20 year warranty...

RemStar

I was thinking about offering a 20 year "No Leak Warranty" if the customer bought my up sell of a complete ice & water shield install on the entire roof deck.

I figure with a complete covering of Ice & water, The roof will be basically bulletproof for at least the next 20 years, Considering I am also installing a minimum of 30 year shingles.

I was thinking this would be a good way to encourage the up sell, basically 3000 extra for the average house. It would also be a great way to set my company's pricing at a premium across the board... being the only company in the area offering a 20 year warranty. I could also advertise a 20 year warranty when the other guys in the area are only offering a 5 year.

I really haven't been in the roofing industry to know how long these roofs stay leak free as it is... And I don't want to wait 20 years to find out....

Could I sleep at night guaranteeing the workmanship on peoples roofs for 20 years?

How would the warranty have to be worded for this to be a effective plan, (so that I make money in the end)?

Grumpy

I don't do full covers of I&W usually. I have had some condensation problems, even with proper ventilation. I guess not all the air goes through the vents, some permiates through the felts.

Instead of doing a full I&W coverage, why not just sell the manufacturer's upgraded warranty? I am not sure what GAF or OC call it but CertainTeed calls it their Sure Start 5-star. I have had a few customers buy it this year, and this is the first year I started offering it. The only thing it requires me doing different, is using their felt and their ice shield. Everything else is the same.

As a standard I offer a 10 year workmanship "no leak" guarantee on my roofs if I can do them my way. My way means exceeding minimum code. I install ice shield at the gutter lines, valleys and at all penetrations. I use 30 # felt or the fiberglass reinforced, I do not use 15#. I replace all flashings. I've been running my business now 8 years and have had no major problems. I doubt I'll have many over the next two years either.

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

RemStar

Thanks for the reply,

I do currently offer the sure start program, but I offer it included in the price along with the 5 year warranty I currently give on everything I install. How much of a premium are you charging for the sure start protection? I thought the surestart program was more of a hidden guarantee for the contractor that the shingles would be of good quality.

Grumpy do you personally do any of the product installation in your buisness?

RemStar

Grumpy... do you recommend offering a 10 year warranty? Has it cost you any real amount of money more than just offering a standard 5.

I believe the warranty is a huge part of being able to sell a roof for 300 /sq. vs 200 sq.

Have you had any problems offer 10 years standard?

Grumpy

I offer the 10 year warranty because I believe in my heart that if we do the roof right it shouldn't leak for at least 10 years. It has not cost me anything extra because to be honest our roofs seldom leak, and when they do it's a simple correct and happens within the first year or two. When I am allowed to do the roof my way and the guys take the time to do it right, the roof should not leak. The only time it does is when they rush.

Now you have to have good guys working for you to give such a warranty... either that or plan to be out of business so you don't give a chit about the warranty.

But the point of my previous reply was to let someone else take the responsibility if you're really interested in selling warrantys. As for selling the 3 star or 4 star, I don't even bring them up. Take my guarantee or the 5 star. Why confuse the heck outta the customer?

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

MGP Roofing

All the CertainTeed roofs we do have a full system warranty that applies for the same length of time as the manufacturer warranty - 20, 30, 40 or 50 years, backed by the shingle importer, Skellerup. I think they do the same for their low slope products, too.
Thats the best warranty in this country, beats everything else in the market including clay tile, steel etc. only better i've heard of is Welsh slate which has a 100year warranty though im sure thats only on the slate not flashings etc.
However, one condition of the warranty is that regular inspections by a qualified person are undertaken presumably to catch any problems early, before they become major.

Grumpy

This is common of commercial roofs, but not of the residential roof (or at least not that I have read in the warranty documents). However this is a great revenue base for established roofing copanys to get their key guys half-days of work on the rain days. Sign up maintenance agreements with the customers to inspect bi-annually and on the rain days go take a look at a few roofs and send out the invoices.

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

DarrenSlaughter

From a sales and marketing perspective, if you can offer a better warranty than your competition then you do it. If it is something you can use to create a differentiator in the marketplace you do it.

Again, this is entirely on the marketing side. If it becomes an issue then you should change it up. Think about all the benefits a longer warranty offers, better reputation for workmanship, more traffic as people will begin to seek you out...and a lot of BS from the guys you compete against! Good luck with whatever you choose!

Grumpy

If you are in business for 2 years and offering 10 year warranty's it makes people questions. Trust me I know. "You've only been in business 2 years, how do we know you'll be here in 10?"

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

RemStar

Meh everone starts somewhere. I did decide to go ahead with offering a 20 year warranty with complete Ice & water sheild...AND It has worked Miracles... Turns a 6000 dollar job into a 10000 dollar job...With a huge margin on the upsell.

I offered it to 3 people and 2 people decided to go with it, even though it almost doubles the job cost. In the big picture I really think this will help set my company aside as a premium service provider in my area. Thanks for the feedback guys.

Who does Maintence agreements and what do they entail..and what do you charge for them(if you dont mind sharing).
I am probibly not going to dable in that but wouldnt mind knowing for future possibilities of potential income generation.

Another question... Offering a long term waranty what type of problems am I likely to encounter...and what should be coverd and what shouldnt be? Like wind damage? what should my stance be on that?