Replies

1. 
   Piffin | Jul 31, 2006 04:46pm | #1

   FG matt shingles jhave been around 30-40 years now. I the energy crisis of the seventies, they got big time useage but developed a pooer reputation. They are thinner because they use less asphalt which comes from crude oil.

   But I think the manufacturers pushed the envelope on that a little too far and several brands failed early, curliing up before - well before - their promised twenty years were up.

   with many claims and damage to their reputation, my impression now is that they have learned hopw 5to make a FG shingle as wel as a felt shingle. But there are many roofers who also got burned and will refuse to use a FG shingle.

   class A in some locations will give you a break on your fire insurance.

    

    

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2. 
   allan23 | Jul 31, 2006 07:01pm | #2

   Thanks for the comments.

   I was curious as the local lumber yard indicated that the IKO Aristocrat 25 organic shingle was no longer being manufactured and the fiberglass shingle was its replacement. 

    

3. 
   DanH | Jul 31, 2006 08:22pm | #3

   They are in theory stronger, and thus better able to stand up to mechanical damage (ie, wind). However, since they're lighter, it's easier for the wind to pick them up, so it's a bit of a wash.

   I've gotten conflicting reports on whether they stand up better or worse to sun and heat.

   They do generally have a better fire rating, something significant if you're in the West where brush fires are a hazard, but not important in most other places.

   If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
4. 
   WayneL5 | Aug 01, 2006 01:09am | #4

   Our church, on the New York border just South of Prescott, ON, was roofed in fiberglass shingles installed by a group of volunteers from the South.  Every spring I'd pick up a fair number of shingles which blew off in the winter.  I'd patch them in with leftovers from the construction.  After a number of years we added a porch so I went back to the lumberyard to purchase the exact shingles to match.  They told me it was a special order because nobody stocks fiberglass shingles locally because they don't hold up in winter.  They were special ordered by the volunteers but otherwise they don't sell them and don't recommend them.

   I contacted the manufacturer and at about the same time there was an article in one of the construction magazines on the same topic.  Both the manufacturer and the author of the article said that fiberglass shingles should not be used in northern climates.  The article referenced many instances of failed shingles and talked about testing which confirmed their unsuitability.

   Maybe some new fiberglass shingles would work, but there are no advantages to fiberglass, so in my mind there is no justification to take any risk with them.

1. 
   allan23 | Aug 01, 2006 04:04pm | #5

   This is exactly why I like to read the posts. Learn from other experiences and situations.

   Thanks for the info. I was starting to wonder if certain materials are being pushed because they are cheaper for the supplier to obtain as substitutes.

   I ordered some construction grade 2x6's and noticed that they had come from British Columbia from the bundle wrap. They were the worst stuff I had seen in years. You think with 400 million cubic metres of dead or dying pine trees (from the mountain pine beetle) in British Columbia, they could saw some decent lumber. Again I suspect it was a bargain basement sell off passed along as grade 2 or better.

    

   Edited 8/1/2006 9:05 am ET by Allan23