CertainTeed Landmark Shingles vs. Owens Corning Duration Shingles

In the process of picking a shingle for your new roof? Trying to decide between CertainTeed's Landmark shingles and Owens Corning's Duration shingles?

CertainTeed and Owens Corning are two of the biggest manufacturers in the roofing industry. Because of this, CertainTeed’s Landmark shingle and Owens Corning’s Duration shingle are two of the most popular architectural shingles on the market. 

With them both being so popular, they’re inevitably compared to each other. Unfortunately, most comparisons lean heavily one way or the other without giving actual facts to back them up.

For over 35 years, Bill Ragan Roofing has believed in being transparent and unbiased so homeowners can make the right decisions. That’s why I want to give you an honest overview of CertainTeed Landmark and Owens Corning Duration shingles. 

This article covers the following:

• What are CertainTeed Landmark shingles?
• What are Owens Corning Duration shingles?
• CertainTeed Landmark shingles vs. Owens Corning Duration shingles
• Are Landmark shingles or Owens Corning Duration shingles better?

What are CertainTeed Landmark shingles?

CertainTeed’s Landmark® shingle is an architectural shingle with a multi-layered design on a tough fiberglass base and protective outer layer. They come with CertainTeed’s StreakFighter® algae resistance against black streaks caused by algae growth.  

(Photo courtesy of CertainTeed.com)

On top of algae resistance, CertainTeed’s Landmark asphalt shingles also offer:

• 21 color options (availability varies by location)
• Class 3 Impact-Resistance Rating
• Tear resistance
• Class A Fire-Resistance Rating (highest rating available)
• Class F Wind-Resistance (110 mph)

Landmark shingles come with CertainTeed's lifetime-limited warranty, but they also come with specific warranties to back up the performance features.

These warranties include:

• 10-year SureStart™ warranty (covers 100% replacement and labor costs due to manufacturing defects)
• 25-year StreakFighter® warranty against streaking and discoloration caused by airborne algae
• 15-year, 110 mph wind-resistance warranty (upgradable to 160 mph)

CertainTeed’s Landmark asphalt shingle line is a high-quality and reliable choice for residential roof replacement. However, their affordability is a big reason Landmark shingles are incredibly popular.

What are Owens Corning Duration shingles?

Owens Corning Duration® is an architectural asphalt shingle like CertainTeed’s Landmark asphalt shingles. They are specially formulated on Owens Corning’s TruDefinition® color platform to give them dramatic color contrast and dimension in a wide range of popular colors. 

(Image provided by Owenscorning.com)

Like CertainTeed, Duration shingles come with Owen Corning's StreakGuard® to protect against algae growth. 

On top of this, Owens Corning shingles offer homeowners:

• 14 TruDefinition color options (availability varies by location)
• Class 3 Impact-Resistance Rating
• Class F Wind-Resistance (110 mph)
• Class A fire-resistance rating
• Triple Layer Protection® in the nailing zone

Just like CertainTeed’s Landmark shingles, Owens Corning Duration shingles come with a limited lifetime warranty. However, it also comes with the following warranties:

• 10-year TRU PROtection® warranty (covers material and labor costs to repair or replace manufacturing defects but excludes tear-off and disposal)
• 25-year StreakGuard® Algae Resistance warranty against streaking and discoloration caused by algae (prorated after 10 years and must use their Hip & Ridge shingles)
• 15-year, 130 mph wind-resistance warranty (upgradable to 160 mph)

By offering ultimate protection and impressive curb appeal, you can’t go wrong with Duration® Shingles. 

CertainTeed Landmark shingles vs. Owens Corning Duration shingles

Now you know the key differences between CertainTeed Landmark and Owens Corning Duration shingles. You can't go wrong with either, but let's dig deeper into the things that matter the most for homeowners.

Let's compare Landmark and Owens Corning Duration on:

• Warranties
• Durability
• Colors
• Cost

Warranties

CertainTeed and Owens Corning provide a variety of warranties for all their shingles. Both manufacturers offer a come with basic a lifetime-limited transferable warranty, but they also offer others on algae resistance and wind warranties.

The table below compares these warranties for Landmark and Duration shingles:

Key takeaway: Landmark and Duration shingles look pretty much the same when it comes to warranties. However, Owens Corning has had much more manufacturer recalls and defective shingle batches than CertainTeed.

Durability

Both Landmark and Owens Corning both have the Class 3 rating, which means they're durable. However, Landmark shingles are the heavier and thicker shingle.

So, they do offer a little more durability. The problem is that it's not enough of a difference to quantify or stand behind, which is why they don't have a higher rating than Owens Corning Duration.

Key takeaway: Landmark and Owens Corning Duration have the same impact rating, but Landmark shingles offer more durability and protection in most situations.

Colors

Color selection is always in the eye of the beholder and greatly varies based on the specific home's style. When it comes to numbers, Landmark has 21 options while Owens Corning Duration has 14 TruDefinition® color options.

Landmark has a very large color selection compared to Duration, but they don't have the dramatic color contrast. However, the availability of colors heavily depends on your area and what suppliers have in stock.

Key Takeaway: When it comes to colors, CertainTeed Landmark has more options. However, Owens Corning Duration has the TruDefinition® colors that offer higher contrast options. 

Cost

Owens Corning Duration and CertainTeed Landmark are pretty price comparable. However, Duration shingles are usually cheaper, but only slightly. 

For most budgets, you won't find a better option than Landmark shingles. However, Owens Corning Duration is still a good option at the same or less than Landmark shingles.

Key takeaway: Landmark and Owens Corning Duration shingles are pretty price comparable, but your budget and style choices are the key deciding factors to keep in mind.

Are Landmark shingles or Owens Corning Duration shingles better?

My subjective opinion is that CertainTeed Landmark shingles are much better than Owens Corning Duration shingles. Not only because of the added durability, but also because Owens Corning has gone through recalls in the past for defective materials. 

That’s simply my opinion based on working in the roofing industry for 35-plus years and using different shingle brands. Just know that every roofing contractor has a preferred brand they like to use for various reasons.

When this happens, take the roofing contractor’s recommendation, ask questions, get the facts, look at alternatives if needed, and then make the right decision for you.

Is the shingle brand or roofing contractor more important?

Now you know that I consider CertainTeed Landmark shingles to be better than Owens Corning Duration shingles. That isn’t to say that Duration shingles are bad because they are quality shingles.

But CertainTeed’s products have not let me down for the 35-plus years we’ve been in business, and their warranty department is great. After reading this article, you should feel confident about deciding if Landmark or Duration shingles are right for you. 

However, both these shingles can only perform as well as their installation. You can buy the best and most expensive shingle, but it’ll mean nothing without a good roofing contractor. 

So, which should you care about more when making a decision: the shingle brand or the roofing contractor? To help you even further, I wrote another article answering this question. 

Check out Shingle Brand vs. Roofing Contractor to learn which one should be more important when going through the decision-making process.