Lifetime warranties "where is your roofing business heading "

Don't you just get that warm and fuzzy feeling when you talk to your shingle rep or walk through a trade show . They all pump us up with extended and lifetime warranties on there shingles ,just what I want to hear "not". I would rather have them talk to me how they are going to hopefully increases my sales in the future as well as of today and I think you would agree that non biodegradable lifetime shingles are not the answer. Do you want to be a roofing contractor or maintenance contractor for the shingle manufacturer. The day of the repeat customer is coming to a end.

Warranties have always been a marketing tool to persuade a buyer that there is no risk associated with the purchase. As marketing documents, there is equal parts of selling a dream (50 years! Lifetime! ) and covering the company a$$ (that's the fine print). The trick is to get rid of the liability created by the promise as soon as possible, and since the average home gets sold/transferred every 7 years on the average, each transfer creates an opportunity to get rid of the liability. There are usually other escape hatches (installed as per manufacturer's instructions; meets the minimum insulation/ventilation standards according to the local code, etc), which make it difficult for a buyer to hold the manufacturer to account. But the average homeowner doesn't want to be confused by the facts (just give me the amount I have to pay, and it better be as low as possible), and they certainly don't do their homework on what the warranties are actually worth.

Agreed! ;)

GKRFG said it right when he said the new homeowner won't have a claim under the warranty. It may end up the third homeowner that has the problem. The average homeowner moves every 7-9 years. Most of these roofs are definatley going to last 15 -20 years. It's after that that the shingles will be falling apart and the warranty will no longer be an issue. No one will keep the paper work that long and the tanferrable warranties only go to the next owner. No one will remember the manufactuer.

Here ya go, I just found out the future of the business. Not our businesses but the manufacturers business.

http://www.audetlaw.com/index.php/case/tamko_roofing_shingles?gclid=CJP44Mn5grkCFQyk4AodO24Arg

Making Dimensional shingles in TWO seperate pieces and glueing them together is a big problem.

Could they not be made in ONE piece?

Just get ready to write bigger checks at the landfill!

:laugh:

You know, before man. warranties were worth reading, the 15 year 3-tab was only good for 17-22 years. The new lifetime don't seem to last as long, do they? :laugh:

I've picked up a lot of "Lifetime" Shingles out of customers yards. Well, the bottom half of the so called Lifetime shingle anyways which came unglued from the top half.

In my opinion: ( which probably isn't worth much but here goes) here is the expected longevity for different year shingles.

20 yr. 3-tabs: 15 yrs.

25 yr. 3-tabs: 20 yrs.

30 yr. Dim. 25 yrs.

40 yr. Dim. 25 yrs.

50 yr. Dim 25 yrs.

Lifetime: 25 yrs.

And that's if you've been living right my friends! ;)

I've been tearing off "life-time" shingles. I've also installed "life-time" shingles (oldest is 7 years now), and will have to see just how long the ones I've put on actually last.

As for homeowners' understanding of warranties, there is a lot of wishful thinking going on. Many resent it when I walk them through the fine print in the warranty documents and explain to them what this means. A few (too few!) want to really understand and ensure that they have a clear and realistic idea of what needs to be done, but they are rare. The majority want the problems to be simple, and the fix to be easy and cheap. Riiiiggghtt.

I am not saying maintenance to the homeowner is bad ,but what I mean is that as long as the shingle mfg. keep producing a more durable longer lasting product it will effect the amount of repeat business and service across the board, we all know that a properly installed roof requires very little to no maintenance,we have found that 99 percent of roof failure is application error this will insure the service end. When I started roofing shingle carried 15 & 20 yr prorated warranties and showed signs of needing replaced at 13 to 18 that was good for the contractor and mfg. creating more profitable bottom lines and creating more jobs, as for the homeowner wanting a one time roof and as a homeowner myself that great but from a business view we all would rather replace a roof every 13 to 18 yrs. rather than 30 to 40 . I think that due to the compition between shingle mfg. they have lost site of the contractor.You know that the technology to make a tire to last 150,000 miles is out there but do you see them do it ask yourself why ?

I love being a maintenance contractor !!

sorry.

Roofmaster:" Do you want to be a roofing contractor or maintenance contractor for the shingle manufacturer. "

I AM a maintenance contractor for the "Home Owner".

Homeowner's want to get a roof ONE time and never have to need it again. Big business of all kinds have done their homework and know how to manipulate them/us.

These roofs will NOT last for a lifetime!

Who needs lifetime shingles. Anymore we can just shoot AG metal down and never see those shingles again! Its cheaper though, right?!

All my quotes for lifetime shingles read "lifetime" shingles, and then I explain it. I think it was a ploy in the beginning, they know 80% of roofers aren't going to hit that almost non-existent nail line every time. Especially when them and their six buddies have to pump out two 20sq roofs a day to make enough to live decent.

Welcome to RCS!