IKO vs Owens Corning Shingles

JHZR2

JHZR2

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Looking to do an asphalt shingle job on one of my big garages. The contractors I’ve gotten quotes for use either IKO or Owens Corning. Both are supposedly 50 year, but all contractors have clarified that it’s really 10 years against manufacturing defects, then prorate like batteries and tires.

The OC quotes tend to be a few $k more than IKO. The contractor that offers IKO did a better job explaining the virtues of their product. But I’ve only ever seen/heard of OC and GAF.

Is there any practical difference?

Is one better than the other?

Ideally for this application I’d go metal, but it is 2-2.5x more expensive, despite the ads claiming it’s less work. Asphalt will be fine.

Tempted to go light grey if lighter colors hold less heat and keep cooler/last longer. Color for this garage building doesn’t matter from the aesthetics or the color scheme for the siding and trim that we’ve chosen.

Thanks!
 
In my area neither is the preferred brand. Most people in my area use CertainTeed. My mother built a house in 2017 and the contractor did use IKO Cambridge shingles on the house. She since has passed and we no longer own the house, but I live within 1000 feet of the property. Literally since it was built the IKO shingles have had wind damage in almost every heavy wind storm over the last eight years. Right now the house is missing multiple shingles. (Yes they were installed correctly) Only the neighboring houses that used IKO as well have any roof damage. All the neighbors who have predominantly used CertainTeed have no issues. Of the two mentioned I'd choose Owens Corning as I saw no real pros to the IKOs. As my wife says, the cheap often comes out expensive.
 
Don't hold me to this, but Owens Corning True Def shingles are pretty much the standard for Hurricane and hail prone Jupiter, FL. They are rated to 130mph (used as is) and that's about the best avail. There are some other designer brands that are as good. But nothing better as far as I know.

My house is rated to 145mph, and uses concrete S barrel tile. Screwed down. I do need a new roof and the OC shingles are the only ones I'd consider.
 
I had a fortified roof put on my beach house last march. The contractor used CertainTeed Landmark shingles. Good to ~135mph. That's what owners use here in eastern NC. Hope I never have to find out if that claim is true.
 
I chose Certainteed. It was recommended by roofers on roofing.com. I also went with the 40-year shingle vs the 30-year shingle. The 40-year shingle is thicker and more wind resistant. I reroofed my house myself.
 
JHZR2 said:
Looking to do an asphalt shingle job on one of my big garages. The contractors I’ve gotten quotes for use either IKO or Owens Corning. Both are supposedly 50 year, but all contractors have clarified that it’s really 10 years against manufacturing defects, then prorate like batteries and tires.

The OC quotes tend to be a few $k more than IKO. The contractor that offers IKO did a better job explaining the virtues of their product. But I’ve only ever seen/heard of OC and GAF.

Is there any practical difference?

Is one better than the other?

Ideally for this application I’d go metal, but it is 2-2.5x more expensive, despite the ads claiming it’s less work. Asphalt will be fine.

Tempted to go light grey if lighter colors hold less heat and keep cooler/last longer. Color for this garage building doesn’t matter from the aesthetics or the color scheme for the siding and trim that we’ve chosen.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Of the two, I prefer Owens Corning. When I had a roof installed last year, I used Certainteed. I found Certainteed to be thicker and heavier than the comparable Owens Corning. Myself, I would never use GAF. Too many issues and many of the area roofers near me won't use them.
 
Around my neck of the woods (east coast) GAF is a big name in shingles.

A couple of things I learned along the way.

The number of years the shingle is rated for means number of years they warranty against manufacturing defects. If a 50 year shingle wears out after 25 years you are not going to get them to replace the shingles.

Get all the roof parts in the contract. Starter shingle, ice & snow layer, regular underlayment layer, shingles, ridge vent.

After my experience I would only go with a GAF certified installers. Found on GAF website. Not told to me by roofing company. They are the only ones who can offer a GAF warranty.

