Wherever you live in the country, you have probably noticed that extreme weather events are becoming more intense and more frequent. Roofs are no longer exposed only to the impact of temperature changes, harsh sunshine and normal wear and tear – they need to withstand hail storms coming with large ice balls, high winds carrying not only dust, but larger objects, such as branches and huge quantities of water coming down either in the form of torrential rain or as heavy snow. Standard roof shingles are not made to stand up to such extreme events, but fortunately, there is a great solution that is: impact resistant shingles. IR shingles do costs a bit more than standard varieties, but here are a few features that make these special shingles worth the investment:
- Superior impact resistance due to the special formula – IR shingles use a styrene-butadiene-styrene modified asphalt formula to achieve the very high, class 4 impact resistance. Each IR shingle undergoes UL 2218 impact testing before being released to vendors and only the items that resist a 2-inch ball being dropped from a height of 20 feet can make it to the shelves;
- IR shingles are resistant not only to impact – they can stand up to harsher winds and more weight than conventional shingles;
- Easy installation and maintenance – it is a good idea to hire professionals like Roof One to install your IR shingles, but the installation is usually quite quick and IR shingles have very low maintenance needs as well.