The most common residential roofing
material applied in the U.S. today is fiberglass
asphalt shingles. Since they were
introduced in the late 1970s, fiberglass
shingles have come to dominate the market,
accounting for nearly 90% of all shingles
installed today. In fact, the original
"organic felt" shingles are now hard to find
in many areas.
Evaluating the quality of organic shingles
has always been pretty straightforward:
In general, the heavier the shingle,
the longer it will last on the roof. Fiberglass
shingles, on the other hand, have a
different composition and cannot be easily
evaluated based on weight. This has made
it more complicated for builders to choose
a shingle. And recent reports of some
fiberglass shingles failing