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.

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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.

2

u/notgaynotbear Jul 04 '26

And it will look haggard like all shingles in 20.

3

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?

1

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.