to make sure shingle color you chose today will be available 10 years from now (when there comes time for repair).

Those are the 3 things that you need to look at closely when selecting shingle material for your roof. As is usually the case in any industry, it is always a good idea to choose one of the major players like GAF, CertainTeed or Owens Corning.

Lukasz Sobczuk. LGC Roofing

Shingle Roof Replacement Done the Right Way

Tear off vs. Adding another layer on top

My clients often ask me: “Why do you want to rip existing roof off? Another roofer gave us price for up & over, and it’s much less comparing to tear off.” – No it’s not. You might save upfront, but will pay many times over later. I always recommend full tear off when installing new shingle roofing.

When you install new shingles over existing shingle layer you cannot expect the same performance as then you lay it out on a clean roof decking.

Biggest problem for roofs are leaks. If you don’t fully remove existing roofing material you don’t know what is going on underneath:  is wood decking solid? is roof flashing ok? is there moisture underneath shingles?

Tear off is the right way to go.

• Biggest concern in my regard is the state of wood decking. Even if there are no apparent leaks, the wood might be rotted and this means that nails will not hold new shingles properly.
• Same problem exists with flashing. Without tearing off shingles you are not going to be able to see if flashing is in good condition. Damaged flashing may lead to leaks in a future.
• Shingles put on top of existing layer will never lay completely flat. You will always see bumps and shingles sticking out.
• Adding another layer will also double the weight of the roof possibly causing damage to the structure.
• Most “roofers” who advise up & over for costumers complete ignore proper roof ventilation. Roof ventilation is one of the most important factors influencing how long your roof will last; not ensuring proper ventilation will shorten the life of your roof drastically.
• Without tearing existing roof of most manufactures will not honor full material warranty.

Saving some money now will cost you significantly more in near future. That’s why I always recommend full tear off to my customers.

Lukasz Sobczuk, LGC Roofing