A roofing company can offer a 100 year warranty on the roof but if they go belly up after your roof is replaced then guess what?
 
Lubener said:
Of the two, I prefer Owens Corning. When I had a roof installed last year, I used Certainteed. I found Certainteed to be thicker and heavier than the comparable Owens Corning. Myself, I would never use GAF. Too many issues and many of the area roofers near me won't use them.
Click to expand...
You must not live in a coastal area as GAF Timberline HDZ have one of the highest, if not the highest wind resistance ratings
 
We had GAF installed, re-plyed, etc with cedar shake torn off our old house. Really nice, maybe should have done it sooner but the shakes were decent. GAF is a good product - used to be called "Presidential" I believe. Really thick and hefty. Had some zinc and other stuff incorporated that slowed algae growth a little.

This house, composite shingles are 11 years old. Not in terrible shape, I think these actually are IKO because when we covered the breezeway in 2022, IKO Cambridge were an exact match, color and shape. Amazing that. The shingles are good, but I would not say they are the best. The do OK, seem to be prone to algae growth.

FWIW There is an IKO factory in our county right at the border.
 
We had OC Duration installed in 2018. We somewhat commonly get storms with 80+ mph gusts, and the shingles have held up great. They seem to shed a bit more granules when they were new than what I would have expected, but seem to have settled in and still look great.
 
Cropduster172 said:
You must not live in a coastal area as GAF Timberline HDZ have one of the highest, if not the highest wind resistance ratings
Click to expand...
GAF also has impact resistant shingles for hail prone areas. While I am not in a hail prone areas after reading up on shingles it looked to me they were a heavier duty shingle with more rubber and hail or not they would last longer. But when I tried to get the roofer to quote them that proved a challenge as they are just not stocked by any on the GAF distributors.
 
Donald said:
GAF also has impact resistant shingles for hail prone areas. While I am not in a hail prone areas after reading up on shingles it looked to me they were a heavier duty shingle with more rubber and hail or not they would last longer. But when I tried to get the roofer to quote them that proved a challenge as they are just not stocked by any on the GAF distributors.
Click to expand...
I think the mold/algae resistant component is a big selling point on the east coast too.
 
Cropduster172 said:
I think the mold/algae resistant component is a big selling point on the east coast too.
Click to expand...
For GAF the better the shingle the longer lasting the mold/algae resisting component lasts.

At a summer cottage in CT the roofing guy put some copper flashing with exposed flat surface between rows of shingle in a few areas. Same principle to keep mold/algae from forming. It works.
 
Donald said:
GAF also has impact resistant shingles for hail prone areas. While I am not in a hail prone areas after reading up on shingles it looked to me they were a heavier duty shingle with more rubber and hail or not they would last longer. But when I tried to get the roofer to quote them that proved a challenge as they are just not stocked by any on the GAF distributors.
Click to expand...
Virtually all makers have class 4 impact rated shingles.
 
Donald said:
For GAF the better the shingle the longer lasting the mold/algae resisting component lasts.

At a summer cottage in CT the roofing guy put some copper flashing with exposed flat surface between rows of shingle in a few areas. Same principle to keep mold/algae from forming. It works.
Click to expand...
A zinc strip at the peaks will accomplish the same thing.
 
In my area, we see a bit of everything in terms of shingles. I’m not a roofer, but I can tell you what kind of companies in my area use which.

The bottom of the barrel roofers use only IKO and Tamko. The middle of the row guys use OC and GAF. The only guys I would trust to do my roof and do a dang good job use CertainTeed with a few opting for Malarkey or Atlas.

When hail storms came through, a lot of people had GAF shingles put back on or OC from the middle of the row guys who weren’t as booked out. I can tell for certain now which houses had GAF shingles put on compared to OC or CertainTeed. The roofs just look off, almost like the shingles are thin and don’t lay quite perfectly. Every CertainTeed roof I’ve seen looks great.

All my contractor friends and people I know in construction opt for a CertainTeed roof.
 
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