Asphalt Shingles Interesting Article

[Marcel R. Cyr]

http://seattleroofbroker.com/ProductsAsphalt.htm

[Peter C. Russell]

Good info. Marcel
Maybe someday people will understand that todays shingle suck compared to a decade or so ago.

The MFG. are good at making everyone believe the roof is to hot, the shingles weren't installed right, not enough ventilation. Every excuse in the book except the fact that the quality of the product has dropped dramatically.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Bingo Peter. My exact thought.

Back in the 60's and 70's, I had never heard of curling, blistering, cracking etc..

They just wore out period. Lasted 30 + years.
The roof I did last year was 36 years old and not leaking yet.

[Larry D. Kage]

Many would benefit by reading this link but few will.

http://seattleroofbroker.com/ProductsAsphalt.htm

Bottom Line: Warranties are simply “marketing tools” and DO NOT indicate either product quality or durability.

I especially like the “Lifetime” warranty…

[KEVIN WOOD]

Ditto!

[Kenton H. Shepard, CMI]

Originally Posted by mcyr

http://seattleroofbroker.com/ProductsAsphalt.htm

1.
-The tests roofing consultants are required to pass are tough. Their library of technical articles is a good resource.
-In 2010 I tried to find a company still manufacturing organic shingles and couldn't.


2.
-I don't believe any manufacturer has sold shingles with no mat and only "a thin layer of asphalt".
-Some shingle manufacturers use filler up to 65 or 70% in order to lower manufacturing costs. I found this info to be widespread.

Studies on asphalt shingle longevity are difficult to find. Shingle manufacturers will not discuss any specifics about asphalt including the codes printed on cellophane strips other than the obvious ASTM info. I tried to find information on asphalt blending, quality and in manufacturing processes while researching the roofing courses that have not yet come out and ran into A BIG WALL OF SILENCE. While you'll find info on paving asphalt you won't find anything substantive on asphalt used to produce shingles. I shot video in a concrete tile manufacturing plant but the only offer I had to go through a comp shingle plant was from a company in China.

From what I've been able to find out, asphalt is one of the lower priced products extracted from crude, so as the price of oil has risen, efforts have been made to extract a higher portion of high-value product from each barrel of crude, so that, in addition to less asphalt being available, which raises its price, the rising cost-per-barrel has eaten into shingle manufacturer's profits. It's a tough position for roofing manufacturers when they have to compete against many others offering substandard products. Kind of like living in a county full of inspectors offering $175 inspections.

Although ASTM standards exist for some shingle components, like the minimum amount of asphalt used per 100 square feet of shingle (not by square), manufacturers are not required to comply with these standards. Last time I checked there was no minimum standard regarding the adhesive strip, which is the most important component in comp shingle wind resistance.

This is about consumer education and consumer protection. Nobody likes to see more laws enacted, but most of us don't like to see people getting ripped off by manufacturers selling substandard products either. I don't see how anything will change until mandatory regulations set minimum standards that level the playing field at a certain quality of shingle.

Overall this article says a lot that I think is true, but a lot is not. The "study" they cite claiming that the NAHB determined the life expectancy of asphalt shingles at only 20 years is not a study at all one of those overly-simplified lists of home component lifespans that you find in many places on the internet. InterNACHI has one too. They're only based on studies when studies are available and for comp shingles... they're not.
People or organizations who yap yap, yap about this or that "study" to put a buck in their pocket with no regard for trying to get at the truth just drive me crazy. I just want to put them all in a big crowd in front of me and say... STUDY THIS!

Got a little carried away there...

[KEVIN WOOD]

Just going over the info set out by You and InterNachi should put any person behind the eight ball for Knowledge. How long it would it take is anybodies guess.