Our Owens Corning Rep Milissa Westmeyer stopped by our office with a guest from the OC technical department. 

They told of all the product updates for 2012. There are a great deal of new, more vibrant, colors referred to as their "TruDefinition" shingles. 

Owens Corning also gave us a good look at their Durantion Shingles. In addition to being a great looking shingle there are some very benificial advances made with their SureNail techknology. In simple terms,  this is a shingle that is easier to install properly. (To the homeowner, our very large repair department is filled with work from other companies that have not installed things properly).

Owens Corning also offers go great enhanced warranties. These enhanced warranties can take the 10 year non-prorated warranty of a roof system from 10 years to 50. Special installation specifications are required including the use of an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor such as Bert Roofing Inc. 

To request a free estimate, you can call us at 214-321-9341 or fill out our online form.

Our GAF Territory Manager, Jo Ann Moreno, was at our office yesterday to talk about newly introduced GAF products.

The first was Monaco . Monaco is a Lifetime Designer shingle that has the beauty and sophistication of tile with the affordability of a composition shingle. 

The second product was the Timberline American Harvest . This addition to the Timberline series offers a new rich line of colors. It also is the wieght and thickness of the old 40 year product placing it between the Timberline HD and Timberline Ultra in terms of weight and thickness.

When most shingles moved to lifetime warranties (all of which are very limited without a systems warranty) GAF and most other manufacturers eliminated the old 40 year products. The problem created was what to use on insurance replacement jobs when the old shingle was a 40 year when no great replacement shingle exist. Many bad contractors sold homeowners new lower quality Lifetime products that were a lower weight. This new American Harvest product solves that problem.

Bert Roofing Inc. is a GAF Certified Contractor.

Recent news has told us that gas prices have risen 13 cents already this year. It is expected that gas will be above the $4.00 mark soon in LA and New York. Some projections have gas in our area at $4.50 by Memorial Day. I hope this is not the case, but we all have little control over this.

What most people do not know is that the largest two cost components to shingles are asphalt and transportation cost. Both of these are directly tied to petroleum. In 2008 the wholesale price of shingles doubled from the start of the year to the end as gas went from $2.50 to $4.00 a gallon.

A little over a year ago almost all the major shingle manufacturers changed their warranties on almost all their product lines to Lifetime. The Warranties had been 30, 40, and 50 years in legnth with the shingle getting significantly heavier and thicker as that warranty became longer. Today almost all these very different products have the same Lifetime warranty.

The real problem comes with insurance claims. Weight and thickness is a more appropriate measure of what is on your exisitng roof. Since all products have become "Lifetime" we have see the vast majority of old 50 year shingles (know in insurance lingo as "Delux Laminated" written up as 40 year (call Laminated High Grade) now

When your have an insurance claim, it is very important that you have a Contractor that knows the products and does not simply ask you to hand over the adjuster's estimate.

GAF Announces for 2012 it's "Roofs for Troops" program.

For 2012, any Active Military, Verteran, or Retiree may be eligible for a $300.00 rebate from GAF on the purchase of a "GAF Lifetime Roofing System!"

There are some limitaions and restrictions which can be found on the GAF web site here

http://www.gaf.com/Roofing/Residential/Promotions/12_01_01-Roofs-For-Troops/Roofs-For-Troops.aspx

Bert Roofing Inc. is a GAF Preferred Contractor. This rebate is available only when a GAF approved installer, like Bert Roofing Inc., is used.