Question on Roof Shingles
I need to have the roof shingles replaced on my vacation home in New Hampshire. I've been given a very reasonable price by the local Lowes which includes stripping the old shingles, water/ice shield, and new flashing. They apparently use Owens Corning TruDefinition 30 year shingles. Does anyone have any thoughts/experience with these? Thanks in advance- Do yourself a favor - go with a local roofing contractor. You can find one at National Roofing Contractors Association the Big box store subcontract and have very few quality controls over the final product. I'm not a big fan of the big stores. As Seashell says, they don't have roofers on the payroll and only act as the middle man in the deal. That's not to say the subcontractor won't do an acceptable job. I'm not sure the NRCA is necessarily the best bet either. Although you would likely get a good job done that's not to say that a non-NRCA member wouldn't do a bang up job at a decent price. I checked my zip code on the NRCA site and there's only one that is closer than 20 miles and the closest is 10 miles. I know for a fact that there are quite a few quality roofing companies in the area. Ask around. Chances are someone you know has had their roof done in recent memory. I have a modest roof line, 2800 sf, no hips, valleys, one chimney. Big Orange was having a 10% off sale. Called them and the EMT's at the same time, because I knew I would need defibrilation after the quote JK
Their quote was $10k with the discount. I called a local reputable roofer and he just laughed. He said they were his best reference. Total cost, with tearoff, new flashing, new ridge, new drip, architectural shingles..$5600. Big Orange has to make some money, and they take theirs out of the middle, the juciest part. So after further consideration, I decided to go with a local contractor who was actually referred to me to begin with (although his price was the highest). However, he apparently uses IKO shingles. I haven't read a lot of positive reviews on these. Any views on IKO vs the Owens Corning referred to above (the price with the Owens Corning is actually $500 cheaper)? IKO, I believe, is a Canadian manufacturer. I have not had the pleasure of seeing them in use, yet. I will call my Step son today and ask him. He does roofing on the East Coast in SC. Just remember Morton Thiokol was the low bidder on the O ring for the Challenger. OK, according to someone more in the know than I, IKO shingles are a lesser cost item with a warranty that they are not pleased to try to sell the public. An educated public can choose GAF, Owens Corning, etc, and pay a little more, but the warranty is there. There is a $100 Transfer fee when you sell your house, and the maximum on certain shingles is 15 years. The maximum they will pay is $40 per square for the mid grade shingles. Barely covers cost of shingles and installation....you gotta figure tear off, disposal and other preparatory items. He doesn't push the shingles for fear of problems down the road, and HE has to stand behind his work. Just doesn't work for him. Others may have a better skinny on it, so we'll hear from them, too. This was by no means a slam to IKO, it was information passed from a Roofer. Originally Posted by chandler OK, according to someone more in the know than I, IKO shingles are a lesser cost item with a warranty that they are not pleased to try to sell the public. An educated public can choose GAF, Owens Corning, etc, and pay a little more, but the warranty is there. There is a $100 Transfer fee when you sell your house, and the maximum on certain shingles is 15 years. The maximum they will pay is $40 per square for the mid grade shingles. Barely covers cost of shingles and installation....you gotta figure tear off, disposal and other preparatory items. He doesn't push the shingles for fear of problems down the road, and HE has to stand behind his work. Just doesn't work for him. Others may have a better skinny on it, so we'll hear from them, too. This was by no means a slam to IKO, it was information passed from a Roofer. Thanks! Anyone else have any thoughts? I had my roof replaced a couple months ago,and doing research on shingle manufactures IKO was the least likely of my choices. They were having problems with their shingles manufacturing. I suggest you google them before you commit to the job. I've never liked IKO as an installer because the shingles aren't great. The laminants on a lot of them don't line up which makes them a pain to get straight lines, not to mention that it's poor manufacturing. I've used Pabco for a long time and like them, but I don't think they're available in every area. Great idea to go to a local contractor too. You never know who's gonna be up on your roof if you go with one of the BIG guys.
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