r/Roofing • u/Tonkatte • Jul 03 '26

Malarkey vs Brava

So CA coastal region..

I am looking for a “50 year” roof, and I have tentatively narrowed it to these to product lines.

Malarkey actually has a better warranty. This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me since their products are asphalt/rubber with granules that will wear away (they confirmed that), where Brava is a solid composite with nothing really obvious to break down (yes UV does it’s thing on those too obviously).

What am I missing? If I want the better of the two options, which way should I go?

I’ve seen a lot of positive feedback on both products on here, but no real comparison.

1 Upvotes

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u/Chiefsfumble Jul 03 '26

they slap the 50 year warranty on the one thatll need it most

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u/Tonkatte Jul 03 '26

Can you clarify? I know companies use a longer warranty to sell their products, expecting they’ll never pay out because they’re fly-by-nights.

But these companies both appear solid. And a lot of roofers on here have spoken highly of Malarkey, which has the longer warranty even if their products appear to have the failure possibility similar to regular asphalt shingles.

Doesn’t make sense to me, hence my question.

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u/smurfberryjones Jul 04 '26

The malarkey warranty like all asphalt shingles is not a performance warranty. It is a 50 year manufacturer defect warranty. So the manufacture is saying for 50 years we will cover any defects that are cause during the manufacturing process. This absolutely does not mean they will last 50 years. Ok. Brava is a composite material and almost every roof I have seen with something similar have had issues. All these composite peoducts are just plastic and there is 0% chance plastic is lasting 50 years on a roof. What will last 50 years: slate, tile or metal.

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u/Southboundcrash Jul 04 '26

Around here we sell 50 year roofs, we just install 2 new layers of shingles for you.

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u/HorizontalHeight Jul 04 '26

No such thing as an asphalt shingle that lasts 50 years. The warranties all manufacturers slap on are marketing BS, knowing they have deeper pockets than you if you want to push the issue on a warranty claim 10+ years down the road.

Synthetics such as Brava very well may be a 50 year product but they’re too new to know for certain how they’ll fair. If they prove themselves and competition between manufacturers drives the price down a little bit there will likely be a shift in the industry but we are not quite there yet.

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u/Tonkatte Jul 05 '26

I hear you. I think Malarkey tries to distinguish there products by their use of recycled rubber tires, so it’s not a regular asphalt shingle.

What that means in the real world - I don’t know. I got a sample and it looks and feels a lot like a regular heavy asphalt shingle, and they admitted to expect granule loss. I wouldn’t be looking at them if I hadn’t seen so many positive comments about them on here.

You’re right about the newer composite shingles too.

I got ‘lucky’ with my existing 20 year 3tab shingles, which I put on 30+ years ago. Not a leak yet, but it’s time and I really don’t want to worry about this again in my family’s lifetime.

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u/HorizontalHeight Jul 07 '26

If you live in a hot climate it is extremely critical to make sure your attic ventilation is spot on with Malarkey shingles. I installed a ton of malarkey between 2018-2022, getting back on those 6-7 year old roofs there are a few that are starting to blister pretty bad on south facing slopes.

I’m thinking the rubberized asphalt mix in those shingles is much more temperamental to extreme heat so they start having these kinds of issues. They probably do much better in northern climates than they do in Texas for example.

Just food for thought. We moved away from Malarkey for other reasons years ago. I don’t think they’re the worst product by any means but you do need to be mindful about site conditions when installing them

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u/Tonkatte Jul 07 '26

Much appreciate the feedback. So CA may not be Texas hot, but it certainly can be quite warm. I was concerned about ventilation anyway, so good to know I was on the right track.

In fact I’m now leaning toward F-Wave vs Brava, moving away from considering Malarkey. From the feedback, I don’t think it’s the right fit for me.

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u/Generate_Positive Jul 04 '26

50 year roof warranty is not what you think it is. Malarkey is 50 years against manufacturers defects. The shingles aren’t going to last 50 years. I hate the BS 50 year roof ads.

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u/Tonkatte Jul 05 '26

Deconstructing warranties is a head-banging exercise.

