What Voids A Roof Warranty?
If You Are Wondering What Will Void A Roof Warranty, Then Read On To Keep Your Warranty Safe For The Entire Lifespan.
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Roof Warranty Overview
Building a home or renovating an old home does not come cheap. As such, most people take a lot of comfort from their home warranty. With this, they are assured that they won’t have to go back into their pockets should anything happen to parts of the house that are under warranty such as the roof.
With that said, it’s important to ensure that you keep your warranty valid. Here we will go over the most common types of events that void roof warranties so you can avoid doing them and keep your warranty valid as long as possible.
First Things First: What The Warranty Covers
All warranties are not created equal. This means that different companies cover different things in their warranties. For example, company A might cover labor, materials, or both, while company B might not. Another thing that varies is the warranty period. In other scenarios, a company will have a warranty solely for the current roof owner, and they cannot transfer it to another individual. All of these things are something you should be aware of when accepting your roof warranty so make sure to read everything before signing.
The main types of warranties that most roofing contractors or manufacturers offer are:
Standard Warranty
The standard manufacturer’s warranty covers your roof against any form of material defect from the manufacturer. For roofing materials like asphalt shingles, the common warranty period is 25-30 years. This warranty will not cover damage resulting from poor installation practices.
Workmanship Warranty
These are issued by roofing contractors and vary in coverage and length depending on the materials being used and the roofer. These warranties will cover you if the roof was installed wrong and for any damage caused inside your home or your property during the installation.
Extended Warranty
So What Voids A Roof Warranty?
Improper Roof Ventilation
There are numerous roofing ventilation systems. The different types work by drawing in air from intake & exhaust vents placed on the roof. That being said, inadequate venting traps heat and moisture in your roof decking and attic. This damages shingles by accelerating wear and fading. The damage goes beyond aesthetics. Trapped heat and moisture can also damage the structural integrity of both your attic space, roof and your roof underlayment.
After installation, keep an eye on your ventilation and ensure regular inspection to ensure it works properly at all times.
Poor Installation
Roofing materials manufacturers can be very rigid as it pertains to installation requirements. As such, each product comes with strict regulations to guide the installation. These can get as specific as the number of nails to use per shingle to the appropriate length and diameter of the nails to use.
Care has to be taken to use the right nails, avoid crooked nails, fasten roofing materials correctly and avoid overdriving them into the materials.
Manufacturers advise that you get your roof installed by a contractor that has handled the same roofing material before. This brings an additional level of expertise to the project. If, say, your shingles were to be blown off due to incorrect fastening, the manufacturer is unlikely to honor that warranty. This leaves either yourself or your contractor to cater for the damage.
Be sure only to hire qualified, well-recommended contractors familiar with the roof you are looking to install.
Satellite Dishes and Antennas
Antennas and satellite dishes might be central to your entertainment at home. However, these might lead to warranty issues should you need to make a claim. These are often installed by drilling into the roof decking of the house. Depending on the finer details of a warranty document, this can be enough reason to void a warranty.
The justification for this is that you might experience roof leaks through the drilled holes if the installation is done poorly. These would then have nothing to do with a faulty or malfunctioning roof from the manufacturer but would result from poor workmanship after the fact.
Ensure to read your warranty thoroughly to see if this is a clause contained in the document before adding any external penetrations to your roof.
Skylights
Skylights look great and can increase the value of your property. However, just like satellite dishes and antennas, they call for some drilling on your roof which can cause problems.
Again, any fixtures of major projects on the roof that include shingle removal or penetration are grounds for a voided warranty. Drilling on the roof can make it susceptible to leaks, weakening, and other issues. If you want to have a skylight on your roof, the best way is to have them installed around the same time as the roof installation.
Do solar panels void a roof warranty? Yes, they can. Some manufacturers will void your warranty on the part of the roof where the panel is installed. If you want your warranty to cover solar panels as well, make sure to give us a call for the best solar installers in Denver.
Pressure Washing
Having a wide surface area means your roof is open to trapping and holding all kinds of things. These include debris, dirt, dust, leaves, clutter, moss, and so on. Homeowners love the look of a clean roof and gutters and power washing it off can be tempting, but don’t do it just yet.
While some of these can be harmless, others not so much. Moss, for example, traps moisture against the roof’s surface. This can cause shingles to crack, increase frost damage, cause premature aging, and so on. This has made pressure washing a quick and effective solution of mainlining a squeaky clean roof. But not so fast. Pressure washing damages shingles. This is because shingles do not withstand that close-range pressure as well as they should. As a result, this can cause a voided warranty so be careful and speak to your roofer first before breaking out the power washer.
Layering
At times, contractors will prefer to lay new shingles over old ones instead of completely tearing down the old layer. This saves the contractor some time and saves the client a reasonable amount in labor costs. As tempting as this might be, it might bring your problems with your warranty down the line. This is because the second layer of shingles slows down heat expansion. This significantly shortens the lifespan of shingles.
Layering might also cause new shingles to stick to old ones, causing bulges on the roof. Aside from adhering to each other, laying a new layer over an old one also wears the roof’s structural integrity. This additional weight might cause the roof to sag over time. If this is prohibited in your warranty, always ensure to tear down old shingles and roofing materials before installing a new roof.
Non-Approved Decking
A qualified contractor can assess decking and determine whether or not it’s adequate for shingle placement. How they do the job matters as well. For example, using oversized sheathing can cause shingles to buckle over time. These actions can nullify your roof’s warranty.
Excessive Traffic or Roof Misuse
For buildings of commercial use, roofs will often double as outdoor ways, smoking bays, patios, and even bars and restaurants. Therefore, the type of roof you get must be designed to handle whatever use you intend to install it for. So, does walking on a roof void the warranty? If you use a roof in ways it was not designed for, it can get damaged pretty quickly without reaching its lifespan and void your warranty.
In Summary…
A lot goes into warranties and ensuring they remain valid. One of the best things you can do when installing a new roof is to ensure a reputable roofing company handles the project. These experts will install the roof according to the manufacturer’s specifications and offer counsel on other matters along the way.
Do you have any questions regarding roof warranties? Give us a call!
