# GAF - Certainteed - Tamko - IKO



## CookeCarpentry

GAF/ELK and Tamko are the biggest around here....with IKO used by some fly-by-nighters.

Certainteed, not a big market, seems even the consumer is aware of the quality issue years ago.


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## smeagol

Landmarks all the way:thumbsup:


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## Slyfox

Since 94' I have installed,
a dozen IKO roofs, all are still intact,
a few dozen Atlas roofs, all are still intact,
(alltho we have had two problem jobs "wind" we found installation errors by our guys on both)
a few dozen Certainteed roofs, all but two are still intact,
(both were shingle failure, not installation and Certainteed honored their responsibility)
a couple hundred Tamko roofs, all still intact,
hundreds of GAF/ELK and OC roofs, all still intact.


I see roofers say it depends on what plant you get your shingles from,
myself I still say it's all about the quality of installation that determines if a roof will last or not.

I have been on dozens of roofs installed by others and even in the cases where I found failed materials I also found installation errors.
All manufacturers have had failed materials.


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## JTW

Curious, what is the most common installation issue you saw in these instances?


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## Roofer Dan

around here certainteed (fiberglass) shingles, XTs or landmarks, are the best, in my opinion. 

all of certainteeds problems were with their "shangle" lines that were basicly an asphult 3 tab w/ some extra pieces glued on for a dimentional look and additional weight. these were the old horizons, independence, and a couple others. seen lots of these shingles cracking, curling, and looking real bad after 10 years. 

funny story about GAF. about 10 years ago i did a small allotment (new work) of 15 duplexes, 55 sq each. builder supplied gaf 25 yr 3-tabs. they never sealed down. for the next year, every time the wind blew harder than 30 mph, lots of blow-offs. showed the builder that all shingles had the correct nail placement. he got a factory rep aut there. do ya'll think they replaced all them shngles? nope! paid us to go out there and glue down every shingle with cement. i used it as fill in work for weeks. would hed out there with 2 helpers and 20-30 cases of cement tubes lift them shingles 'till my fingers bled. 

been shying away from GAF ever since.


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## Slyfox

Roofer Dan said:


> around here certainteed (fiberglass) shingles, XTs or landmarks, are the best, in my opinion.
> 
> all of certainteeds problems were with their "shangle" lines that were basicly an asphult 3 tab w/ some extra pieces glued on for a dimentional look and additional weight. these were the old horizons, independence, and a couple others. seen lots of these shingles cracking, curling, and looking real bad after 10 years.
> 
> funny story about GAF. about 10 years ago i did a small allotment (new work) of 15 duplexes, 55 sq each. builder supplied gaf 25 yr 3-tabs. they never sealed down. for the next year, every time the wind blew harder than 30 mph, lots of blow-offs. showed the builder that all shingles had the correct nail placement. he got a factory rep aut there. do ya'll think they replaced all them shngles? nope! paid us to go out there and glue down every shingle with cement. i used it as fill in work for weeks. would hed out there with 2 helpers and 20-30 cases of cement tubes lift them shingles 'till my fingers bled.
> 
> been shying away from GAF ever since.


I had the same experience with 3-tabs from GAF, Tamko and Certainteed, but not with any I installed.
Proper nail placement is only one element in the scenario, you also have proper underlayment "not wrinkly", proper shingle placement "not crooked or high", proper nail depth "not over or under shot/ran".


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## buddy110

Roofer Dan said:


> aroun
> 
> funny story about GAF. about 10 years ago i did a small allotment (new work) of 15 duplexes, 55 sq each. builder supplied gaf 25 yr 3-tabs. they never sealed down. for the next year, every time the wind blew harder than 30 mph, lots of blow-offs. showed the builder that all shingles had the correct nail placement. he got a factory rep aut there. do ya'll think they replaced all them shngles? nope! paid us to go out there and glue down every shingle with cement. i used it as fill in work for weeks. would hed out there with 2 helpers and 20-30 cases of cement tubes lift them shingles 'till my fingers bled.
> 
> been shying away from GAF ever since.


GAF is known for fvcking it's customer base. Their master elite program is a joke. All you need it a pulse and $5,000.00 to become one. It's nothing more than an insurance policy funded by the same customer base they continually screw. I'll ues a tarp before I'll install a GAF shingle.


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## Slyfox

JTW said:


> Curious, what is the most common installation issue you saw in these instances?


1. High or over sunk nails.
2. Out of line placement of the shingles, high courses.
3. Felt underneath so wrinkled/bunched up it prevents the shingles from laying flat, which they have to do in order to seal properly.
4. Poor ventilation, it causes shingles to sweat in between the the overlaps and prevents full seal down.


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## MJW

Roofer Dan said:


> funny story about GAF. about 10 years ago i did a small allotment (new work) of 15 duplexes, 55 sq each. builder supplied gaf 25 yr 3-tabs. they never sealed down. for the next year, every time the wind blew harder than 30 mph, lots of blow-offs. showed the builder that all shingles had the correct nail placement. he got a factory rep aut there. do ya'll think they replaced all them shngles? nope! paid us to go out there and glue down every shingle with cement. i used it as fill in work for weeks. would hed out there with 2 helpers and 20-30 cases of cement tubes lift them shingles 'till my fingers bled.
> 
> been shying away from GAF ever since.


Same thing here with a builder in the past. His lumber yard always stocked 3 tab GAF's and didn't want to change. He thought we were the problem (improper installation) he got someone else for a couple jobs and it was even worse. Almost lost entire roofs. We got him to switch to Certainteed and never lost a tab from then on.

Also had a couple denied because they were installed incorrectly (racked) by other people. But yet had a couple that GAF covered for cracking.


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## ets80

We are in the Chicagoland area and began installing Owens Corning shingles back in the 70's which we all know happened to them. We went to ELK which was the best by far ever, but sold out to GAF. We have had one warranty claim with GAF which they resolved quickly. We install approx 9,000 sqs a year since the middle 90's. In my opinion, GAF has done the job for us


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## AndyWRS

est80

Can you fast forward to the current year please. i fear if i post a question i will have wait 3 yrs to get your responses.


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