Walk through any neighborhood in Stratham, Bedford, or Wolfeboro and look up. The roofs you’re seeing are probably wearing one of three brands — GAF, Owens Corning, or CertainTeed. Together they own roughly 75% of the residential asphalt shingle market in the Northeast. So when a homeowner asks us “which brand should I put on my house?” we get it. It feels like a big decision.

Here’s the honest answer we give every time: the brand matters less than the installation. We’ve torn off 20-year-old Timberlines that looked like they had another decade in them, and we’ve torn off 8-year-old Landmark roofs that failed because nobody put down ice and water shield in the valleys. Still — there are real differences between these three brands. Different warranty fine print, different wind-driven rain performance, different nailing zones, different prices. This is the breakdown we wish more homeowners had before they sat down with a contractor.

The Big Three: A Side-by-Side Comparison

Before we dig into each brand, here’s the snapshot. These are the flagship architectural lines from each manufacturer — the products you’ll see quoted on 90% of NH residential jobs.

A “square” is roofer-speak for 100 square feet of roof — about three bundles. So the price gap between the most expensive and cheapest option on a typical 25-square Bedford colonial is maybe $300–$700. On a $25,000 roof replacement, that’s noise.

GAF Timberline HDZ: The Market Leader

GAF has the marketing budget and the contractor network. About 1 in 4 contractors in New Hampshire are GAF-certified at some level, which is a real advantage when you’re trying to verify credentials. Timberline HDZ replaced the older HD line a few years back, and the LayerLock nailing strip is the headline change. The wider zone matters more than you’d think — a roofer working a steep 12/12 pitch in January isn’t always going to thread the needle on a narrow nailing strip.

What we like: LayerLock is genuinely useful. The shingle comes in a deep color palette — Charcoal, Pewter Gray, Weathered Wood, and Barkwood being the ones we install most in NH. StainGuard Plus algae protection is rated for 25 years, which is longer than the competitors. And the Master Elite credential is the strictest of the Big Three to obtain.

What we’d flag: Timberline HDZ is slightly lighter than Duration or Landmark in mat weight. Not catastrophic — it still meets ASTM D3462 — but on exposed Lakes Region or Seacoast roofs with heavy wind-driven rain we sometimes prefer the SureNail reinforcement. Also: the Golden Pledge warranty is the most expensive of the enhanced options, which a contractor will pass to you in pricing.

Owens Corning Duration: Our Most-Installed Shingle

We’re an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor, so call this section biased if you want — but we earned the preference by installing the product and watching how it performs over 10, 15, and 20 years on NH homes. The SureNail strip is the difference. It’s a real engineered feature, not marketing fluff. When wind gets under a shingle and tries to pull the nail through, the woven fabric distributes the load. We’ve inspected Duration roofs that survived the 2018 nor’easter winds in Hampton without a single shingle loss when other roofs on the same street were strewn across yards.

What we like: The SureNail strip. The TruDefinition color palette — Driftwood, Onyx Black, Sand Castle, Estate Gray — looks especially good on traditional New England architecture. And the Platinum Preferred enhanced warranty includes coverage for workmanship for the lifetime of the home for the original owner, which is rare.

What we’d flag: StreakGuard algae resistance is only rated for 10 years, half of GAF’s. If you’ve got a heavily shaded lot in the Lakes Region or a north-facing slope under tall pines, you’ll see algae streaking sooner with Duration than with a Timberline HDZ — and you’ll need to plan for soft-wash roof cleaning around year 10–12.

CertainTeed Landmark: The Quiet Workhorse

Landmark doesn’t get as much marketing love as the other two, but it’s a quality shingle. The NailTrak line is a more basic approach than LayerLock or SureNail — just a visible reference for the installer — but it works fine when the crew knows what they’re doing. CertainTeed runs a tighter contractor credentialing program than people realize. The SELECT ShingleMaster designation requires both the company and a master applicator on the crew to be credentialed, which is more rigorous than a lot of homeowners assume.

What we like: Pricing tends to come in a few dollars per square below GAF and OC. The Max Def color palette has some genuinely distinctive options — Burnt Sienna and Heather Blend are colors you don’t see on every other house. And CertainTeed makes a luxury line — Presidential Shake — that’s the closest asphalt comes to looking like real cedar shake.

What we’d flag: CertainTeed’s contractor network in southern NH is thinner than GAF’s. If your roof needs warranty service in 12 years and the original installer is out of business, finding another SELECT-credentialed CertainTeed contractor in your area is harder than finding a GAF Master Elite. Also: the SureStart PLUS warranty has more exclusions than Golden Pledge or Platinum — read the fine print.

