Hurricane Ian Titan XT Case Study — Universal Contracting & Solar, Fort Myers, FL

The devastating power of Hurricane Ian provided a test that most asphalt shingles could not hope to pass. However, TAMKO Titan XT® Premium Architectural Shingles outperformed those expectations.

Hurricane Ian Case Study - Universal Contracting“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself,” said Mike Logan, production manager for Universal Contracting & Solar in Fort Myers, Florida. “I’ve been in roofing for 33 years, the last 18 years of it in Florida, and I’ve never seen an asphalt shingle perform like Titan did.”

The performance of Titan XT in Hurricane Ian exceeded expectations with none of Universal’s 17 Titan XT installations losing a single Titan XT shingle.

“Titan XT is the best roofing shingle I’ve seen, hands down,” Logan said. “It’s true, I’m sold.”

Houses shown located in the same Port Charlotte, FL neighborhood.

Hurricane Ian made landfall as one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever hit the U.S., hitting Florida on September 28, 2022, as a Category 4 storm, with winds of more than 150 MPH.* For much of the area that meant devastation, according to Logan.

“The shingle roofs didn’t hold up, we are tarping at least 40 houses a day,” he said.

But it was a very different story for the Universal Contracting installations of TAMKO’s Titan XT shingles.

Homeowner: ‘There is no damage… Thank you’

Universal Contracting Director of Insurance James Rodriguez had four Titan XT installs on one street in Port Charlotte, Florida.

“If you go down that street, every single roof on that street is tarped unless it’s metal or it’s Titan XT,” Rodriguez said.

“We were ground zero, in the eyewall for 12 hours, and these roofs didn’t lose a single [Titan XT] shingle.”
– James Rodriguez, Universal Contracting & Solar

Rodriguez said the benefit of this to the homeowners who chose Titan XT is invaluable.

“We just went through a Category 4 hurricane with 150 MPH winds and none of them [the Titan XT installations] have to get a re-roof, none of them even have to get a repair,” he said. “Neighbors are asking these homeowners who used Titan XT how did their shingles survive when the only other roofs on the road that survived are metal?”

Jeff Van is one of those homeowners. A Vietnam veteran and Chicago transplant to Florida, Van had Universal Contracting install Titan XT on his Port Charlotte home before the storm. Van and his other neighbors with Titan XT were the only shingle roofs on the block still intact after Hurricane Ian.

“I had a roof put on with a product by TAMKO, it was done by Universal, and it survived 150 MPH winds,” Van said. “My pool cage didn’t fare as well – this company [TAMKO] doesn’t make pool cages, but thank God they make roofing, because, in the neighborhood, of the people that had their roofs done with this product, there is no damage whatsoever. And I thank you.”

Contractor: ‘More referrals than we can handle’

Using Titan XT shingles has proved to be a major advantage to Universal Contracting post-storm as homeowners see the difference between Titan XT’s performance and other shingles in real time in their very own neighborhoods.

“It’s been a fantastic for us as a product,” Rodriguez said. “Homeowners don’t have to shop around, they can go with Universal Contracting and they can get a product that will last and they don’t have to worry about their investment.”

And the referrals are rolling in for Universal.

“I have one client who has already given 35 referrals to us because people want to know who installed their roof and what product did they use, so we tell them every time: TAMKO Titan XT,” Rodriguez said. “We hit the biggest winds you can in our area and we didn’t lose a single [Titan XT] shingle.”

The results speak for themselves. Titan XT shingles feature a 160 MPH High Wind Application Warranty with only four nails required and TAMKO Starter.* Logan said most of the jobs he’s closing right now are upgrading to Titan XT shingles based on his photos of side-by-side Titan XT versus other brands’ post-hurricane performance.

“It’s because of how Titan held up, them not losing any shingles and that’s what homeowners want,” Logan said.

As a longtime local contractor, Universal Contracting is selective when choosing which products its crews will install.

“We have a reputation to live up to,” Logan said. “There’s a lot of stuff that goes down here with fly-by-night companies, but we care – we are 100% in this community and we care about everything we do here.”

And as a TAMKO Certified Contractor, Universal Contracting can also offer homeowners enhanced warranties on Titan XT installations.

“If someone hasn’t used the TAMKO Titan yet, they need to use it because it’s hands down the best shingle I’ve ever used and it held up.”
– Mike Logan, Universal Contracting & Solar

*TAMKO’s Limited Warranty and High Wind Application covers properly installed Titan XT® shingles up to 160 mph. Please consult TAMKO’s Limited Warranty and Application Instructions all requirements.