Shingles, shingles, shingles. With so many choices of roofing shingles it gets overwhelming. Some roofing companies in the Indianapolis area advertise or promote one specific brand of shingles.
What shingle should you use on your Indianapolis area home or business?
Maybe you will see a familiar logo or you’ll be told that that one shingle is the best. Here is the truth.
That roofing company is more than likely receiving year-end rebates. They’re getting paid to say that shingle is the best!
Here’s more truth. A handful of the top shingle manufacturers produce quality shingles. We don’t like to push our customers into one brand of shingles by trying to convince you it’s the only product on the market worth installing on your home or business.
Some shingle information for you
Asphalt shingles: This is by far the most popular choice in the Indianapolis area for both cost effectiveness and performance. Asphalt shingles come in predominantly two types: three tab or dimensional (sometimes referred to as architectural shingles).
There used to be a large price differential between the two. However, over the years the better performing dimensional shingle has become more comparable in price and is the standard for roof installations. Most reputable roofing contractors now use this as their base product for roof installations.
Designer shingles: These vary from two categories. One branch of designer shingles is intended to optimize shingle performance. Sometimes the shingle may look like a standard asphalt shingle but may be thicker and has a thicker factory-installed adhesive allowing the shingle to have greater durability during wind events.
The other branch of designer shingles have the components of asphalt shingles but differ drastically in appearance so as to not look similar to the traditional asphalt shingles.
Energy efficient shingles: In the Indianapolis area, home and business owners spend 1/6th of all electricity expenditures on air conditioning. Energy Star certified roof products reflect more of the sun’s rays which can lower roof temperatures by up to 50°F and decrease the amount of heat transferred into a building.
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Shingle warranties: Most shingles have a number associated to them. This is the life expectancy of that shingle and is the warranty for that shingle. However, this is only part of the story.
A limited lifetime shingle warranty may have a pro-rated warranty for the life of the shingle but what does that mean? Most shingles have a pro-rated warranty and an initial warranty. The initial warranty may only last 5 to 10 years. At that point it becomes a pro-rated warranty where two things happen. First, the manufacturer may remove some of the items it warrants such as granulation loss or adherence (not much is left for a shingle).
Second, the warranty now becomes pro-rated which means if a warranty issue does occur, the amount the manufacturer will pay will be pro-rated based upon the age of the shingle. Customers should have their Indianapolis area roofing contractor fully explain the shingle’s warranty to them.
Shingle mold: The discoloration on your roof shingles in the Indianapolis area is a form of algae. The algae doesn’t necessarily pose a risk to the performance of your roof. Its main detriment is that it looks unappealing. There are many roof cleaners on the market but we have found that nothing really gives you that brand-new roof look.
Thankfully, most shingle manufacturers now include compounds in their shingles that make them algae resistant.