# Whats better Owens Corning or Gaf/elk shingles



## curtis4085

Please help. Any and all advice will be appreciated..I am a painting contractor in Colorado who is in the market for a new roof do to a recent wind storm..I am torn between the Owens Corning premium durations shingle or the Gaf/elk 40 or 50 year shingle..I figure it's better to ask the experts than just go with what looks good..I am leaning towards gaf/elks 50 year..only cause i like there colors better..weather sage..or a shakewood color...so, what is a better lasting shingle...it is windy where i live..98 mile an hour winds this year and over a hundred last year..I am also interested in metal roof but heard they are about 4 times the cost..is this true..I have got bids on a 4/12 two layer roof..32 squares for about 8,400 is this a fair price....they are biding premuim owens corning or gaf/elk 50 year...please let me no what you all think..thanks for your time..


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## dougger222

Between those two options I would have say Duration Premium hands down. 

Do I think that the bid is fair? Absolutely, by what you described I would be at almost double.

But if it were my house and my roof I would put down Certainteed Premium Max Def. 

One thing that I don't like about the Duration is it's a fairly light weight 50 year/lifetime shingle. The weight is more consistant with the Certainteed Landmark Plus 40 year or the GAF 40 year.


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## PA woodbutcher

You wouldn't be a fisher of pricing along with being a painter would you:whistling Hire the roofing SPECIALIST or CONTRACTOR tht you have the most confidence in and pay him what he wants. I wouldn't be doing your roof for that kind of money as I have run out of need for practicing. GAF/Elk does not offer a 50 year shingle. They have a 40 year and a lifetime with a 50 year warranty. The lifetime also comes in 3 grades.


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## curtis4085

alittle agro aren't we..geeezzz..Just one contractor to another..i don't really care about the price as the insurance company will pick up the basic 30 year shingle costs..I was just asking for professional advice..guess i cannot get that in this forum..and i am a painting contractor for 21 years now and I would offer my insight to whomever wants to learn...


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## curtis4085

the shingle I have been looking at is the Prestique plus High definition 50 year warranty...


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## buildpinnacle

curtis,

Don't be offended by the 'price fishing' dart. Seeing that you have only these three posts under your belt, I will save you some time and some posts on this thread explaining it further. The majority of contractors on this site use their time to discuss and offer advice and opinions on trade specific issues, problems, better ways to skin a cat, etc. Once constant is that we all pretty much collectively agree that price fishing is a no no. First off, there is no way as a roofing contractor I would be able to offer you any professional insight as to how much your roof would cost as it is over 1000 miles away and I haven't seen it...among tons of other intangibles Mostly, it is unprofessional. Every business has different operating costs, profit margins, etc. so we all try to promote all companies finding how much they need to do work for based on thier own company's situation in order to make a profit.

Not saying that's what you were doing, just justifiying the response by the woodbutcher. 

BTW, I have always been a fan of GAF and Elk shingles and was pleased with the merger. We promote both GAF/Elk and OC and have installed thousnads of squares of each. The Duration is a very good shingle.


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## curtis4085

*thanks*

Thanks Build....I am not really concerned on price more concerned about quality...:thumbsup:


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## roof-lover

Gaf/Elk for "looks"
Duration premiums for "Quality"

Not that you will believe me in a million years but
Your Price is too low!

Also crystal ball says you wont believe me about the Quality either.
Congratulations on your new Gaf/elk purchase...


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## PA woodbutcher

Curtis..If you would like there is an introduction section when you first log in, if you decide to remain. There are a ton of homeowners that come on here trying to get a legitimate contractor to drop his price or trying to find out if he can get a better price.

As in painting contractor all having their favorite paint, you will find that roofers also have favorite shingles. I am not a roofer by trade, but in taking care of my customers I usually end up doing somewhere between 200-300 square a year....unless specifically asked for something different, I use GAF/Elk exclusively, because that is what my supplier carries and will also back me with the company. I can get others and sometimes at cheaper prices, but prefer to use what my supplier recommends. My family has been doing business with the same supplier for over 80 years.

