Asphalt shingles are one of the most widely used roofing materials on the market today. Asphalt shingles are used on residential shingle roofs or also referred to as steep slope roofs. The asphalt shingle has advanced since its creation to its current day types, styles, shapes, colors, and sizes. The reason we call them asphalt shingles is because they are primarily composed of asphalt. The type of asphalt shingles you choose is a personal preference. Fiberglass shingles are more popular, mostly due to their cheaper cost, but both types of asphalt shingles are a viable choice for most homes.
Asphalt Shingle Benefits:
- Asphalt roofing shingles are one of the referred roofing material for homes based on their relative cheap cost compared to tile, metal, wood shake, and other types of roofing materials.
- Although they cost less there life expectancy ranges from 20 years – 50 years which most home owners find satisfactory when compared to the cost savings in the material itself.
- With the modern advancements in technology and design asphalt shingles are made in many different colors and designs. Some asphalt shingles are designed to replicate the look of wood shake, tile, and other types of more expensive roofing materials. This range of looks is one of the most important aspects that a homeowner looks at when deciding on a roof material. They want to know that it will look good on their roof.
Asphalt Shingle Faults:
- Although asphalt shingles have come along way in technological advancements they still are one of the weakest roofing materials. They can easily be damaged by hail storms, high winds, and other natural causes. Because of this, it is highly probable that an asphalt shingle roof will either need to be repaired or completely replaced before the lifetime of the roof has been reached because of natural damage.
- Asphalt shingles are only installed on steep slope roofs. Because of this asphalt roofing shingles cannot be used on flat roofs or low slope roofs.
Fiberglass Shingles
Historically the mat of the shingles was made from a wood and paper felt material. Today a more advanced mat is created from fiberglass. Fiberglass is a type of material that is used for various things. In this case it is used to create shingles. It is created with plastic backed by fine fibers of glass. For shingles, fiberglass provides reliable strength and durability.
The fiberglass in asphalt/fiberglass shingles creates the mat portion of the shingle. The fiberglass that creates this shingle mat is compiled by randomly laying wet fiberglass and then bonding it with urea-formaldehyde resin. After this is done the mat goes through a process of coating. It is coated with asphalt but not just any asphalt. The asphalt is mixed with various types of mineral fillers. These mineral fillers give the shingle and mat waterproof characteristics which is a very important aspect shingles provide as a roofing material.
One of the benefits of a fiberglass shingle roof is that it is more fire resident. A fiberglass shingle usually has a class A fire rating. Compared to the older wood and paper mats used for asphalt shingles, the fiberglass shingles are much better for your home, especially when it comes to fire residence.
Organic Shingles
Companies stopped manufacturing “Organic Shingles” around 2005.
The decline in popularity and production was caused by their inability to last longer than fiberglass shingles. Many various lawsuits have been filed by homeowners against shingle manufacturing companies that produced and sold organic shingles.
Organic asphalt shingles are a thing of the past. In fact, organic is simply the modern name for the traditional felt mat asphalt shingles. Companies simply took advantage of the eco friendly movement and started calling their felt asphalt mat shingles organic.