Asphalt shingles are America’s most popular roof. Stats vary according to the enthusiasm and bias of the reporter, but asphalt shingles make up anywhere from 57% to 80% of home roofs in the USA.
But what about a shed roof? The options can be a bit bewildering. We’ve helped thousands understand how to make these kinds of decisions. It’s our delight to put over 40 years of roofing expertise at your service to help you make smart buying decisions.
Skim this post
- Advantages of Shingles for Storage Sheds
- Disadvantages of Shingles for Storage Sheds
- What do you need?
PROS: Advantages of Asphalt Shingles
- Appearance. If you like a domesticated look, shingles often have a more “residential” appearance than metal. Frankly, a good quality shingle can look really sharp.
- Matching. Some people want their shed roof to match their house roof. Often, that means shingles.
- Choice of styles. Shingles come in two basic styles: 1) architectural, or 3-D; and 2) 3-tab. Architectural shingles have more material, are heavier, and will last a lot longer than an equivalent 3-tab. Architectural shingles also look a lot more classy than 3-tabs do. But 3-tabs cost less than architectural shingles.
- Lower cost. Shingles have a lower initial cost. (Hint: at Ulrich Lifestyle, architectural shingles are standard on all sheds, and are included in the price of a building. A metal roof is an upgrade.)
- Easy to repair. If they get damaged, shingles are considerably easier to repair than metal. Granted, they also get damaged more easily. But then, replacing a few shingles is relatively simple. (But, you may have a hard time getting the repair to match perfectly.)
- Easy to install. If you are a DIY sort of person, you may just decide you can replace your shingle shed roof yourself.
CONS: Disadvantages of Asphalt Shingles
- Longevity. We all want to know how long our roof is going to last. That’s really hard to guess with any precision. For example, a low quality shingle in hot sun won’t last nearly as well. But for a rough guess–plan that an average shingle shed roof may last 10-15 years. (Hint: Shingle warranties may not give you an accurate picture of how long they will actually last.)
- Wind. Shingles are more prone to damage from high winds. The wind catches them and flips them up, breaking them. A high quality shingle, however, is quite resistant to wind.
- Sun and heat. Hot sun is really hard on shingles, making them become brittle and cracked.
- Temperature swings. Shingles don’t like fast temperature changes. In areas where the weather may swing from hot to chilly in one day, the expansion or contraction is hard on asphalt shingles.
- Environmentally unfriendly. Asphalt shingles are made of petroleum products. When they are worn out, most go straight to the landfill.
What matters to you for your shed roof?
For some, shingles require too much maintenance. What they want out of a shed is long life with low risk and minimal maintenance. They may opt for a metal roof. Others love the look of shingles, and figure that re-roofing a shed is an inexpensive, straight-forward job.
Once you figure out what you care most about in a shed, you’ll probably know whether or not a shingle roof is for you.
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