Built for Florida Hurricanes. Proven by Our Field Experience.
At Harbor Roofing, everything we believe about roofing in Florida comes from our real experience on homes that went through Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Milton. After these storms, we saw firsthand what actually matters in a roofing system:
The seal is what protects a roof in Florida.
If the seal breaks, the wind gets under the shingles, lifts them, creases them, and eventually destroys the entire roof.
Our Real Experience After the Hurricanes
We inspected many homes with newer roofs using well-known shingle brands. Even though those roofs were fairly new, we could easily lift shingles with our fingers. That meant the wind had already begun to get underneath. Once that starts, debris intrusion continues to compromise the seal and the roof is on its way to failure.
We then inspected the GAF roofs we installed during those same years — and those roofs did not have wind-broken seals. We could not lift the shingles on those GAF roofs the same way we could on other brands. That strong seal is the difference.
Some brands focus on a strong pull test — but the pull test doesn’t matter if the seal fails first. Nobody is standing on your roof pulling shingles straight up. The wind is working underneath, and if the seal holds, the wind can’t take the roof.
Underlayment Strength Matters Too
We prefer to install complete roofing systems because this allows us to offer GAF’s Silver Pledge Warranty or Golden Pledge Warranty, not just a shingle-only warranty.
We install GAF StormGuard® peel-and-stick underlayment on most of our roofing systems. Other manufacturers simply do not have a peel-and-stick underlayment that is as strong as StormGuard. If we used their shingles:
- We would be forced to install a weaker underlayment just to call it a “complete system”
- Or we could install a stronger underlayment from a different manufacturer, but that would lead to a mix-matched roof that may compromise the warranty
A complete GAF roofing system means:
- Every component is manufactured by GAF
- We can qualify homeowners for GAF’s strongest warranties
- The roof is built to be sealed and protected the right way for Florida
Our Warranty Experience With GAF
We’ve had excellent experience with GAF backing us, and thus allowing us to back our homeowners — even when they weren’t required to.
We once installed a new roof where the shingle colors looked inconsistent at first. This is perfectly normal on a brand-new roof because oils and factory residue simply need time to weather out. However, the homeowner wasn’t satisfied. Even though there was no product defect and GAF was not required to do anything, they stepped up and covered half the cost of the roof so we could take care of the customer.
Three months later, after natural weathering, the color variation disappeared — but GAF still backed us.
That kind of support matters. A warranty is only as good as the company that stands behind it when a homeowner needs help — not just on installation day, but months or years later.
GAF Timberline HDZ Shingle Specifications
Here are the key specs for Timberline HDZ:
- Dimensions: 13¼″ × 39⅜″ (approx) GAF Documents+1
- Exposure: 5⅝″ GAF+1
- Pieces per Square: 64 GAF+1
- Bundles per Square: 3 GAF+1
- Wind-Rating / Standards:
- Meets ASTM D7158 Class H GAF+1
- Meets ASTM D3161 Class F GAF+1
- UL Listed to ANSI/UL 790 Class A GAF+1
- Passes UL 2218 Impact-Resistance Test Class 3 GAF Documents
- “WindProven™ No-Maximum Wind-Speed” eligibility when installed with required GAF accessories. GAF Documents+1
- StainGuard Plus™ Algae Protection (25-year limited warranty) GAF Documents+1
- Construction: Fiberglass asphalt, asphalt-to-asphalt monolithic bond (LayerLock™ Technology) GAF Documents+1
- Nail accuracy claim: “Up to 99.9% nailing accuracy” in testing of StrikeZone™ nailing area. GAF Documents
Summary
- We trust the GAF seal because we have seen it hold up in real hurricanes.
- We use GAF StormGuard because it is stronger than other options.
- We install full GAF systems so our homeowners get the strongest warranties.
- GAF backs us — which allows us to back our customers.
When the seal holds, the roof holds.
That’s why at Harbor Roofing we install complete GAF roofing systems.