# Repairing an organic shingle roof



## Pie in the Sky

What are your guys feelings on repairing an organic mat shingle roof? If you can find a similar fiberglass mat shingle, What are possible cons? This is assuming the shingles are flexible enough to repair. I have seen it done where it was barely noticable but Im owndering if anyone has had issues?


----------



## roofermann

It's been 15 years since I've seen organic shingles, unless they were the bottom layer of 2+ layer tear-off.


----------



## Pie in the Sky

I see them all the time!!!! The old ones are still good. Its the ones from the late 90s to mid 2000 that are no good. They took all the asphalt out of them. (clearly these arent repairable)


----------



## Billy Luttrell

Pie in the Sky said:


> I see them all the time!!!! The old ones are still good. Its the ones from the late 90s to mid 2000 that are no good. They took all the asphalt out of them. (clearly these arent repairable)



I dont know, I have had an insurance adjuster tell me we should be able to just silicone them back down..... :thumbup::whistling::laughing:


----------



## Grumpy

I have no problem repairing an organic with a fiberglass shingle. The only draw back I see is that the patched area is new where as the rest of the roof ages quicker. This really isn't a fiberglass vs organic issue however, just a new vs old issue. Alot of times the organic is so brittle you end up just moving the leak over to the area where you tied in the new to the old. 

When ever we do a repair regardless of organic to fiberglass, we always seal the existing shingles to the new shingles manually with polyurethane, or neoprene, or other approved sealant. 

I still see organics, but they aren't being offered anymore due to the picture you had shown. They simply didn't last longer than 15 years in the Chicago area. Lots of premature replacements. I hear organics are real common in Canada though because they are much easier to install in cold weather. 


Dustin you'd be surprised how many people would be asking me to repair that roof. LOL Billy's been there too!


----------



## Pie in the Sky

how old would you guess that roof is???


----------



## Pie in the Sky

heres the south side


----------



## Grumpy

10-12 years old, based on what I have seen in Chicago with organics. 

I wonder if there is enough ventilation on that roof too. Looks like a garage about 800 sqft? I'd expect to see at least one more mushroom assuming proper intake.


----------



## Pie in the Sky

Close.. 8 years old...

Its a house. Not sure if there was enough Ventilation or not but there were gable vents too....


----------



## LLL

That's a replacement - no repair possible don't waste your time repairing them. Send a shingle/claim to CT and the owner can get $600 toward a new roof.


----------



## Pie in the Sky

LLL Im not specifically asking about that roof, I was just posting a picture for everyone to laugh at... The real question was if you have 10 damaged shingles on an organic roof and they are flexible enough for a repair do you see any problem with using a similar Fiberglass shingle? Youd hand tab them all to make sure they stick...


----------



## LLL

Got ya - They are possible, its just the fact that once the CT shingles start turning you have a yr or maybe two and the section or roof will need replacement - we've noticed that they go down hill pretty quick.


----------



## Pie in the Sky

LLL - I look at organic shingles all the time that are in great shape! They Used to be good shingles, in fact I think the introduction of Fiberglass shingles Ruined The whole Asphalt shingle market.... The whole organic shingle failure didnt come along till Fiberglass hit the market.


----------



## roofermikeinc

*Miami Roofer Mike Sez...*

C'mon man! Shoot it! Bless it! THEN REPLACE IT!

Roofer Mike :wallbash:

www.roofermikeinc.com

 www.Facebook/Pages/RooferMikeInc.com


Like mine & I'll Like Yours...


----------



## Roofsafe

I've seen some organics last 15 years here on the west slope of Colorado, and they look good, but don't walk on them, I walked on one with the HO and it sounded like we were walking on potato chips, we only took a few steps and turned around and went down to his living room where he signed the contract for a complete tearoff. It was a nice job.

Organics are much thicker than fiberglass shingles, why would you want to take the time to match the thickness just to repair something that won't last much longer after you detab the shingle?


----------



## dougger222

I have a memo from Certainteed stating they don't recommend matching XT 25 or 30's with Sealdon 25's. This letter has worked for a couple adjusters but most comment on Haag's take on it that it's ok to put an XT fiberglass shingle on the same slope as a Sealdon organic shingle. The two shingles side by side will work of course but the XT's are much thinner than the Sealdons and a trained eye can spot the two different shingles pretty quickly.

Most insurance claims I work with the organic shingles with wind damage is they typically buy the slope with the wind damage. Finished one today were the insurance company not only bought the slopes with wind damage but ended up buying the whole front and the whole right side. The first adjuster bought two shingles!!! 

Truth be told if your really carefull you can replace a shingle on even the worst organic shingles. Did one once were I had to replace a third shingle for a warranty claim and basicly put the three shingles in a shoe box!


----------



## dougger222

Oh, I think the organic shingles became junk when they took the asbestis out of them. Been on 35 year old organic roofs that were in decent shape, good enough shape in fact told the homeowner they were good for a couple more years.

If the Sealdons with defects are less than 10 years old with the original owner there's about $74 a square in compensation. As of last November second owners were no longer able to file a claim with the class action unless they transfered the warranty at time of purchase from the roofs original owner.

Have had a harder time replacing shingles on laminate roofs that were less than 10 years old than replacing shingles on organic roofs over 10 years old. 

A few years ago told an adjuster I wanted a shingle to be sent to ITEL. He snapped a pic while I carefuly tried to pry one apart. When the shingle tore he said stop it's not repairable.


----------

