Which roofing contractor should I chose

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I have narrowed my choice between 2 roofing contractors to replace my asphalt shingled roof and I'm trying to decide which to hire. Below is the comparison:
*Both Contractors are well known highly reputable family-owned icons with equal number of years of service in the community.

* Contractor #1 is offering Owen Corning Duration shingles with 10-year installation warranty and a limited lifetime O/C warranty on the shingles for $10,950.00.

* Contractor #2 is offering the same shingles with a lifetime of shingle installation warranty and an O/C upgraded 50-year warranty on the shingles for $11,440.00.

I have read that extended warranties usually make money for the contractor rather than save money for the customer and Owens Corning, like most manufacturers, will claim a problem to be an installation problem rather than a product problem. So the articles recommend hiring a reputable contractor that offers at least a 10-year installation warranty and pass on paying extra on extended product warranties. Since both of these warranties only cover the installation and defects in the product and have nothing to do with damages due to weather, storms etc. Should I go with contractor #1 or #2. THANKS.

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@Harknow,

Harknow wrote:

*Both Contractors are well known highly reputable family-owned icons with equal number of years of service in the community.

Then go with the cheaper bid. If this was between a company passing through doing work after a major storm, I'd stay "stay local" but that's not the case here. Save the $500.

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The cheaper bid in my opinion.

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@Harknow,

Some things to consider

How long do you plan to live in your house
How long does a typical roof of this type last knowing the wear and tear due to weather.

If either of these are less than 10 years the answer is easy.

I doubt too that the 50 year warranty makes sense as normal wear and tear would more than likely be much.less than 50 years so this warranty life seems excessive with little or no benefit. I vote lower too.

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Thanks, folks, for your input. Your unanimous answers are the direction I was leaning but wanted to know if I was thinking correctly. I just turned 70 and plan to live in the house another 10 years at the most. I also figured that with the shortest installation warranty being 10 years, if the installation gets the roof through 10 years, the installation should get it through many more.
Thanks again!

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@Harknow,

I was a roofer at one time. You will know for certain how good the installation was by about five years.

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@Harknow,

For me it would come down to who can start work first. Where I live, roofers are very busy and I would have to wait weeks or months for them to schedule my house. What I did was to do the roofing work myself, it was beyond just removing the old roof and replacing with new shingles. I had to remove termite eaten lumber and add extra reinforcement joists and frame to assure a sturdy roof. The work took me a few months in mostly dry weather and my after work time. My cost was roughly about $9K. The work is not for just anybody though, I had to carry tons of material on my sedan car and made many trips to the hardware stores. Those asphalt shingles are heavy.

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@Harknow,

What I know is: a 50 yr is a joke, and a 10 yr is good only with a reputable company.

I never cared much for Corning, preferring: Certainteed - https://www.certainteed.com/ , but that's just me.

I also prefer hand nailing as opposed to a staple gun installation. I admit to a preference to old school roofing and doing diagonal runs with snap lines every four courses to better keep the shingle keys from 'running' and the edge line square and straight vs going straight up in sections.

Most of the 'problems' will not be the shingles, past tab seals failing or badly located roofing nails, the problems will show up in valleys, flashing, improperly installed drip edge. In the end the warranty on shingles hardly ever get used, but workman ship will be the mother of leaks.

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