choosing shingles

[MustardTiger]

We had some wind damage a couple weeks ago and the insurance has decided to replace the roof.  We have a family friend that is a roofer and has given us a pretty good price.  Basically we can do 20 yr shingles for no out of pocket cost, or do the 30 yr arch. shingles for a cost of around $800.

My wife is home with our infant daughter right now and we don't have much extra money.  Also we had to almost empty the e-fund for medical bills and only have around 1k in there, plus around 2k in checking that I don't want to dip into while my wife is not working.

I will have about 1k of supplemental income in July that I could use if I need to.

So considering my current tighter budget is it worth it to get the 30 years?

[LeRainDrop]

I've heard that shingles are very itchy and painful, so if given the choice, I would choose to not get shingles at all.  Oh, wait, for the roof!  ;-)  I think if it's just $800 for an upgrade that should extend the life of the roof by 10 years, I would go with the upgrade and then just keep the spending belt extra tight for at least the next few months.  Plus that extra income in July should help.

[Frankies Girl]

For $800 more, the architectural shingles are a no brainer. You'll get a much better quality shingle, a better warranty and better resale one the house and they just look nicer.

[RichMoose]

I would go with an architectural shingle for the extra $800. In most places in North America they won't last 30 yrs, but the 3 tab shingles won't last more than 15 years best case. The architectural shingles will perform much better in "extreme" weather events (high wind, large hail, etc).

For most locations in North America, 3-tab will last 10-15 yrs; architectural will  last 20-25 yrs.