Asphalt shingles

A 3-tab asphalt shingle is a single-layer cover with a flat tab pattern. Architectural shingles are asphalt too. They are laminated and thicker, and they are what most of Deltona, Brandon, and suburban Orlando actually get. When someone asks for asphalt and means the less expensive tab, this is that product.

Why it costs less, and why it is not half the price

The shingle itself costs less. The tear-off, the deck, the drip edge, the underlayment, and the flashings do not. On the planning table a 3-tab sits under architectural shingle and well under tile or standing seam. A quote that is dramatically under that band left something in the system out.

The wind rating is the gate

Central Florida is not the high-velocity hurricane zone, and it is still a wind code. A shingle goes on a permitted roof only with a Florida product approval and a wind classification that meets the design speed for that address. Plenty of bargain 3-tab sold for northern states does not clear that bar. We will not install it and call it a Florida roof.

The 8th Edition of the Florida Building Code is in effect through the end of 2026. The 9th Edition takes effect December 31, 2026. The approval has to match the edition on the permit.

Life in this sun

Plan on a shorter life than architectural asphalt, often the low teens to around twenty years, and less on a dark, low-slope roof over a hot attic. Granules show up in the gutters. Tabs lift at the rakes. It is a poor place for a twenty-five-year solar array unless the roof is new and you already accept a reroof before the array is old. When the house is supposed to hold solar, we specify architectural shingle instead.

Where a 3-tab still makes sense

A simple hip or gable, usually one story, where the owner wants a permitted asphalt roof and is not trying to stretch one cover across a generation. Select asphalt shingle in the roof calculator, then measure the roof. The calculator is a band, not a bid.