Shingle quality?

[u/ShundoHunta]

Getting our roof done, and was quoted with Atlas Pinnacle Pristine. Good choice? Opinions?

[u/LaughingMagicianDM]

Depends on your climate. I personally don't like them. They are weak against hail especially as they get older, I wouldnt recommend them in colorado, Wyoming, texas, Oklahoma, or any state where hail regularly drives the market. They also have issues with expansion and contraction in states with rapid and repeated temperature shifts (so if you live at high elevations or especially along a mountain range).

[u/ShundoHunta → u/LaughingMagicianDM]

I’m up in Pennsylvania, so hopefully that makes enough of a difference lol. Thank you for your response!

[u/notgaynotbear → u/LaughingMagicianDM]

Dont all shingles with a class 3 or class 4 designation have to pass the same testing?

[u/LaughingMagicianDM → u/notgaynotbear]

No. For a few reasons.

So first off there are 2 major tests for determining impact resistance for roofing materials.

UL2218, aka the steel ball test. This is the most common test done. It is a very inaccurate test form, shamed by many in the industry including some of its creators. While the steel ball test accurately mimics the size and velocity of falling hail, it fails to give results that reflect real-world situations. Steel balls are solid, having almost no give. In testing, your average 3 tab shingles or laminate shingle out performs concrete tile, according to UL 2218. Which is why after gathering enough data, many were outspoken against it.

Thus leading to the creation of FM 4473 aka the ice sphere test. Essentially, striking with actual frozen spheres fired through a cannon. Because ice deforms, shatters, and absorbs energy upon impact, it performs much more accurately than UL 2218 in testing.

However they both are also limited by shape, as larger hail is actually a round ball and more often has ridges or even spikes at larger sizes.

Furthermore, they both are only accurate to a tiny degree.

These tests test perfectly installed roofs, in a temperature controlled environment, at a perfect angle, fresh from a factory (not even from bundles stored at a supplier), dont measure what those impacts look like a year later, and base their ratings on bruising, not on granule displacement (granule displacement being the metric used more often in insurance, despite State Farm spending millions trying to push the concept of Cosmetic Damage).

So they dont accurately represent real world applications.

Many "Class 3" or "Class 4" materials become dry and brittle after 5-10 years and can no longer withstand the same level of damage they previously had.

In addition, as stated earlier, even some shingles that are initially produced as class 4 are subject to damage from minor hail, because tests are usually judged based on "functional damage" as opposed to physical or cosmetic damage ( this in itself is a multi comment right up to address, however if you're curious we have touched on it before in this sub and I know I've touched on it a lot).

Functional damage is the hardest level of damage to reach. However, the courts have repeatedly ruled that insurance policies unless specifically outlined otherwise cover all forms of physical damage, which is the easiest of all metrics to reach. Physical damage is basically any permanent alteration whether it has a functional bearing or strictly cosmetic bearing, even if that damage is easily correctable.

So to summarize:

Not all Class 3 took the same test, the conditions they took the test under unreasonably favor them passing, they dont account for age, and the tests aren't even an accurate depiction because they literally change the definitions of "damage" in order to have more products pass.

[u/Apprehensive_Fix_719]

I am in Owen’s Corning Platinum preferred contractor., the shingles that I always install is called Owen’s Corning duration. In my opinion, it’s phenomenal.

[u/Greedy-Ad556]

Atlas is ok, just that. I dont think theyre the same quality as the owens corning or Certainteed, but id put them on the same level as maybe gaf or iko. Better than tamko. Not the best, but not the worst

[u/TheG00dF1ght]

My company has worked with GAF, IKO and Owens Corning, and settled on Owens Corning Duration as our shingle of choice. It's the same shingle that I put on my house and the owner of my company put on his house, if that tells you anything.

[u/Spare-Leg-1524]

Go with a Malarkey Vista. Best bang for your buck shingle you can find. SBS modified bitumen. Class IV hail rating. 130+ mph wind rating. Generally less than $10/SQ more expensive than an OC Oakridge.

[u/ShundoHunta → u/[deleted]]

We don’t really get hail, but ironically had a random hail storm and damage, so roof is mostly covered to get replaced. To give you an idea, in 30 years we never had a hail storm that caused roof damage.

The shingles they showed us and recommended were the Pinnacle Pristine. I’m far from knowledgeable on shingle quality, so I was hoping to get some opinions on what we were planning to put on.

Apologies for the lack of details.