finally found an underlayment that lasts - what's your experience?

Wrinkling’s definitely a thing with some synthetics, especially if they bake in the sun for a couple days before shingles go down. I’ve seen Tiger Paw and others get wavy - mostly seems to be timing, but humidity plays into it too. As for hail, lighter synthetics usually outlast felt, but once you get baseball-sized stuff, nothing’s really safe. After last spring’s storm, I saw a few roofs where the underlayment held up enough to keep water out until repairs, which was better than felt ever managed.

Wrinkling drives me nuts, honestly. There’s nothing like rolling up to a job after a few days of sun and seeing those big synthetic bubbles waving back at you. I’ve noticed Tiger Paw can be especially touchy if it sits too long before shingling - humidity just makes it worse, like you said. Some of the newer synthetics claim to be more stable, but I’m not convinced any of them are totally immune if you leave them exposed in the Texas sun for more than a day or two.

On hail, I’ve got to agree - once you get into baseball territory, it’s pretty much game over for anything up there. I’ve seen some of the “premium” synthetics hold out a little longer than felt, but if the hail’s big enough to punch through decking, underlayment isn’t going to save the day. That said, after last year’s round of storms here, the synthetic did give homeowners a fighting chance. Saw a couple roofs where shingles were trashed but the underlayment kept water out for a week until repairs. Felt would’ve been toast on day one.

One thing I will say: I’m seeing more folks try self-adhered options lately. They’re pricier and a pain to work with on steep slopes, but they don’t wrinkle as bad and seem to handle storms better - at least in my experience. Downside is, if you ever have to tear off, you’ll be cursing whoever put it on.

Not sure there’s a perfect answer yet. Every product has its tradeoffs. For me, as long as it buys enough time to keep the interior dry until we can get new shingles down, that’s about as much as I can ask for around here... especially with our weather getting crazier every year.

That’s pretty much been my experience too. When we bought our place, the inspector pointed out some old felt that was curling up like potato chips - looked awful and didn’t last through the first big rain. We went with synthetic after that, and while it held up better, I still saw those weird wrinkles after a few days of sun. Haven’t tried the self-adhered stuff yet, but I’ve heard it’s a bear to remove. At the end of the day, just having something that keeps water out until repairs is a win in my book... especially with how unpredictable storms have gotten lately.

We had the same issue with the old felt - ours started peeling up after just a couple months, and it looked terrible. Switched to synthetic too, but I noticed those weird bubbles and wrinkles when it got hot out. I’ve been curious about the self-adhered underlayment, but honestly, the idea of it being hard to remove kind of freaks me out. Has anyone actually had to take that stuff off? Wondering if it’s worth the hassle or if I should just stick with synthetic for now...

- Pulled up self-adhered underlayment once during a patch job - let’s just say it was a full-body workout.
- It stuck like crazy, but honestly, that’s probably why it works so well against leaks.
- If you’re thinking about future repairs, synthetic is way easier to deal with.
- I’d only go self-adhered if you’re planning on leaving it alone for a long time... otherwise, removing it is a pain.
- Those bubbles in synthetic drive me nuts too, but at least you don’t need a crowbar to get it off.