More pros and cons, GAF vs. Certainteed

Some people may remember, I’m mainly a pusher of Certainteed Archs. Used to use GAF’s but switched to Certainteed because I liked the seal strips and they seem to lay flatter out of the packaging. Ended up selling myself into some Timberline Ultra’s and it gave me more reasons that I hate GAF arch’s. Whats up with their 1/4 inch nailing strips? This was aggravating. Certainteed I would guess has about an inch of overlap where the two pieces are stuck together. I must have had to pull a hundred shingles by the time a job was finished by having to be so exact with the nailing pattern… low nails if your hose gets jammed up anywhere the least bit, or you have to stretch for that one last tough to reach shingle. This is certainly not an installer friendly shingle, IMO. Boo for GAF archs, I say.

On the flip side, my partner loves these peel and stick roofs and I have not been so impressed. However, on peel and stick roofs, Liberty Cap Sheet (GAF) gives me more confidence than the Flintlastic (Certainteed). Liberty as opposed to Flintlastic seems to be more pliable. It seems to stick better. The overall appearance when finished looks more professional, as I noticed less granular loss. I felt like I was installing a professional roof with the Liberty as I was going, whereas installing the Flintlastic made me feel like it was at least a step up from asphalt rolled roofing. Considering theyre competitive products with similar costs, I dont think I’ll be selling Flintlastic anymore.

I like Certainteed also. One major reason is it is a professional shingle not a big orange box store shingle. When many of my clients want a roof they are looking for a professional job not a least bit less. When i go up against a GAF company I throw this out there, You know the GAF shingle is a well known shingle, I can not say much about it because im not a big believer in using shingles that were not ment for professional use only. Then i follow it up with see home depot sells GAF and lowes sell OC, to me thats not a professional grade shingle when they have to produce 4 times the volume to fill all these stores. Now Certainteed never sold to a big box store nor will they for one simple fact. It is a professional grade material and they want to keep it this way. Also when they pick who will be certified to install them they use the what you know way of doing things rather than who do i make the check out to. See to me that makes anyone able to be certified with GAF its just how much of a check do they want. Lastly between the 2 shingles In GAF warranty booklet they specifically call “without proper ventilation this warranty will be voided” Ok certainteeds take on this is "10 year warranty without proper ventilation. Now to me this speaks volume on there quality and faith in their products. Not that we would ever not ventilate properly altho i see it every day. Thats my take of the situation. WHat do you think of what i said?

I agree with Kevin I install certainteed and I am a shingle master company. Certainteed not only produces a great product but they have gone out of there way to help me with marketing. They had extra signs made up for my truck and extra yard signs at no extra cost. They sent me boxes of literature with my company logo on it with no extra cost also. They also have helped me on several customer service problems to get the problems taken care of. So thats why I install certainteed not only do they have a great product but great customer service also.

GAF has really good REP down here on both sttep slope and flat slope

the flat slope rep answers the phone all the time to help you … sometimes he has come to my jobs and give me some hands on tips on newer products … even left some brand new tools for me …

the steep slope rep has helped me with all the questions i have … one day the suppliers where close and i needed material to finish my job …I told him and he went to the supplier managed to have the guys in there let him in got the material came to my job and gave it to me for free … Not to mention he always takes me to eat my favorite shrimp burritos :mrgreen: and starbux frapuchinos… o yea i have a ton of yard signs from them also.

you know what ??

now that i think off…

THEY STILL HAVENT GIVEN ME A POLO SHIRT !!! WTF!!!

lol gtp is gonna laugh about this one :mrgreen:

as far as the product goes ( We are certified with both)…the GAF’s that are sold in the box store are only standard timberlines. they do not sell any metric, which is what a regular supplier sells. IMO the certainteed landmark shingles seal strip is waaay to aggressive. it seals after the first nail on a hot day and i cant line up the other side. if i step on a shingle the seal strip sticks to my foot. and the shingle just feels thinner to me. the double ply area is exactly the same on landmark as timberline, except…the line is painted higher on the landmark. the rep says he will warranty any blow off that are nailed within that line, however… i dont want them to blow off in the first place. Both companies have great customer service and marketing tools in their own ways. I just choose to install the GAF as i believe in the product more. If you want a way to down sell the certainteed you can tell the customer " why choose a company that makes windows, insulation, siding and everything else under the sun." ( i don’t actually say that) but i could. the only brand i talk down is IKO and rightfully so.

Laid my first roof with Timberline 30’s last week in 3 years and hopefully it will be another 3 years until I have to use them again. The tar strip is not nearly as good as the Landmarks and when ever you lift up on a section of the shingle with the Timberlines it seemed like they creased, which I’ve never seen with Landmarks.

The only thing I liked better with the Timberlines is how they were less stuck together out of the package but that could be due to less powerfull tar than the Landmarks.

If Landmarks are $50 a square Timberlines should be under $40, IMO.

Baloney. The double ply area on a landmark is approximately 1 1/2" versus appoximately 3/4" on timberlines, look again. There is no room for error on a Timberline. Regarding the name and company “Certainteed” making windows and vinyl siding, thats like saying GE cant make a light bulb because they make jet engines too. Certainteed bought out Bird, who, as far as I know, were GAF’s direct competitor since the turn of the 20th century. When you buy a company you buy its factories, its management, its r&d, it’s patents etc. I don’t even believe this is an opinion really. I also don’t believe I’m biased since theyre similarly priced and I don’t receive any perks from either company. Are you doing roofing hands-on anymore Marshall? Working with both of them has only led me to one conclusion for many many reasons, most of them because of roof quality. If you think those nailing strips are the same size you are high nailing timberlines or putting down a square a day and not realizing it. No way in hell theyre even close. I will never put down another Timberline in my life, customer requested or not. It is a waste of my time and money. I’ve said in other threads, I like some GAF products. Their upscale shingles are great, and theyve got the modifieds down pretty good. As far as I’m concerned, Timberlines are junk.