Money, Paper and People
Lesson 15. Roofing Warranties, Plainly
At a Glance
- Material warranty covers defects. Workmanship covers the install
- Most problems are installation, not defective shingles
- Lifetime usually means prorated after the first ten years
- A workmanship warranty is only as real as the company behind it
The Two Warranties
| Material Warranty | Workmanship Warranty | |
|---|---|---|
| Who gives it | The shingle manufacturer | The roofing company |
| What it covers | Manufacturing defects in the product | Mistakes in how it was installed |
| Typical length | Twenty five years to lifetime | One to twenty five years, varies hugely |
| How often it is used | Rarely. Genuine defects are uncommon | This is where nearly every claim lands |
That bottom row is the important one. Shingles are made in enormous quantities to a consistent standard and they very seldom fail on their own. Roofs fail because of how they were put on.
What Lifetime Actually Means
On a shingle warranty, lifetime generally means as long as the original buyer owns the home, and it is almost always prorated. Full coverage runs for an initial period, often ten years. After that the payout drops every year with the age of the roof.
By year twenty a lifetime warranty on a failed shingle may pay a small fraction of the material cost and nothing toward labor, which is most of the bill.
The Conditions That Void It
- Inadequate ventilation. This is the most common one by a distance
- Installation that departs from the manufacturer's instructions
- Layering over an existing roof, on some products
- Failing to register the warranty within the required window
- Pressure washing the roof
- Later work by another contractor, which can void a workmanship warranty
The Question Nobody Asks
A twenty five year workmanship warranty is worth exactly as much as the company's chances of existing in twenty five years. Roofing has very high turnover and a warranty from a company that closes is a piece of paper.
So the real questions are how long they have been trading under this name, whether the entity on the contract is the one doing the work, and whether the warranty is in writing rather than described. Ask us these. Ask everybody these.