A shingle is a SHINGLE!

The typical Homeowner has no need to know anything about shingle types, materials and Manufacturing processes for most of their life. All of a sudden it becomes more important than most realize when they come to install a new roof. Shingles may look similar but are much different in make-up.

There are several types of shingles,

1. ASBESTOS MODIFIED ASPHALT

2. OXIDIZED ASPHALT

3. POLYMER MODIFIED ASPHALT

4. RUBBERIZED 5 PART POLYMER MODIFIED ASPHALT

Up until 1989 many shingle manufactures had multiple lines of shingles, the first being an OXIDIZED ASPHALT Shingle, typically marketed as a 20-25 year shingle. Some of these roofs, when the Oxidizing was done at a slow enough rate, and when well ventilated, lasted up to the 25-27 year mark. The slowly Oxidized part is important.

Some also had an ASBESTOS Modified asphalt, Marketed as a 35-40 year product. I have seen many of these ASBESTOS modified shingles go well into the 33-39 year range. (Edit, I looked at a 39 year old modified Asphalt roof late Feburary 2025) just now starting to get blow offs. When ASBESTOS became a known issue, and was mandatorily removed from the market, almost all the manufactures switched to ONLY doing OXIDIZED asphalt. The melting point of Asphalt is too low to stay on a sloped deck in the summer heat. It needs solidified to be useable as a roofing material. Oxidizing does this, but to oxidize asphalt you need to raise it to high temperature levels, essentially cooking it down, this will to an extent "dry out" the asphalt for your "new" shingle. Oxidizing asphalt is a detrimental form of age to asphalt, it causes it to become brittle and loose it's flexibility. When done slowly this causes less aging, and these Oxidized asphalt shingles can in some cases make it to the 26-30 year mark. Oxidizing does not happen at a linear rate, it instead increases in rate of degridation as it progresses. When done speedily, or in a way to generate the most profits, this causes life expectency to drop significantly. They can fail in as little as 15-20 years. Since the average home owner relocates in about 6.5 years, this can be done, the warranty transfered once, and still make it to the out of warranty state. This is what I am seeing in the modern OXIDIZED shingle industry. All of the Oxidized asphalt shingle roofs that I have been on that were installed from around 2005-2013 depending on manufacture, show as much wear and are as brittle as the ones that I am replacing that are in the 25-30 year old range. Most of these 14-18 year old roofs have as much granule loss as the 35-39 year old modified Asphalt. Is someone using their knowledge of the length of home ownership to their advantage, for the sake of income? My experience, along with insider information would make it appear so. Several Oxidized asphalt shingle models have gotten significantly thinner and lighter, all while introducing better warranties and "new" features. We recently took roofs off two buildings, they were side by side with the same type ventilation, the one roof was 27 years old, and an older, mid 90's type oxidized asphalt shingle. The garage was 17 years old, but had more granule loss then the 27 year old roof next to it. This is what I am seeing as a result of the changes in the industry.

Several manufactures offer an SBS Polymer modified Asphalt shingle, which is better, but still dries out faster, and has less than ideal granule retention. They usually only do so for the areas with high hail storm numbers. They also only do SBS Polymer modified asphalt on the very highest end shingle.

There was however one company that pioneered the way of the future, clear back in 1986. This company, MALARKEY ROOFING PRODUCTS, uses RUBBER polymers from recycled tires, and SBS POLYMERS in place of the ASBESTOS to create a more flexible, class4 hail damage resistant shingle that has superior granule retention properties. Because of the 5 part polymer it retains that rating stays valid much longer then a 3 part SBS Polymer modified. We at RENU Renovations LLC Exclusively Use the MALARKEY VISTA AR shingle that has the highest possible Class 4 impact resistance rating. To showcase the benefits, I have an acquaintance with a soda can shooter, this shoots full soda cans at over 90 miles per hour, we shot a FULL can of soda at different shingle models to see how they held up, I will let the results speak for themselves. I plan to add to this list in the future. ALL Oxidized asphalt shingles, Even class 3 have a similar result.

There is a wet spot from the soda, but no damage to the MALARKEY VISTA AR shingle we install.

Will YOUR roof protect YOU through the STORM, and extend that protection through the span of time beyond?