Your price is too cheap.


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## thom

I think the frustration expressed by the OP relates more to withholding information that makes no sense to withhold. He didn't ask for a price, he asked about quality. He did express that steel was too expensive. Without getting into the costs specific to a job that really can't be done here, there is a lot of information that could/would be helpful. 

Considering only material costs, what is the cost/benefit of the varying materials. If one is more labor intensive than the other to install, say so. If one has a higher failure rate say so. This helps the poster make an intelligent materials choice without dealing with the vagaries of the job or the labor and markup rates of the installer.


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## OldNBroken

Around here OC sucks. Elk's always been very good around here for years. As far as price, that one obviously couldn't have come from a legitimate contractor who knows what he's doing.


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## Slyfox

I have installed both shingles with out problems.
Spend more time making sure you hire a quality roofer, so long as the shingles are installed properly, either shingle is a good buy.

The price your showing there is a lot lower than what you would get from any roofer here in my area, check your paper work and make sure the roofer did not make any mistakes in his/her math, etc.


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## MEL

*CertainTeed is better*

I prefer CertainTeed. I feel that it has better wind resistance than GAF.

One thing that worries me about OC is their sealant. It’s a solid line of tar instead of tar spots. Water could get past step flashing and it wouldn’t be able to work its ways out.

CT tar spots have space between them, if the step flashing directs water under a shingle it can work it’s it way out. Also the roof will be able to breathe better and let some humidity escape.

In a high wind zone I would use premium shingle.


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## MJW

Exactly Mel. 

I would also go Certainteed or Malarkey.


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## Zatol

Ditto on the Certainteed...

As for your price, if it were in my market that price would be high.


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## PA woodbutcher

Zatol said:


> Ditto on the Certainteed...
> 
> As for your price, if it were in my market that price would be high.


You gotta be kidding me! GAF Lifetime shingle with drip edge, underlayment starters and caps I would be close to $8,000 materials. Plus you still have 13,000 pounds to tear up and get rid of, and put the new shingles down down too. I think you jest:whistling What kind of prices are you getting on the Certainteed, and where are you located.


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## dougger222

At the price you were told for the 50 year shingles that would be about $262.50 per square materials and labor. 

Are you sure the price they gave you wasn't the out of pocket price with deductible to upgrade from a standard roof to the 50 year roof?

With the high end Landmark Premiums I wouldn't touch that roof for a penny less than $16,000, wait it's a layer tayer tear off add $2,000, $18,000 total.


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## thom

PA woodbutcher said:


> You gotta be kidding me! GAF Lifetime shingle with drip edge, underlayment starters and caps I would be close to $8,000 materials.


$8,000 for 32 squares materials, that's $250 per square. Most of us use the galvanized nails. They work just fine. No need to use those platinum ones.


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## PA woodbutcher

thom said:


> $8,000 for 32 squares materials, that's $250 per square. Most of us use the galvanized nails. They work just fine. No need to use those platinum ones.


I wa just throwing numbers off the top of my head...here are the specifics and had forgottten about nails.:w00t:

GAF Grand Mansions are $37.20 a bundle with 6 bundles per square = $223.20 a square. I generally use Alpha protech for an underlayment @ another $12.00 a square. Another $55.26 for 20 feet of Timbertexx caps. $34.40 for 50 foot of starters and $3.69 for a 10' stick of drip edge. Add in another $1.00 a foot for ice and waterand another $4.00 afoot for ridge vent .

I don't think there is any real constant on a roof as to what they use in an average for starters, drip edge, underlayment, etc, etc, but I would bet your pretty close to that $250 a square when your done adding everything up. And oh, you still have to buy the nails...another $40 per box. Now I get 15% on all shingle products, but ain't passing it on unless I like you:laughing:


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## outlaw

He said he was pricing a 40-50 year not a Grand Mansion.

I would be about 3000 more for that roof. But alot of my competition would be 1500 less.

I prefer Certianteed


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