How Long Does a Roof Last in Michigan?

The short answer for Livingston County: an architectural asphalt shingle roof installed correctly lasts about 22 to 28 years here, a builder-grade three-tab roof about 15 to 20, and the number is lower than the packaging suggests because of our weather, not because the shingles are bad. Here is what actually decides it on a Howell, Brighton or Hartland home.

Why Michigan roofs age faster than the warranty brochure

Shingle manufacturers rate their products for a "limited lifetime," and in a mild climate a good architectural shingle can approach that. Michigan is not a mild climate. Howell crosses the freezing line roughly 92 days a year, which means the roof expands and contracts, thaws and refreezes, more than 90 times every winter. Summer roof-surface temperatures on a dark south-facing slope can pass 150 degrees. Add 60 to 80 mph wind events every year or two and the occasional hail core, and you have a roof that works harder in one Michigan year than a roof in Phoenix works in two.

What we see by roof type across Livingston County

• Three-tab asphalt (most 1990s subdivision originals): 15 to 20 years. These are the roofs coming off Lakeshore Pointe, Oak Pointe and the Genoa and Oceola Township subdivisions right now.
• Architectural (laminated) asphalt: 22 to 28 years when installed as a full system with ice and water barrier, proper ventilation and manufacturer nailing. Longer on a well-ventilated attic; shorter over a hot, sealed one.
• Owens Corning Duration with SureNail, installed as a Total Protection system: this is the roof we install most, and it carries a 50-year material warranty when we register it under the Platinum Protection program. Real-world service life in our climate is at the top of the architectural range.
• Standing seam metal: 40 to 60 years. Uncommon on subdivision homes here, more common on lake homes, barns and additions.
• Cedar shake: 20 to 30 years with maintenance, and increasingly rare in the county because of the upkeep.

The five things that shorten a roof's life here

• Attic ventilation that is out of balance. Blocked soffit intake or a ridge vent with nothing feeding it cooks the shingles from underneath in summer and builds ice dams in winter.
• Ice dams. Water forced up under the shingle courses at the eave saturates the deck and lifts the sealant strips.
• North-slope moss and tree cover. Wooded lots around Pinckney, Hamburg and the west side of Howell keep shingles damp long enough to grow moss, which holds water and pries up granules.
• Wind exposure. Homes on open water — Lake Chemung, Thompson Lake, the Chain of Lakes — see more sealant failures than homes in a wooded subdivision.
• The install itself. High nails, under-driven nails, reused flashing and a skipped starter course all show up as early failures around year 10 to 12.

How to know where your roof is on the curve

Age tells you most of it. If your house was built between 1995 and 2007 and still has the original roof, it is at or past the end of a first roof's life whether or not it is leaking. Beyond that, look for granules collecting in the gutters, shingles that no longer lie flat, sealant strips that do not hold a tab down, and repairs that keep happening in different places. Any of those means you are in the last few seasons.

What we do about it

We inspect for free, tell you honestly how many years the roof has left, and put it in writing. If it is a repair, we say so. If it is time, we replace it as a complete Owens Corning system, register the warranty in your name, and correct the ventilation so the next roof actually reaches the top of its range. Call (810) 588-3933 or use the form on this site.