Impact resistant Shingles

I live and work in Oklahoma where hail, high winds and rain blow severely.. In the last 2 years hail, tornadoes etc. Have come through and in several cases hit the same neighborhoods 2-3 times and subsequently have been re-roofed in many cases the same amount of times. Note: many with minor damage that didn't warrant replacement! I read on this site a 30% discount on wind and impact resistant shingles from major insurance carriers?? I haven't experienced this, as a matter of fact the average is 8-11%. According to averages in Oklahoma the average roof (residential) lasts about 8 years before a storm damages it and needs a possible replacement. A major problem is contractors typically charge almost double for the impact/wind resistant shingles when in fact cost about 35.00 more per square, so with this in mind the incentive to use these products is a Moog point! Using a 15% savings at 35.00 per square ex: 40 square roof= 1360.00 additionally. Insurance premiums average about 1000.00 per year on a 2200 square foot home. At 15% or 150.00 per year savings do the Math. If insurance companies would wise and pay the difference for the impact and wind resistant shingles as an incentive, literally tons of roofing material wasted annually and land fills filled with marginally damaged material could easily be avoided. In addition the Carnival scamming storm chasers would be SOL !!

I think ever region has different discounts for impact rated shingles. If you can get over the look of, Atlas Storm Master Slate. It’s a Lifetime Shingle, 110 MPH wind, Impact 4 rating, and about the same cost as a 30 year Timberline.

I'm not sure that impact resistant shingles are going to rid us of the Carnival scamming storm chasers as you put it. I have seen them perform just as poorly, against hail as any other. Thats why they are called impact resistant not hail resistant or proof. Droping a 2" ball bearing on a shingle from 2' is not the same as a piece of ice, with jagged edges, the size of a baseball, being driven by 100mph winds and falling miles to the earth. Not sure you can simulate that.

But we still install a few of them, and in the storms with minor damage they seem to perform better, but the fact that the insurance company's don't pay to replace them, is not due to lack of damage they seem to have a predetermined notion that the roof is not damaged due to the fact they are impact resistant. You also sign a appearance allowance to get the discount. Which means the nasty baseball size dents on your metal roof are not cover becouse it still performs.

I quote a State Farm Executive at the national in New Orleans a few years back. “We have had 4 hail storms in north Dallas with baseball size hail, since we have started the impact shingle program. We have yet to replace one roof that’s in our impact program.” He did not say that they where not damaged just they did not pay for them. I kinda found that funny.