How to Get the Most Out of Your Roof Warranty
You probably don’t know much about the typical roof warranty, since most homeowners don’t. How long does it last? What does it include? Are there any traps to look out for?
The typical roof warranty is dependent upon the life of the shingle, so shingles range in lifetime from 25 years, to 30 years, to 40 years, to lifetime. Those are the standard asphalt shingle warranties on the market today.
These warranties include material replacement. Should the material be defective, the manufacturer will replace that material on a prorated basis. So if you’ve used half of the lifecycle, 12 ½ years on the 25 year shingle, then that roof is going to be prorated for the amount of time you had it installed on your roof and that you’re able to actually use that product.
A Little Secret Most Roofers Won’t Tell You About Your Roof Warranty
There are many ways to cut corners when installing a roof system and if you don’t install the roof system to the exact specifications of the manufacturer, then that gives the manufacturer a loophole to avoid fulfilling the warranty.
It’s very important to install the roof the way the manufacturer requires.
How You Can Learn About Your Roof Warranty
To learn about your roof warranty, you need to know what product was installed on your roof. When installing a new roof many roofers will leave behind a bundle of shingles for repairs down the road. You can find warranty information on the back of this bundle, or by going online to the manufacturer’s website and selecting the exact product that’s on your roof. Here, you can find out in great detail what the warranty entails.
How to Verify If Your Roof Warranty is Valid
The only way to know if a roof warranty is valid is to have someone perform an inspection on the roof to make sure that all the installation was done per manufacturer specification. We offer homeowners a very detailed 19 point inspection.
What to Do if the Warranty Isn’t Valid
If your roof warranty isn’t valid, there are things any contractor can do to bring that roof up to speed to meet the requirements of the manufacturer. One example is the roof not having proper ventilation, which we find to be very common due to cost. Many roofers want to keep the price low so they skip installing a proper ventilation system. We would simply install a proper ventilation system to make sure the roof warranty is brought up to code.
