Choosing A Roofing Contractor: Warranties

Your roof is expensive, it is one of the biggest expenses you will have to pay in regards to your home. As such, you want to be sure that you have chosen a quality roof and an experienced, trustworthy contractor to install and maintain it. Warranties ensure that the materials and labor involved in repairing or replacing the roof is done properly and that any defects found will be quickly corrected without additional cost to you.

Hiring an established, reputable roofing contractor is essential to being sure that the roof you paid for is properly warrantied, even small mistakes by amateur roofers can void a warranty if the contractor isn’t up to snuff. Warranties are voided by the manufacturers for many reasons, mostly related to shoddy workmanship performed by the contractor. Protect yourself and your home, hire an established, well reviewed contractor to be sure your warranty is valid.

Here is a brief list of things to be aware of, each of these are capable of voiding your warranty and potential causing you thousands of additional dollars in avoidable expenses.

Improperly ventilated roofs: A properly ventilated roof should allow a bare minimum of one square foot net free ventilating area per 150 square feet of space ventilated. Improper attic ventilation is becoming one of the most common causes of premature roof failure and if the contractor misses this, can potentially void your warranty on the entire roof!

Stray Nails: Yes, these can void a warranty. Shingles have very specific installation instructions, one instruction calls for all nailing to occur within an exact zone, any nails outside this zone can give the manufacturer an out on a warranty claim and cost you thousands.

Excessive debris accumulation: We harp on roof cleaning and maintenance not only to keep your roof in top shape but to also avoid voiding your warranty. If not properly maintained, the manufacturer will almost definitely deny any warranty claims based on neglect and they’d be correct to do so. Roof debris can cause a lot of avoidable damage, keeping your roof maintained will avoid any denial of warranties based on neglect.

High Pressure Power Washing: Yes, those mold stains are ugly and you want them gone, but there are much better ways to go about this than pressure washing. While this is good for hard materials like concrete, high pressure cleaners can tear right through shingles and other roofing materials. If your roof is damaged by pressure washing, you can bet that the manufacturer will void the warranty, leaving you to foot the bill for any repairs now and in the future. Have a professional Roof Cleaner take care of this without a pressure washer to avoid this.

“Recovered” Roofs (or building a new roof over an existing roof): Many manufacturers won’t warranty or will offer a shortened warranty when a new roof is installed over an old one. Even if they do warranty it (it’s on a case by case basis) it won’t last as long as a roof that has been constructed directly on new decking or underlayment.

Improper installation of things that pierce the roof (such as satellite dishes, antennae, decorations, etc). Installation of these items need to be done by an experienced roofing professional or with one on hand to be sure the penetrations don’t cause leaks or other problems. Should the source of a warranty claim show it to be the satellite dish or other addition that caused the issue, the warranty could be voided entirely. Don’t take the chance, do it right the first time.

These are just some examples of how a roofs warranty could be voided and why hiring someone like Atlanta Roofing Specialists is in your best interest. With years of experience and our own 10-Year workmanship warranty in addition to manufacturer warranties, we guarantee that all of our roofs are built exactly as the manufacturer instructs, with ARS, you will never have to wonder if your warranty is valid or not.