What You Need To Know About Roof Warranties

Residential Roofing

May 27, 2015

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When it comes to replacing your roof, you’ve got a lot of things to think about so it’s important to pay the most attention to the things that matter. Roof warranties are one of those things. In most cases, roof warranties are not what they seem and aren’t as good as they may sound. If you get stuck with a bad warranty you could be shelling out a lot of money to repair or replace your roof in the near future if something goes wrong.

The most important thing you need to know about roof warranties is that you actually need TWO of them! If a roofing contractor says “You get a lifetime warranty with your new roof” or “We’ll install a lifetime shingle” be very careful, you may be being misled. If he doesn’t have anything on his contract (in writing) about a workmanship warranty, don’t hire him! That’s a disaster waiting to happen…

You see…the warranty on your shingles is only half of the equation. If anything is found to be defective in the way it was installed, the shingle warranty will not cover it. You must get a workmanship warranty along with the manufacturer warranty to be sure all your bases are covered.

And even then…your warranty may not be that great…

The Fine Print In Shingle Warranties

What you may not realize about a “lifetime” shingle warranty is that they are very limited. First of all, if you have a problem with the shingle in the first 10 years they will only pay for the materials to replace the roof, and the labor to install it. Tear off and disposal is not covered.

Even worse, if you have a problem when the roof is 10 years and 1 day old, the roof warranty will only cover 80% of the material cost, no labor, no tear off, and no disposal. Plus it’s pro-rated down from there 2% per year until it bottoms out at 20% coverage.

To make matters worse, a lot of companies have in their warranties that they will only cover “material defects that result in a leak.” So even if you have missing granules, cracks in the shingles, the color changes, or some other defect, they will cover nothing because it’s not leaking.

As you can see, a “lifetime” shingle warranty is not very impressive.

The Fine Print in Workmanship Warranties

Workmanship warranties are by nature much looser and open to interpretation. Most roofing companies will give you a 1-page estimate that states “10-year workmanship warranty.” The problem with this is that it doesn’t state what is covered. If you have a problem you’ll be at the mercy of the contractor and what they decide they are willing to fix for free.

Here’s a few things that you can bet won’t be covered: Any wall flashings, chimney flashings or other flashings that were re-used that failed. Another one is plastic vents or rubber pipe flashings that crack and are letting water in. Those would be considered “normal wear” items that are worn out.

If you go with a contractor that doesn’t explain exactly what you get with your warranties when you hire them to reroof your home – you better hope that you never have a problem, because the likelihood of anyone fixing it for free is very small.

What’s The Solution?

Because warranties are full of fine print and are inherently hard to understand (on purpose I’m sure), we’ve decided to offer a simple guarantee to our clients that’s unheard of in the roofing world. Quite simply put, with every new roof we install…

“We 100% guarantee that your new roof will have no defects and never leak – for life!”

If you ever have a problem with a shingle defect, no problem we’ll get it fixed (regardless of it leaking or not!). If there is ever a defect in the workmanship we’ve got your back. No matter what, you’re covered 100%

Not only that, but if we install something wrong and your roof leaks, we’ll even pay to fix the interior of your home!

Hands down it’s the simplest, and best, roof warranty in the industry. No fine print to catch you in the end, and no confusing legal mumbo-jumbo to try to trick you into thinking it’s better than it is. And yes, we put it in writing for you to keep in your records.

Call Today For a New Roof in Spokane

To get your new roof installed with a 100% Guarantee, call us at (208) 487-6617 and we’ll take you through our proven Roof Replacement Process. The team at New Heights is ready to give you a quote.

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