Ranking The Top 4 Residential Roofing Manufacturers: GAF, CertainTeed, Owens Corning and IKO

I asked ChatGPT to rank the four largest residential roofing manufacturers in terms of price, reputation, durability of their products, color variety, availability of their products, past discontinuation issues, and innovation. I asked for a score from 1-10 for each manufacturer per category as well as the average of each of their total scores.

Owens Corning, GAF, CertainTeed and IKO are among the largest residential roofing manufacturers in North America

These: are the results:

	Price	Reputation	Durability	Color Variety	Availability	Past Discontinuation Issues	Innovation	Average Score
GAF	7	9	9	8	9	8	8	8.29
CertainTeed	6	9	9	9	8	7	8	8
Owens Corning	7	8	8	7	9	9	7	7.86
IKO	6	7	7	6	7	6	6	6.43

As an exterior replacement contractor that's been in business for over 20 years, I can say that I generally agree with these results.

Whether you are a homeowner in the market for a new roof, or a contractor looking for the best material options to provide potential customers, it's important to do your research about what product(s) you choose.

I've installed predominantly GAF and CertainTeed roofing shingles for customers, and I've had very little complaints about either. I've also heard good things about Owens Corning, but I can't say I have much first hand experience with them. I can't say that IKO has a great reputation and results from my AI inquiry appear to confirm what I've been told.

It's important to note that the data in the above chart was illustrative — meaning the scores were estimated based on general industry perceptions and not pulled from a specific, up-to-date source. However, here are the types of sources typically consulted for accurate comparisons among roofing manufacturers like GAF, CertainTeed, Owens Corning, and IKO:

Suggested Resources for Researching Roofing Manufacturers:

1. Consumer Reports

   • Independent product testing and customer satisfaction ratings.

   • consumerreports.org

2. HomeAdvisor / Angi

   • Reviews from homeowners and contractors on cost, quality, and availability.

   • homeadvisor.com

3. Roofing Contractor Surveys & Rankings

   • Annual reports like the "Top 100 Roofing Contractors" or brand preference surveys.

   • roofingcontractor.com

4. Manufacturer Websites

   • Technical specs, product catalogs, innovation claims, and warranty details.

5. Contractor Forums and Trade Reviews

   • Reddit (e.g., r/Roofing), RoofersCoffeeShop, and other trade-specific platforms.

6. BBB (Better Business Bureau) & Google Reviews

   • Reputation, complaints, and customer experience.

Taking a more strictly data-driven approach reveals the chart below.

Manufacturer	Price	Reputation	Durability	Color Variety	Availability	Past Discontinuation Issues	Innovation	Average Score
GAF	8	9	9	9	9	8	9	8.71
Owens Corning	7	9	8	8	9	9	8	8.29
CertainTeed	6	9	9	9	8	7	8	8.00
IKO	9	7	7	7	7	6	7	7.00

The biggest differences in the 2 charts are that Owens Corning surpasses Certainteed, and IKO is revealed as the least expensive option. This second chart is likely more accurate and perhaps shows yet another example of "you get what you pay for."