How TAMKO Titan XT® Architectural Shingles Kept Florida Homes Safe During Hurricane Ian
As homeowners in Florida well know, during a weather disaster, having a solid roof can mean the difference between dealing with minimal post-storm cleanup or facing the devastating financial and emotional costs of major damage. In September 2022, when Category 4 Hurricane Ian tore a path of destruction along America’s southern Atlantic Coast, many traditionally shingled roofs simply could not stand up to the beating. However, according to some experienced Florida roofing contractors, homes roofed with TAMKO Titan XT architectural shingles fared much better.
“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself,” noted Mike Logan, production manager for Fort Myers, Florida-based Universal Contracting and Solar, a TAMKO Certified Contractor. Of the 17 Titan XT roofs installed by Universal prior to the advent of Ian, Logan reported that not one shingle was lost to raging winds when the storm struck. “I’ve been roofing for 33 years, the last 18 years of it in Florida,” Logan said, “and I’ve never seen an asphalt shingle perform like Titan did.”
News footage from the post-Hurricane Ian landscape serves as a stark reminder of just how many homes were damaged or destroyed by the storm’s powerful 150-plus-mph winds. Along with downed power lines, uprooted trees, swamped boats, and assorted storm debris, aerial shots cataloged block after block of blue-tarped homes awaiting roof replacement.
But amazingly, some neighborhoods offered a different view, where the roofs remained intact. For example, on a street in Port Charlotte, Florida, where Universal had installed four Titan XT roofs, the difference between the houses that had Titan installed the houses that did not was pretty clear.
“If you go down that street, every single roof … is tarped unless it’s metal or it’s Titan XT,” said James Rodriguez, Universal Contracting and Solar’s director of insurance. “We just went through a Category 4 hurricane with 150-mph winds and none of [the Titan XT installations] have to get a re-roof; none of them even have to get a repair … Neighbors are asking these homeowners who used Titan XT how did their shingles survive when the only other roofs on the road that survived are metal?”
TAMKO’s Culture of Continuous Improvement and Quality History
Why did some roofs weather Hurricane Ian’s wrath while others failed the test? According to experienced roofing contractors, the answer was pretty simple: proper professional installation and superior shingles — like the Titan XT shingle from TAMKO Building Products.
So, just what makes one architectural roofing shingle better than another? The way TAMKO, a company with nearly 80 years in business, approaches the task is to combine high quality materials with some of the most innovative roofing construction technology to produce an industry-leading line of roofing products.
But at TAMKO, striving to be the best also means continually working to improve product performance and quality. “A lot has changed since we introduced our first shingle in 1945,” says TAMKO, “but one thing remains the same: our commitment to constantly moving the industry forward with quality building products, including residential and commercial roofing and waterproofing products.”
That focus dates back to the 1980s when TAMKO instituted its Continuous Improvement Program based on the statistical work of renowned statistician W. Edwards Deming, Ph.D., a pioneering management theorist regarded by many as the “father of the quality movement” in manufacturing. “A good question for anybody in business to ask is, ‘What business are we in? To do well what we are doing — i.e., to turn out a good product, or good service, whatever it be?’ Yes, of course, but this is not enough,” Deming wrote. “We must keep asking, ‘What product or service would help our customers more?’ We must think about the future. ‘What will we be making five years from now? Ten years from now?’”
One of the paths TAMKO has taken in order to ensure the company’s pursuit of quality standards and product performance is by controlling its raw material supply. “We are a vertically integrated company, owning and operating many of our own raw materials plants,” TAMKO’s website states. “Maintaining greater control over the entire manufacturing process allows us to better deliver a consistent supply of products to our customers.”
Superior Design Delivers Superior Performance
In the final analysis, the reason TAMKO Titan XT roof shingles outperformed competitors when faced with the menacing winds of Hurricane Ian was the superior strength of its design. With a motto of “Where innovation meets advanced technology,” Titan XT architectural shingles feature powerful Advanced Fusion sealants that can begin to form a strong bond in just one hour, even in cooler weather conditions; a large, Rapid Fire Zone nail zone to accommodate faster installation; and a proprietary reinforced poly-fabric AnchorLock layer that helps anchor nails tightly to the deck for added performance against wind.
“I have one client who has already given [us] 35 referrals because people want to know who installed their roof and what product [they used],” Rodriguez says. “We tell them every time, TAMKO Titan XT… We hit the biggest winds you can in our area and we didn’t lose a single shingle.”
Image: Luke Southern on Unsplash