Roof replacements are one of few home improvement projects undergone by necessity, rather than desire.
Redoing your kitchen cabinets, or upgrading your appliances is always fun, apart from the price tag. You can pick colors, brands, styles, and all kinds of stuff!
Unfortunately, roofing isn’t quite the same way. There are different brands, styles, and colors of shingles, and different roofing materials all together, but a lot of the time homeowners are limited in their choices. Some homes can’t handle the weight of a luxury shingle, and even then not many people can afford that, or fancier roofing materials like standing seam metal, ceramic, or slate tile.
So, often, the only major choice a homeowner will get to make during the roofing process, is which company they work with, what brand of shingle they get, and the color of those shingles.
We've talking about the best way to find a good roofing company before, and the color of your shingles is totally up to you, and what best matches your house.
So in today’s blog we’re going to be going over the top roofing brands in the U.S!
Let’s get started!
GAF is the biggest name on the roofing market, and one of the industry’s leading brands.
The roofing side of the company was founded as The Standard Paint Company in 1886, and got involved in roofing in 1892, creating RU-BER-OID asphalt roofing rolls. In 1912, they began manufacturing asphalt shingles that were pretty close to how we know them today. Those became so popular, the company rebranded to The RUBEROID Co. and began focusing its energy on producing those shingles.
The company became an innovator in the roofing space, creating interlocking shingles, adding a mix of granules that are still used today, and creating the first architectural style of shingle, the Timberline, in 1967, the same year the company merged with GAF, which was primarily a photographic film company at the time, and kept the GAF name.
Today, their most popular shingle is the Timberline HDZ, an upgraded version of the 1967 Timberline that has high-definition granules and algae protection. GAF claims the Timberline HDZ to be the best-selling asphalt shingle in North America, but also offers three-tab and luxury lines of asphalt shingles.
GAF offers a certification program to contractors that use their product, that allows for contractors to set themselves apart from competition, and show consumers that they have GAF’s backing.
This company, the second oldest on the list, was founded in 1904 as the General Roofing Manufacturing Company, and had the slogan “Quality made certain, Satisfaction Guaranteed.” From that slogan, the Certain-Teed name was born, and officially adopted in 1917.
Though it started as an asphalt shingle manufacturer, and continued to produce and grow as one, over the years, CertainTeed became a general building manufacturer, and now sells roofing, solar, siding, insulation, and wood building products. As far as their roof shingle offerings, they have a full range of asphalt shingles, but their most popular is the Landmark architectural shingles.
Now, CertainTeed is a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, a global manufacturing company, and has its headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania. A major part of their stated mission is to become a producer of environmentally and socially sustainable roofing and building products.
CertainTeed also has its own certification program, challenging roofing companies to earn their ShingleMaster status.
Owens Corning has one of the more interesting company histories, getting their start as two glass manufacturing companies, Owens Bottle Machine Company, and Corning Glass Works. Owens, a company that thrived on producing bottles used for alcohol sales, had to get creative to survive the prohibition era. As such, they managed to figure out how to use glass fibers to create mineral wool insulation. To help refine their discoveries, they began partnering with Corning in 1935, eventually leading to a merger in 1938, becoming the Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation.
Insulation was their main game for the first few decades, until they got their start in roofing by producing shingles, and improving them by subbing out the predominant paper base for a fiberglass mat. This strengthened the shingle greatly, and made them much more fire resistant, so they gained a firm foothold in the roofing market as a result.
Now they have manufacturing facilities all across the globe, and offers all kinds of asphalt shingles, with the most popular being their Duration architectural shingle line.
IKO got its start in 1951 in Ontario, Canada. Initially the company made building paper, and expanded to asphalt roofing shingles in 1954. It grew quickly throughout eastern Canada, and IKO made its U.S. debut in 1979. The company prides itself on continually improving their facilities by updating equipment, and refining their processes to maximize productivity and reduce waste.
Since then, they have become one of the largest roofing companies in the world, exporting roofing products to 96 different countries. Some of those products include their Marathon Plus AR three-tab shingles, and the most popular Nordic architectural line. IKO is known for being a lower-priced alternative to other roofing manufacturers, and had been considered lower quality, but they have improved in recent years. They also are the only manufacturer to offer three-tab shingles that have algae-resistant granules, which most manufacturers reserve for their architectural shingle lines.
Atlas is the youngest company we’re talking about today, as they were founded in Meridian, Mississippi in 1982. Though they haven’t been around as long, they have become one of the go-to manufacturers of asphalt shingles throughout the country.
Atlas offers a few different lines of shingles, including their most popular Pinnacle Pristine architectural shingle line.
The company sells a wide range of colors, and textures for their shingles, with architectural shingles that offer a slate look, as well as the more common wood shake look.
These companies here are the top names in the roofing manufacturing business. Each has their own qualities, and each roofing contractor has their own brand that they prefer using.
If you’re feeling like you want to learn some more about the shingles these manufacturers produce, check out our blog on the Best Asphalt Shingles of 2022!
On Tops Roofing has been replacing and repairing asphalt shingle roofs in the Raleigh NC area since 1991! Whatever your roofing project will require, we’ve got the experience to get it done right!