What About the Other Brands?

The Big Three aren’t the only shingles out there. Here’s the rundown on the brands you’ll see quoted from time to time in NH.

Malarkey

A strong fourth option — sometimes a better choice than any of the Big Three for our climate. Malarkey uses polymer-modified asphalt (think tougher, more flexible in cold weather) which matters when you’ve got a January morning at 5°F and a shingle has to flex without cracking. Their Vista line is value-tier, Legacy is comparable to Duration. Distribution in NH is good through ABC Supply and Beacon. If a contractor quotes Malarkey Legacy, take it seriously.

IKO

Budget tier. IKO Cambridge is the line you’ll see on entry-level builder spec homes. We’ve replaced enough 12-15 year old IKO Cambridge roofs to be cautious. The shingle isn’t inherently bad, but the savings vs. a Big Three architectural shingle is small — usually $300–$600 on a full job — and the long-term track record is shakier. If price is the dealbreaker, fine. Otherwise spend the extra $400.

Atlas

Atlas Pinnacle Pristine is a credible architectural shingle with Scotchgard Algae Resistant Protection — a 25-year algae warranty matching GAF. Their dealer network in NH is small. If you find a contractor who specializes in Atlas, the product is fine. If they’re proposing it because they got a deal on a pallet, ask why they aren’t quoting Duration or Timberline.

Tamko Heritage

Solid mid-tier brand with a regional Southern footprint. Less common in NH. If you’re considering Tamko, ask the contractor why — usually it’s a pricing play.

Luxury Asphalt: Worth the Upgrade?

Presidential Shake is the standout in the luxury asphalt category. The shingle is genuinely heavier — closer to 480 lbs/sq vs. 240 for standard architectural — with a randomized tab pattern that mimics hand-split cedar. We installed Presidential on a 1908 Stratham farmhouse last fall where the homeowner needed the cedar-shake look but didn’t want the maintenance. It was the right call.

GAF Camelot II is a smaller, more refined dimensional pattern — better fit for a Cape Cod or center-chimney colonial. Owens Corning Berkshire has the Tudor-style hex pattern that looks intentional on the right architecture and weird on the wrong one. If you’re considering luxury asphalt, the brand matters less than picking the right pattern for your house.

NH Regional Conditions: What Actually Matters by Area

Where your house sits in New England determines which shingle features matter most. Here’s how we think about brand selection by region.

The Warranty Question — What Actually Gets Covered

Every brand markets a “limited lifetime” warranty. Every brand defines “lifetime” differently. Here’s what’s real.

Manufacturing defect coverage — All three brands cover defects in the shingle itself for the lifetime of the original owner (transferable to a second owner with reduced coverage). In practice, manufacturing defects are rare. We’ve filed maybe four manufacturer defect claims in fifteen years.

SureStart / smart-choice / non-prorated period — The first 10 years of the warranty are typically non-prorated, meaning if there’s a defect the manufacturer covers full replacement materials. After year 10, coverage prorates aggressively. By year 25, the manufacturer might cover 20% of materials cost.

Enhanced workmanship coverage — This is what actually matters. GAF Golden Pledge covers workmanship for 25 years when installed by a Master Elite contractor using the full GAF system. Owens Corning Platinum covers workmanship for the lifetime of the home for the original owner. CertainTeed SureStart PLUS covers workmanship for 25 years with a SELECT ShingleMaster install. You can only get these enhanced coverages if a credentialed contractor installs the entire system — shingles, underlayment, ice and water shield, starter, ridge cap, and ventilation — all from the same manufacturer.

Bottom line: ask the contractor what enhanced warranty you’ll receive and demand to see the registration paperwork after install. If they can’t register your roof for the enhanced warranty, you didn’t get the enhanced warranty.

What We Actually Install — And Why

For a typical NH home — 2,200 to 3,000 sq ft, mid-range budget, owner planning to stay 10+ years — we install Owens Corning Duration in TruDefinition Driftwood or Onyx Black about 70% of the time. The SureNail performance in our climate is the deciding factor. Honest second choice is GAF Timberline HDZ in Charcoal or Pewter Gray, especially for clients who want the longer algae warranty or who are buying a Master Elite Golden Pledge.

For high-end Lakes Region or historic district work, Presidential Shake is the call. For budget-conscious replacements on rental properties or non-primary homes, Malarkey Legacy is a serious value.

What we don’t install: IKO Cambridge on a primary residence. The price gap doesn’t justify the long-term risk.