What you need to know about Asphalt Shingle Warranties

On occasion we will bid on churches and large buildings with an asphalt shingle as an option if they cannot afford our metal roofing.  I was surprised to see recently that manufactures are now offering “Lifetime Limited Warranties” on what was recently called a 30 year shingle!  That 30 year shingle back in 1999 was called a 25 year shingle.  Years before that,  a higher quality shingle was called a 15 year shingle.  The history of asphalt shingles is a long one and recently, a history of deception.

Most consumers wonder how manufacturers are able to avoid the financial liability for providing warranties that are DECADES LONGER than the known, and documented, lifespan of the shingles.  Manufacturers can, and do, market asphalt shingles with unrealistic warranties because:

a) What accountability is there?  Most homeowners will NOT risk $100,000 in legal costs – to enforce warranty coverage on a $15,000 roof.

b) Class Action Lawsuits on asphalt shingles did not begin until the late 1990’s.  And, to date, asphalt shingle class action lawsuits have proven to be very inefficient in bringing reform – paying pennies on the dollar.

c) Generally speaking, all the premature failures related to the natural “aging” of fiberglass asphalt shingles are NOT guaranteed as part of the specific “Limited” warranty coverage.

In a nutshell, there are only 2 categories of roofing materials,  “Permanent” and “Temporary” materials.  Most asphalt shingle manufacture’s warranties are a small book of fine print.  We used to joke around on the crew back in the old days installing asphalt shingles with 1 1/4″ hand nails: “I’d hate to be the roofer to tear this roof off!”  Hard to imagine that some young men have already had to do just that!

Take a moment to have a look at our warranty page.  You will not only see the amazing difference between our metal roofing and an asphalt shingle warranty,  you will also see the difference between Gerard’s warranty and our stone-coated steel competitors warranty!