# Standard warranty on flat roofs?



## Hushpuppy (Feb 10, 2006)

Hi,

We need to replace the flat roof of our brick two unit apartment building. We have found a company with good reputation. Their quote is reasonable, but we have two concerns that we want to get feedback about:

1. The masonry contractor that they recommended was unreliable and hard to converse with (We have found one that we are comfortable with) but this makes us question the roofing contractor.

2. The job has a 7 year warranty. We would like to know if this is the standard in the industry or should we be concerned about it.

Any feedback is appreciated

thanks
the Pupp


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## Talos4 (Aug 10, 2006)

7 year warranty? 

Is that a contractors labor/ material warranty? 

Manufacturers warranty's are usually 5, 10, 15, 20.


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## Ed the Roofer (Jan 27, 2007)

A reasonable standard period for the contractors labor warranty period, is around 2 years per the Midwest Roofing Contractors Association And the National Roofing Contractors Association.

The NRCA has a very useful guide as to how to select a qualified contractor. Usually, longer periods of workmanship warranties are sales gimmicks, and sometimes are neccessitated by the opposing companies in the marketplace. 

ie; But xyz is offering a 10 year labor warranty. (Yeah, and they have only been in business for 2-3 or 4 years.)

The credibility of the company and the proper adherance to the correct manufacturers required specifications are much more important than a useless wad of paper. See how they have reacted on a 5-7 year old warranty issue in the past. 

Ed


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## Hushpuppy (Feb 10, 2006)

Thank you!

The proposal reads:
7 year guarantee against leaking
12 year material warranty.

I take it these are ok from your responses.

Thanks again! :thumbsup:


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## Ed the Roofer (Jan 27, 2007)

That is more than adequate for a workmanship warranty period.

Have they been in business for over 7 years at this point though?

Ed

P.S. I just noticed you are from Chicago. What section of town? I'm out in the Dundee/Elgin area. I'm not trying to silicit the job away from the other company, by the way.


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## Hushpuppy (Feb 10, 2006)

Thanks, Ed. Yes they've been in business for a while (Since 1990). One ofter forgets that the warranty is only good as long as the company is still around . We're actually in Oak Park, a cozy little burb nestled alongside the Windy City.

Hopefully things will go well. We feel better knowing that the warranty is decent. We feel nervous after some of our other contractor experiences, though...


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