roofing warranty Archives - Distinctive Metal Roofing

It’s easy to be misled by warranties written by asphalt manufacturers.

The sad thing is, many of us take them at face value instead of really reading what the warranty covers. In every asphalt warranty, it’s clear that what the bulk of the warranty covers is “manufacturing defects”. This simply means that for as long as they state, which is often 50 years or “lifetime”, nothing they’ve done in the manufacturing process will cause their material to fail.

Read on a little further in the warranty documentation and you’ll soon realize that the circumstances that cause your roof to fail are not covered, or are covered for a limited amount of time before they pro-rate heavily. Pro-ration insures the manufacturer that by the time you need the warranty, it will be expired, or worth pennies on the dollar.

They say that asphalt roofing only makes sense for the rich. They can afford to do it over, and over, and over again.

The Kassel & Irons Limited Lifetime Warranty

The Kassel & Irons 40 Year Limited Lifetime Warranty Kassel & Irons Lifetime/40-Year Transferable Limited Warranty serves as your reminder of the product’s “Best in Industry” protection. As long as you own your home, Kassel & Irons Lifetime Warranty is in full effect and never pro-rates. And unlike many other roofing warranties, the Kassel & Irons warranty transfers to all future owners during the first 40 years after installation, is still not pro-rated, and provides not only replacement materials but also replacement labor should a warranted failure occur.

So which would you choose, a product designed to fail with pro-rated warranty that covers “manufacturing defects,” or a lifetime product with a warranty that is not pro-rated, and covers materials AND labor? We at Distinctive Metal Roofing think that the choice is easy…especially with the weather here in Cleveland and Pittsburgh. How about you?

If I tell you that I’ll warrant your toaster against manufacturing defects for 30, 40, 50 years, or a “lifetime”, do you think your toaster will last for 30, 40, 50 years, or a “lifetime”? Notice, I didn’t say I’d warrant your toaster’s serviceability for a “lifetime”.

Time and time again, I’m told that someone has replaced their roof with a 30, 40, 50, or “Lifetime” asphalt roof. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the only thing that’s “Lifetime” about an asphalt roof is that you’ll be replacing it over and over again…for a LIFETIME. What’s really covered for those time periods? Do you know? Well, if you’re like me and want to know what you’re buying, you’ll research expensive purchases pretty thoroughly. Most people don’t, unfortunately. They’re the ones who keep buying asphalt roofs and wonder why they’ve failed “prematurely”. The thing is, they haven’t failed prematurely in most cases, they’ve just failed against a homeowner’s unrealistic expectations that they’d last 30, 40, 50 years, or a “Lifetime”.

Asphalt roofing warranties will typically tell you that most things that can happen to an asphalt roof (blow offs, failure to seal, granule loss, streaking, etc.) are only covered for a VERY limited period of time, and often pro-rated during that time, or immediately after. What IS covered for 30, 40, 50 years, or “Lifetime” is manufacturing defects.

When’s the last time you used a warranty for a “manufacturing defect” to get a replacement for anything you’ve purchased? Yep, that’s what I thought. We’re too smart to be fooled by asphalt warranties that have been used as marketing ploys for years by the asphalt roofing industry. Metal roofing warranties really mean “lifetime” when they say it….your lifetime, and even then, many are transferable to the next owner. Please call me and I’ll send you an asphalt warranty and our metal roofing warranty and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about once you compare and contrast the two. An excerpt from one of the major asphalt players appears next to this post. Unfathomable that they say “lifetime” and “15 years” in the very same sentence, no? And later in the warranty, it tells us that the algae warranty is pro-rated after the first year. Tricky stuff!

Tag: roofing warranty

Asphalt Roofing – The Epitome of Planned Obsolescence

The Kassel & Irons Limited Lifetime Warranty

HEY CLEVELAND AND NORTHEAST OHIO…. READ THOSE ROOFING WARRANTIES!