Roofer Madness
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Warning ! This Book could save you thousands of dollars and a lot of grief

Find out how to choose a roofer who will prevent your worst nightmares and make your
project a success.

8) Warranties - What they Really Mean

Putting on a “30 year Shingle” does not necessarily mean your roof will be replaced (or even repaired) if there is a problem in 10 years. Warranties can be complex. It is actually easier to work out who has the worst warranties. Once you understand the information below, you won't get caught up in the salesman's hype about warranties and end up not covered the way you think you are.

There are two parts to the warranty: the materials warranty (supplied by themanufacturer) and the labour warranty (supplied by the installation company).

The Materials Warranty
Most manufacturers only warranty the product and not the installation. This means that if his product does not hold up as it was supposed to and the manufacturer has determined that it was a materials defect (and therefore covered by their warranty), they can do one of two things:

Supply New
The manufacturer will back their truck up to your house and drop off new shingles. It will be up to you to install them. If you have chosen your roofing contractor well, and he is still in business ten years after your roof was installed, and he has given a long labour warranty, you may be able to convince him to come back and install the shingles at no charge to you.

Pay out
Some manufacturers’ warranties don't replace the shingles but will pay you money instead. This sounds good until you discover that the amount is prorated (decreased proportionally over time). The usual procedure is to pay the full amount for 5 years and then prorate amounts after that. This means
that if your 30 year roof fails in 15 years the company may pay you 30% of what you originally paid for the shingles. The price they pay out will probably not be adjusted for inflation. If it does not include installation it hardly seems worth spending the time to prove their roofing product failed in the first
place. Even "lifetime warranties" are prorated and may not be of much value in 15 to 20 years.

The last bit of bad news about warranties is that most are “performance based,” which means the manufacturer's definition is based on whether the shingle stands up and performs the way it is supposed to perform. The majority of manufactures base their warranties on “water infiltration". So, even if the shingle falls apart, the warranty does not apply.  It only applies if there is a manufactures defect and the roof leaks. This means that if all the granules or other protective coverage washes off your shingles, or if they curl and fade, but no water gets into the home, then you don’t have a valid warranty claim.

The Labour Warranty

- Does the Installation Company automatically give you a labor warranty in writing with their quote or do you have to ask for it?

- How long is it for?

- Does it cover installing new shingles if it was determined to be a manufactures defect?

- Do you think they would come back in 8 years and install new shingles at no cost to you even if it was the manufacturer's shingle that broke down?

- You may find that you now know more about warranties than a lot of installation companies. If they can't answer your questions it's a bad sign and indicates that they probably don't have a standard warranty policy.

- Choose the roofing installation company you think will most likely to be in business ten years from now. (They need to be in business to honor their warranty.)