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Choosing a GAF Master EliteTM Roofing Contractor InspectAPedia®  -     Choosing a GAF Master EliteTM Roofing Contractor Roof shingle manufacturer certification programs for roofing contractors How to get the best roofing job on your home

This website discusses how to get the best roofing job. We give an example of a "bad" roofing contractor, discuss roofing contractor certifications such as the GAF Master Elite^TM roofing contractor certification program, and we give some simple tips on how to get a good roofing job. The photograph above shows a laminate-type roof shingle installed improperly on an irregular dome-shaped roof. (This was job was not done by a GAF Master Elite^TM or Other Certified Roofing Contractor.

The roofer who put these shingles in place probably lacked proper training - something which some roof contractor certification programs are trying to address. But don't assume that every "certified" roofer is one you want to do business with.

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The GAF Master Elite^TM roofing program and what it means to consumers

The following opinion based on both having worked as a roofing installer as well as having inspected more than 5,000 residential & commercial roofs for defects.

The GAF Master Elite^TM roofing contractor designation looks to me like a combination of a marketing program that recommends a specific GAF roof shingle product line and which features the requirement for some training by GAF. The training requirement is a great idea, but remember that there can certainly be fully competent roofers who can do a great job but who do not have that title, and a roofer who is NOT a GAF Master Elite^TM contractor may prefer to use a different and equally good or even better roofing product.

The GAF Master Elite^TM name sounds great. What does it actually mean?

• the roofing contractor is licensed [if your state requires licensing]
• the roofing contractor carries insurance [most likely as required by your state]
• the roofing contractor has a "proven reputation" [I consider this marketing language since the details of what this means are not specified]
• the roofer will recommend GAF's "Weather Stopper(R) 5-part roofing system - this roofing choice may offer a more extensive warranty than some other products. (This subtlety may mean that your roofer is specifically pushing GAF products which are easily available at local building supply stores like Home Depot or Loews rather than trekking to an independent building supplier where prices for competing products (Bird/Certainteed) may be a bit higher).
• the roofer has taken one or more training courses in roofing from GAF - this is potentially a valuable claim. Some people in construction have not even read the instructions on the package (of shingles in this case). Some roofing contractors are simply folks who own a pickup truck and a hammer, and who view construction more or less like making a sandwich - you go to the store, buy peanut butter, and come to the job and spread the peanut butter (in this case building materials or shingles) over the surface of the building. It's "on there" by hook or crook, with no effort to apply the materials according to the best practices of the industry or according to the specifications of the manufacturer.

Shingle quality and roofing warranties

GAF and all of the other shingle manufacturers have occasional problems with products due to the variations during manufacture even when the shingle specifications are stable. But in the case of thermal splitting, all of the manufacturers have understood the problem and changed their shingle specifications accordingly. we have read that Bird/CertainTeed shingles typically performed better in industry standard tests for strength and durability than the GAF products performed by an independent laboratory.

While the conventional 3-tab roofing shingles are less costly than the "architectural shingles" that do not have those cutouts between the shingle tabs, laminated architectural shingles, by eliminating the cutout between the tabs, provide a continuous double layer of roofing material over the entire roof and in that regard might be expected to have a better life (all other conditions of roof slope, sun exposure, ventilation, surface deck preparation, proper nailing, shingle color, etc. being the same).

What's the Value of Roof Shingle Warranties

I consider most roofing warranties close to worthless. The typical roof shingle warranty is for the PRODUCT not the INSTALLATION. This means that IF your roof wears out and leaks from a product defect before the end of the warranty period, the manufacturer will pay a pro-rated portion of the original product cost.

If your shingles had a 20 year warranty and they fail in the 19th year, you can expect to collect 1/20th of the cost of the shingles, NOT the cost of the roof replacement. Since most of the cost of a roof on a home is wrapped up in the labor and overhead and not the cost of the actual shingle product, unless the warranty covered the labor, it's pretty much worthless.

What remains then is to see if GAF has a better or worse reputation than its competitors in responding to warranty claims. That's a question we are monitoring But we don't currently have an answer for it.

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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

ROOFING INSPECTION & REPAIR
CERTIFICATIONS for ROOFING CONTRACTORS
  Questions and Answers about GAF Master Elite
  Anecdote of a "Bad" Roofing Contractor
  The GAF Master Elite^TM roofing program
  How to Get the Best Roofing Job
CHOOSING A ROOFING CONTRACTOR
  STEP 1: FINDING A ROOFER
  STEP 2: CHOOSING A ROOFING CONTRACTOR
  STEP 3: CHOOSING ROOF MATERIAL
  STEP 4: NEGOTIATE ROOFING CONTRACT
  STEP 5: LETTING THE ROOFER ROOF
ASBESTOS CEMENT ROOFING
ASPHALT ROOF SHINGLES

• GAF Corporation: www.gaf.com/General/GAFintro_MAIN.asp is the company's website.
• GAF Corporation history and derivation of the GAF name: www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/GAF-Corporation-Company-History.html you can read the history of the company and see the derivation of its name - General Analine and Film - though we doubt it's important in understanding modern roofing materials.
• Consumers shopping for a roofing contractor should not be confused between marketing promise and contractor competence in any building field.

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