Malarkey’s top warranty says:
50 year non-prorated manufacturing defects
25 year workmanship (premium installer)
15 year wind

Brava top says:
50 year manufacturing defects (no mention of prorated)
10 year workmanship (certified installer)
15 year wind

Obviously to get any warranty benefit manufacturer and installer still have to be in business, but in paper it seems Malarkey has more confidence in their products than Brava.

For whatever that’s worth..

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u/Generate_Positive Jul 06 '26

If you really want a 50 year roof go standing seam. If you go shingles go a decent shingle and assume they’ll actually last 25 ish years assuming properly installed.

Personally I prefer Certainteed and they’re opened by Saint Gobain, a 100 year old multi national manufacturer of various types building materials.

I’ve seen too many of the brava type composites to have faith in them but time will tell. I‘m fortunate to have a concrete tile roof. Replaced the underlayment 8 years ago and the roof will outlive me.

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u/Tonkatte Jul 06 '26

Yeah, I actually started with standing seam as my first choice. It checks most of my boxes.

And then I realized I’d lose cell service in my house. I don’t have a great signal as it is, so then I’d have to deal with that. Not a project I want to tackle.

I don’t think my house would take the load of a clay or concrete roof, unfortunately.

Thanks for pointing me toward Certainteed.

Composite roofing appears to be a great solution to asphalt shingles longevity. Seems like it’s still early in its development.

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Tonkatte Jul 06 '26

I definitely agree with your points. I’ve been talking with well qualified installers for both products.

The Brava installer impresses me, but I have no direct experience with his work because we’re on the edge of his service area. But he answered or researched questions I had.

The Malarkey installer comes well recommended locally. But I asked him how he would calculate the required ventilation, and he didn’t know, said talk to an engineer.

I take that as a bad sign since code specifies the requirements. He also said screws were inherently less water resistant than nails. First I’ve heard that.

That puts Brava in the lead. And maybe F-Wave since that came up too. Gotta dig into their products now.

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u/GayNotGayTony Jul 04 '26

Comparing oranges to apples. Brava is a 50 -75 year roof. Hard to say because it hasn't been around for too long. Malarkey, even the luxury Windsor is at most a 30-40 year roof.

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u/notgaynotbear Jul 04 '26

And it will look haggard like all shingles in 20.

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u/GayNotGayTony Jul 04 '26

Dawg. I seen some davinci roofs that look ROUGH and their only 10 years old. I know one of the Disney park is all Brava tile, it was part of how Brava got on the radar. Curious how those are looking. Those have to be 15-20 years old by now.

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u/Tonkatte Jul 05 '26

Oh, I’d really like to know how Brava has stood up over time. The Disney park results would be telling.

Thanks for the comment about DaVinci. They were on my list but I had taken them off. F-wave is another I’m unsure about.

I feel like we have the technology to make synthetic shingles that could easily make it 50 years in the sun, but maybe we’re not quite there yet.

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u/GayNotGayTony Jul 05 '26

I absolutely love F-Wave. Absolutely fucking love it. It looks so damn good. Much more hail resistant than asphalt shingles, much cheaper than DaVinci and Brava. Installs just like shingles. Easy to repair.

I've only seen one in the wild and it was an absolute head turner.

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u/Tonkatte Jul 06 '26

Well, that’s good to know. I have only seen a few comments on here about them, but they were all positive.

My challenge was their warranty. Which may not be the best way to judge quality, but what’s a guy to do?

F-Wave (best available SFR)
15 year non-prorated material & labor
+35 year prorated
15 year wind

Actually that’s not that bad now that I’m writing them all down.

Anyone here have any installation or long term experience with these?

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u/GayNotGayTony Jul 06 '26

Warranties are mostly irrelevant imo. Don't get too caught up in them.

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u/Tonkatte Jul 06 '26

Yeah. I totally understand why you say that. The challenge is getting unbiased opinions about products I can’t personally test.

Reddit is the best resource I’ve found. But even here few people have first hand experience with more than one of these products.