Keep a Sample of Your Old Shingles Before the Tear-Off Starts

Before the crew lifts the first course of old shingles, you can ask for a small set of them to be kept. Those few pieces are the only physical record of what was on your house. Once the dumpster is loaded, the product, the color, the exposure and the wear are only as good as the photos and your memory. A labeled sample lets you, the roofer and anyone your insurer sends to the house look at the same thing.

What the sample shows

An old shingle tells you a lot in a few seconds. It shows whether the roof was a three-tab or a dimensional (laminated) product, the color and granule pattern, the tab width, and the exposure, which is the part of each shingle that shows once it is laid. It shows whether there was a single layer of underlayment or a second layer, and whether the sealant strip on the back still holds.

It also shows the wear. Granule loss is most visible on the lower courses and on the south and west slopes, where the sun does the most work. Cracking along the tab line and curl at the tab ends show up in a sample long before they show up from the ground. Freeze and thaw cycles in St. Louis are hard on that edge, and a sample from the eave course will often show it.

What a sample does not show by itself is the age of the roof. A shingle can look worn on a roof that is not old, and a roof that is old can have shingles that look fine on the slope that gets the least sun. Age comes from the install invoice, the permit file, or a dated contract. The shingle can support those records, but it cannot replace them.

Ask for the set before the first pry bar

Ask the crew, in writing, to set aside a few full shingles from each slope as the old roof comes off. Tear-off crews often pile everything into the bin by the end of the day, and a shingle that went in the bin cannot be pulled back out. Put the request in the same written scope you use for the rest of the job, so it is on the page and not just something someone said on the driveway.

Ask that each set be bagged or tagged with the slope it came from and where on the slope it was taken, such as north slope, bottom course at the eave. Take a photo of the bag next to the slope it belongs to. The bag and the photo should match, so anyone reading the file can connect the two without asking you.

Photograph the roof before the sample is cut

The sample is only as useful as the photos around it. Before the tear-off starts, photograph each slope from the ground and from the ladder if the crew allows it. Include a tape measure or another object of known size in at least one frame of each area you want to show. If a slope has a visible problem, such as a soft spot, a lifted tab, or a patch from an earlier repair, photograph that spot close up with the slope in the frame so the spot can be placed on the roof later.

Keep the originals as files as they came off your phone or camera. Do not crop or edit them, and do not send them as screenshots. The sample and the photos are one file, so keep them together from the first day.

Do not cut samples from a roof you still have

Some people want to pull a loose shingle off a roof that is still standing, to have a sample before the work is scheduled. That is a bad idea. Pulling shingles from a roof that is still in service can create new damage at the nail line, and an adjuster may ask about it when the file is read. If a piece needs to come off before the tear-off, let the crew remove it during a documented repair and log it the same way. Do not make the sample yourself with a pry bar on a Saturday.

Who holds the sample

The sample is yours. Missouri law (RSMo 407.725) bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating your insurance claim, and from saying anything about paying, waiving or covering your deductible. That bar is also why the sample belongs in your hands. Keys documents damage and puts a written scope with photos and measurements in your hands, and the sample goes into the same file. You keep it, and you bring it to any meeting with the insurer if the insurer asks to see the product.

If the insurer or an adjuster asks to keep the sample, decide that yourself and write down what was handed over and when. Ask for a receipt or an email that lists the pieces. A sample that leaves your hands without a list is hard to get back in the same condition.

When matching comes up

If the insurer raises matching, the sample is the first thing that gets compared. Missouri has no matching statute and no matching regulation for roofs. Whether a replacement shingle has to match the old color or profile turns on the wording of your policy, so read that wording before you decide what the sample is worth to you. The sample does not settle the question. It gives you and the adjuster the same product to look at while the question gets answered.

Keys installs Atlas and Malarkey shingles only. If your old roof was a different brand, write that down on the label as you know it, and say what the new roof will be. Do not guess the brand from the color. The wrapper is often gone, and a shingle that looks like another one can be made by a different company.

What to write on the label

• The slope and the course, such as north slope, bottom course at the eave
• The date the piece came off, which the crew should log on the job
• Your address, and the claim number once you have one
• Whether the shingle is three-tab or dimensional, if you can tell
• Any lot number, brand text or wrapper text still on the piece
• Whether the piece came from a hail-damaged area, a wind-lifted area or a general wear area

Write the label in pen or on a tag that will not fade. A label that was written on the day of tear-off is more useful than one written two weeks later from memory.

Keep it dry and out of the sun

Store the sample in a sealed bag, in a dry place indoors. A bag left on a porch through a St. Louis winter can soak through or grow mildew, and direct sun can dry out the asphalt and fade the granules over a season. Keep the sample in a closet, a basement shelf, or a drawer away from heat sources. Keep the photos of the sample in the same folder, and back up the folder once the tear-off is finished.

Questions to ask the crew

• Which slopes will you set samples from, and who bags them?
• Will each sample be logged in the photo file with its slope and course?
• Can I have the set before the dumpster is loaded at the end of the day?
• What happens to the samples if the job stops for weather before the new roof is down?

If you want the tear-off schedule confirmed so you can be on site when the samples come off, call Keys at (314) 220-2333. The crew cannot keep a sample for you once the bin is full, so the request should be settled before the first shingle comes off the roof.