Does anyone on here know if Firestone issues just membrane warranties without being a certified installer???
You could probably go to their website and look it up. I can tell you that as far as I know they do not warranty any residential work at this time.
I say this because I am assuming if you were doing commercial work you wouldn’t be asking that question.
Yes I do commercial roofing but I’m not certified by Firestone or know their regulations. I am exploring their service and product as well as trying to understand where they stand on warranties.
Warranties are about getting more money.
thats there policy
Nice residential work bennnet. The reason I am asking is because the owner is asking asking for it and usually in the commercial division its standard for the warranty to be additional cost. The owners dont mind paying for it because if you are doing Half-a Mill job they dont mind paying 15 cents more per Sq. Ft.
You have to do a certain number of squares to be a firestone certified installer. Usually they will come an offer it to you. This why they have a private label brand called Gen-Flex try them or Carlisle Syntec for that matter.
You can get a membrane only warranty for $50 I believe right from the distributer. The others are right about no residential warrantys but I believe thats the ndls only.
It also takes a bit more than putting on a few hundred square to get licensed. The sales rep in the area has to want to sign the contractor up. They all want one but not every qualified roofer gets a license.
Find out from the distributer who the rep is and give him a call you never know.
firestone will not issue you a warranty as you are not an approved installer.even if you want to pay for it
I’ll let you all in on a little secret if you don’t already know it: Warranties generally aren’t worth the paper they are written on, and actually limit the manufacturer’s liabilities. Depending on the laws of merchantabilty in your particular state, you may actually be better off not purchasing the warranty.
The problem of course, would be trying to take Firestone to court before your money ran out. Some of the large companies I’ve dealt with in the past don’t buy warranties, because they have deep pockets and can wage a legal battle if necessary, and because their attorneys have advised them of the wisdom of not having a warranty written by the manufacturer and for the manufacturer.
Alot of times this is true but mostly with residential warranty’s. Ive seen company’s like Firestone pay for repairs they never should have had to just to keep the customer happy. And most commercial warranty’s like Firestones cover all labor, materials and are not prorated. They cover most anything besides damage and excessive winds. Including faulty installations. Which is why they are picky as to who they license.
That is not entirely true. Although, I’ve seen Carlisle, Firestone and Tamko step up and repair problems, they have all been manufacturing defects. Make no mistake about it, the manufacturer’s warranty only protects you against manufacturing defects. Installation is covered by the contractor’s warranty for generally 2 - 5 years. I’m fighting with GAF right now to get them to honor their warranty on an older roof on a condominium building in Houston.
As for the NDL warranties, they still limit the manufacturer to the cost of replacing the failed roof. They do not cover the cost of interior or structural damages, which you could sue for if you didn’t sign the waiver of liability better known as the manufacturer’s warranty. That is why large corporations typically don’t buy the warranty, because they know they have more power to recoup damages under the state laws of merchantability. Besides, I haven’t looked in awhile, but I believe most warranties also stipulate that claims will be handled in arbitration not court.
I beg to differ on that. The large single ply company’s like carlisle and firestones warranty’s do for a fact cover installation issues such as seams and corners or drains if they leak. The contractor is responsible to the manufacture for 2 years and after that any issues are paid by the manufacture. Even if the cause is from an improperly installed seam,corner ect… And if the contractor happens to go under the manufacture will pay another contractor to repair the issues. Thats why every warranted roof gets an inspection by the manufacture.
And large corporations do buy warranties on a very regular basis. For example: Walmart, Meijers, Home depot, Lowes, Costo, Best buy, Circuit city, Gm, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, At&t, local, state and federal government agencies, hospitals, school districts and on and on. They all purchase ndl warranties on everything they roof.
All manufactures are not the same mind you so GAF or Mulehide and the like may not be as customer friendly as the larger commercial manufactures are. Especially to repeat customers. In turn its easier to get approved to install for these.
You are correct, I wasn’t thinking about the long-term coverage. Carlisle, Firestone, and the rest generally will make repairs to leaks after the contractor’s warranty expires (typically 2 years as you stated). The thinking behind the manfacturers’ is that after 2-years any workmanship issues should become apparent. The rest of what I said is correct.
As for large corporations buying or not buying warranties, a lot of that has to do with knowing what you are buying. I deal with school districts and government agencies that have to buy the warranty, while others do it for that fuzzy warm feeling, even though all they’ve bought is a piece of paper most of the time.
Do you realize that manufacturer’s can and have voided warranties because of acid rain, or the owner’s failure to have the roof inspected on a periodic basis as stipulated in the warranty? Trust me, the manufacturer’s don’t give out free roofs unless they think it will lead to them losing more business (Wal-Mart would be a good example), or they know they will lose in arbitration.