After 30 years in this business, we’ve installed just about every shingle brand on the market. Some were fine. Some were not. And a few taught us lessons the hard way — not us personally, but the homeowners who trusted the contractor who sold them on whatever was cheapest or most convenient that week.
Here’s where I’ve landed: we use CertainTeed. Almost exclusively. And I want to explain why, because I think homeowners deserve to understand what they’re actually buying when they sign a roofing contract.
Not All Shingles Are the Same, Even When They Look Like They Are
Walk into any roofing supply house and you’ll find shingles from a dozen different manufacturers. They’ll all have names that sound durable — words like “Pinnacle” or “Armor” or “Summit.” They’ll all come in similar color palettes. From the ground, once they’re on your roof, you probably couldn’t tell them apart.
But here’s the thing: you won’t find out what you actually bought until something goes wrong. And by then, you’re at the mercy of a warranty you never read, filed by a contractor who may or may not still be in business.
We’ve used a lot of brands over the years. CertainTeed has given us the fewest manufacturer warranty issues by a wide margin. That’s not a marketing talking point — that’s 30 years of keeping records.
What a “Lifetime Warranty” Actually Means
This is where I need you to pay close attention, because the roofing industry has gotten very good at making warranties sound better than they are.
Almost every shingle manufacturer offers a “lifetime warranty.” It’s become a standard selling point, which means it’s become nearly meaningless on its own. What you have to ask is: lifetime under what conditions?
A lot of those warranties are heavily prorated after the first 10 years. What that means in practice: if your shingles fail in year 15, the manufacturer calculates how much “life” you already got out of the product, and they only cover the remaining percentage. By the time most homeowners actually need to make a claim, the warranty pays out almost nothing.
Real talk: We had a customer call us after her shingles — installed by someone else — started splitting apart nine years in. We helped her file the warranty claim. She got back almost nothing. The shingles had technically “lasted” long enough that the manufacturer considered most of the warranty used up. She had to pay for most of a new roof out of pocket.
CertainTeed’s warranty doesn’t work that way. Their SureStart coverage is non-prorated — meaning if there’s a manufacturing defect, they cover 100% of materials and labor, not a sliding-scale percentage based on how old your roof is.
Why the Contractor You Choose Changes What Warranty You Can Get
Here’s something most homeowners don’t know: the warranty you’re eligible for depends partly on who installs your roof.
CertainTeed has a certification program for contractors. The top level is called SELECT ShingleMaster — and it’s not something you get by filling out a form. It requires testing, crew training requirements, and a track record of quality installations. Atlantic Roofing & Construction is a certified SELECT ShingleMaster contractor, which means our customers have access to CertainTeed’s best warranty tier: the SureStart PLUS 5-Star Warranty.
That warranty covers materials for 50 years and workmanship for 25 years — and the workmanship portion is backed directly by CertainTeed, not just by us. Most non-certified contractors can only offer 1 to 5 years of workmanship coverage, if they offer any at all. The difference between those two numbers is not small.
There’s also a transferability feature worth knowing about: if you sell your home within the first 15 years, the warranty transfers to the new owner. In a market where buyers are scrutinizing every expense, that’s a genuine selling point.
The Integrity Roof System vs. Just Buying Shingles
We install CertainTeed’s Landmark shingle on most projects — it’s their core residential product, and it’s excellent. But if you want to go a step further, there’s what CertainTeed calls the Integrity Roof System.
The difference is this: a shingle is one component of your roof. The Integrity Roof System is every component, all CertainTeed — the underlayment, the ventilation, the starter strips, the hip and ridge caps, all of it. When every layer is from the same manufacturer and installed by a certified contractor, the whole system qualifies for the full warranty coverage. Mix and match products from different manufacturers, and you create gaps — in performance and in warranty coverage.
Think of it this way: you wouldn’t put a high-performance engine in a car and then use generic parts for everything else and expect it to run the same.
On Price
I’ll be direct about this. CertainTeed is not always the cheapest option. If you’re getting quotes and one of them is significantly lower, there’s usually a reason — different materials, thinner shingles, a shorter warranty, a crew that doesn’t carry the same certifications.
I tell every homeowner who pushes back on price the same thing: the most expensive roof is the one you have to buy twice. A cheaper roof that fails in 12 years costs you more than a quality roof that lasts 30. The math isn’t complicated.
Pro tip: Before you sign any roofing contract, ask for the manufacturer warranty document — not a summary, the actual document. Read what happens after year 10. That’s where most warranties quietly change the terms.
You’re making a decision that affects your home for the next two to three decades. The shingle brand matters. The contractor you choose matters. Ask questions until you feel confident in both.