Roof Warranties

Do you understand roof warranties? Do you recognize the differences between the workmanship warranty and the limited material warranty? New roofs come with two types of warranties. A workmanship warranty that is issued by the roofer for the work he performed and the time period he is willing to stand behind it.

The second warranty is the material warranty that is issued by the manufacturer for his product. This warranty is generally issued with registration by you and is a limited warranty. This means that the manufacturer will stand behind the product but in the event of a failure, they will prorate the life expectancy to the actual life on your roof to establish the value of benefit you will receive for the replacement of the product. These warranties generally do not cover the workmanship costs for the replacement. This is not a good or bad thing but merely the way the roofing industry, as well as many other industries, functions regarding their warranties.

Roofing products are tried and proven and not prone to failures. Failures do occur but they are rare. If a failure does occur, it will be important for you to be using a professional roofer for your support. They are the go between for you and the manufacturer. The manufacturer will always want to know the name of the roofing company that installed their roofing products. Their inspection will verify the installation techniques used to establish legitimacy of your claim.

The most important warranty is the workmanship warranty. This warranty will establish a confidence level between you and your roofer. They are typically issued in print on your contract and cover a time period of at least 2 years. This does not seem like much in time coverage but it is fair. It is reasonable to expect that if you do not experience any leaking or roofing failures during the initial period of 2 years, it is a good bet that you are not going to experience any during the first 10 years of its life. This of course, is barring any major storm damage or foot traffic damage from other trades that might destroy the integrity of your roof system.

Workmanship warranties do not cover damage created by others who may be performing work on your roof like high pressure roof cleaning. The manufacturer will not stand behind their warranty for this type of damage either.

In the event of a major storm like a hurricane, tornado or hail; all of the warranties will also become null and void. These are considered acts of God and the damage coverage falls to your homeowner's policy. This is why it is important for your roof to be installed properly the first time by the right roofer using the best techniques.

The good roofers, the top professionals take a little additional time in the installation process around the detailed areas of your roof system in an effort to limit the damage from storms to be cosmetic as opposed to catastrophic. They also tend to stand behind their roof systems beyond the warranty periods if they are called back to discover slight deficiencies with their initial installation processes. They do this because they are top professionals in the roofing trade. These are the people you want and if you like, we can help you to locate and engage them in a discussion of expectations.