Algae-Resistant Shingles
 

We're going to get a new roof for our rental house. We'll sell this house in a few years. Is it worth getting algae-resistant shingles? Houses in our area (DC) get those black streaks and we want the roof to look good.

Every decent shingle has the algae resistance feature built into it in some capacity.

It is just a question as to whether or not manufacturer "x" really markets it or it is just an afterthought.

Don't get pulled into that marketing aspect and stick with the better overall shingle.

Are you going dimensional or 3 tab?

I don't know of any shingles in my market that are not AR's.

+1.,.,..

The black streaks is not algae, it is the zinc embedded in them, to help keep algae from taking hold.

almost all shingles from gaf (http://www.gaf.com/), owens corning (http://www.owenscorning.com/), and atlas roofing (http://www.atlasroofing.com/) offer algae-resistance, but you should know that atlas roofing's scotchgard shingles (http://www.atlasroofing.com/gene...) by far have the best algae resistance on the market with durability that matches other top of the line shingles. i have been working with a roofing crew for a few months now and the sales guys say its an instant sale once they explain these shingles to homeowners. from what i've heard and read they have twice as much copper as regular algae resistant shingles, have a lifetime guarantee to prevent the black algae streaks on the roof (harmless but ugly) that allow the growth of moss (ugly and roof damaging). also i heard insurance companies have just recently began forcing homeowners to clean the algae off of their roofs or have their policy dropped, so its a good idea to protect your investment and pick a shingle that needs the least amount of maintenance throughout its lifetime.

Atlas has the best...?

Please provide some tangible data to that effect besides the 3M labeling.

They all use the same stuff in large part, however, Atlas just paid the premium for the 3M marketing tag in this case.