Explained: Dimensional Grade Shingles

It’s meat and potatoes time Knoxville! If you’re still with us, we’re assuming you’re either a glutton for punishment or our ideal customer!

Todays topic: Dimensional grade shingles. Polling roofers with “what’s the best shingle out there…” is the equivalent of talking politics around the thanksgiving table with your 20 year old poly-sci major and your 80 year old grandparents; nobody’s going to see eye-to-eye and someone’s feeling are getting hurt!

It is OUR opinion that Atlas has the best shingles in the market currently. We have a bunch of arguments to support our claim, but we’ll save those for another time. Today we’ll be talking about the advantages of dimensional grade shingles as a whole.

Superior wind resistance: The biggest improvement over its predecessor, dimensional grade shingle are marketed as being resistant to winds up to 130 mph with the proper installation methods. This is huge considering that 3 tab shingles are only rated to 60-70 mph.

Curb appeal: Let’s face it, dimensional grade shingles just look better! There’s not a roofing company around that’s going to hold up samples of a dimensional grade shingle and a 3 tab shingle and ask the customer “which do you like better…” because the answer is always the same.

Multiple layers: dimensional shingles go by a few different names; composition shingles, architectural shingles, laminate shingles, etc. The key takeaway, thicker is better! A thicker shingle provides more protection against weather, a better insulator, and a longer lifespan. If you’re looking for even more value consider either a class 3 or class for shingle. These shingles are “impact rated” and offer homeowners insurance savings. Over time, these savings can equal over half of your roof system purchase; imagine a roof that pays for itself over time!

Don’t hurt the messenger but…: Your homeowners insurance carrier has their eye on you! Recently Knoxville residents have been receiving letters from their insurance carriers threatening to cancel their policies if they didn’t have their roof system replaced. How on earth could they do this? It’s a shameful practice but certain carriers are paying to have “inspectors” drive by their clients houses: their main focus, to see what type of shingles they are insuring! The bean-counters in the basement have ran the numbers and have concluded that homeowners with 3 tab roof systems cost them money every time the wind blows!