Is Roofing a DIY Job – Warranty Considerations

DIY-capable homeowners do their research.  They select the best products, they shop for the best prices.  Certainly warranty of the underlying material is part of what drove you to selecting your roofing materials.  A new roof is a significant investment with a long life (30-50 years on asphalt shingles).  A good warranty could save you a bundle, in the event there are problems in the future.
 
However, the manufacturer’s warranty only covers manufacturing defects in the roofing material itself.  Architectural shingles may well include a Lifetime limited warranty from manufacturing defects to the original homeowner.  This may even be transferrable to the next subsequent homeowner (if you sell your house).  However note that this is shingles only, many other materials (read the under the shingles series) do not have the same warranty.
 
More importantly, this warranty doesn’t cover two (2) items:

1. Installation or workmanship
2. Labor to replace the defective shingles

 
Asphalt roofing companies operate high-technology manufacturing plants; the risk of manufacturing defects is very low; hence why they can offer generous warranties.  At the same time, manufacturers are very aggressive in inspecting the roof prior to providing warranty coverage and have identified that most causes of “warranty” claims are due to the installer’s workmanship, and not the material itself.  I have seen situations of delaminating shingles where the manufacturer simply dropped a handful of new bundles on the driveway and left.  So while you may think you have limited-Lifetime coverage, you may have nothing. 

What can you do to protect yourself?  As a professional roofing contractor in business for over 20 years, and with intent to stay in business and service my customers longer, I provide warranty coverage against any errors in workmanship.  In addition, I am “Installer Certified” for several lines of asphalt shingles that I install; the manufacturer’s warranty includes a reasonable labor or installation cost to repair or replaced manufacturing defects in these situations.
 
One of the biggest motivations of DIY is saving money.  Make sure you understand the limitations of the manufacturer’s warranty.  More importantly though, make sure you don’t try to spend dollars to chase dimes.  By that I mean, don’t try to save money on your roof by DIY if you think you will have warranty coverage later.  And with your house as your most significant investment, do you really want to risk your first line of defense against the weather to trying to save a few dollars?  You likely have other home improvements you would like to focus on; leaving roofing to the roofing professionals will enable you to undertake these other projects, and know that you have warranty coverage for installation and workmanship errors as well as labor in the situation of manufacturer’s defect.

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