New Roof Advice - GAF vs Atlas

Hello,

I live near the coast in Florida and I need my entire roof replaced due to Hurricane Sally. I have received a few quotes and i have done a good bit of research on my own, but I feel I need some additional specific advise.

House - 2000 Square feet of roof to replace on a single story ranch house. No high pitch.

Both quotes include the same elements. Both are recommended by people i know and trust, but I like the GAF installer a good bit better.

Quote #1
Certified GAF installer.
GAF Timerland HDZ with their StormGuard ice and water on the entire roof. (Now Code)
1 layer of synthetic underlayment
Price $9,676

Quote #2
Certified Atlas installer
Atlas Pinnacle Pristine with their WeatherMaster ice and water on the entire roof.
1 layer of synthetic underlayment
Price $12,626

Florida code now requires Ice & Water on the entire roof. I read where it is advised to add a layer of synthetic underlayment between the ice and water and the shingles to keep the shingles from sticking to the ice and water down the road. I asked each company above to add it in their quote. Is this wise to add or a waste? It is not cheap for some reason. $1,200 more for Atlas and $480 more for GAF!

Is it worth spending 3K more to go Atlas over GAF? I got another quote from an Atlas certified installer and his was the same price.

Thanks for your input!
Jamie

doesnt matter if you have iceguard on whole roof,lmao

1-always use a buffer in between ice/water shield and shingles. You, or a fellow roofer may have to install a vent someday and the $300 job may take 5 hrs and a lot of bad words. Also when it gets replaced there will be spud bars involved if shingles are directly over ice/water. High Temp may mitigate this but we only use it under metal so not sure on that.

2-GAF vs. (insert any other shingle brand here) conclusion: any other shingle brand (except IKO and it’s close).

2 Likes

Use the Atlas!
Call the guy and tell him you would really like to use him.
Gently tell him your issue.
Tell him you are not expecting him to come down 3000 dollars.
( so he doesnt try to hang up on you)
But how much can he come down.
If he comes down 500-1000…
Just be happy with whatever he can do, i say.
Hopefully he isnt too busy.

2 Likes

It wasnt a roll of 30 pound.
It was much heavier.
Very hard to roll and lays everywhere like a brick.
You dont know what it was,
And i am not going to explain it to you.
Thanks for the entertainment.

3 Likes

You are never going to learn anything that way.

4 Likes

Thanks for the suggestions. We went with a layer of synthetic between the shingles and ice and water.

That is so great!
Perfect peace of mind
Perfect roof!

And will be easy to remove in the future.
I must admit, i’ve yet to force my men to install synthetic after installing self-adhered.

I guess im hoping i’ll be dead before someone asks me to replace it again…

It just needs to be 2-ply 15pound D.226 asphalt saturated underlayment.
And everything would be perfect.
That is the best roof
But now i cannot even install it.
Its outlawed.
Someone who thinks they are smarter than me
Outlawed the very best roofing.
But i guess i could live with 2 ply synthetic…
Sucks on a 8/12 though.
That is what i am doing right now.
2 ply synthetic on an 8/12 70square
Its a lot of work.

I am not sure if I will be in this house in 20 years, but if I am I do not want to pay the price. Nobody that quoted my roof suggested the extra layer. 1 sales person told me it was not needed. Others said it is a good idea only after I asked for it.

I only found out about it when someone told this IT guy (me) that my roof must now be entirely coated with ice & water due to Florida’s new code. Makes sense. I had leaks due to Sally. I went and hit the web to research, but found little about the entire roof being covered in it. I had a very hard time trying to decided if I needed an extra layer. Someone here gave me the idea about the extra layer.

Roof lover,
It’s not just about reroof and it’s clear you do excellent work but there are many things that can come up regardless.

Installing a range hood for a new stove.
New bathroom fan.
Covered entry requiring a valley tie in.
Defective shingles.

If there isn’t a buffer between self adhered and shingles it is like a three ply layer of hot roof, unless High Temp is used, which has the buffer built into the surface.

I thought about using high temp under shingles many years ago because of that reason.
I had a warranty leak within one year
where a nail went in the space between the 1x6 decking.
If i had used 2 ply 15 pound d.226 asphalt saturated underlayment, the leak probably would not had manifested itself until almost 10 years.
Maybe it was a fluke, i dont know
But That was enough evidence for me to not try it again.
The high temp doesnt appear to me to have a good self sealing surface.
You would think the bottom bitumen surface would be plenty, but i am not sure it is enough.
Would love to hear others theories who have experience with this.

When I use High Temp I used the Certainteed variety, IMO it’s very good stuff.

Thanks for the feedback on the certainteed Axiom.
I know it wasnt certainteed.
I think it was polyglass.