Roof shingles don't live up to warranties: Marketplace

Last Updated: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 | 3:10 PM ET Comments66 Recommend86

CBC News

Roofing contractor Mike Kavanaugh points out shingles that have deteriorated while still under warranty. (CBC)

Roofing shingles are deteriorating well before their guaranteed lifetime warranties, an investigation by CBC-TV's Marketplace has found.

The Marketplace team headed out with roofing contractor Mike Kavanagh to inspect some roofs in Markham, Ont., including one that he installed himself.

“We’re finding at 12 years they’re falling apart,” said Kavanagh. “Just crumbling. This roof is supposed to last 25 years and this basically looks to me to be garbage.”

Canadian shingle companies sell products with warranties of 25, 30 and 40 years, including some with a “lifetime” warranty.

Ten years ago, Larry Bingley forked out $3,000 for a new roof, and not being one to take chances, he opted for more expensive shingles that came with a 25-year warranty.

“I figured 25-year shingles was about the premium, so that would last me a lifetime,” said Bingley.

Markham, Ont., homeowner Larry Bingley had to replace his roofing shingles just 10 years after they were installed. (CBC)

But last year, his roof sprang two leaks.

“I said, what’s this 25-year warranty? And that’s when I found out about the limited section of it,” said Bingley.

Kavanagh, who installed Bingley’s roof, examined it and found the shingles had deteriorated well before their warranty, in fact, nearly 15 years before the warranty was to expire.

“You can see all kinds of granules and larger pieces of shingles in your eavestrough. These ones are starting to dry out very quickly, and they’re not going to last much longer,” said Kavanagh.

Bingley made a warranty claim to the company that sold him the shingles, manufacturing giant IKO.

With 30 production facilities in North America and Europe, IKO agreed to replace the rotten shingles, but Bingley is still out of pocket.

“They offered me 26 bundles of Cambridge 30-year shingles, which has a value of something like $600,” said Bingley.

Bingley said he believes IKO should pay for the shingles and the labour to replace the whole roof, a cost estimated at $6,000.

When contacted by Marketplace about shingles failing too early, IKO said it stood "behind our products and our warranties,’’ and blamed improper installation for early deterioration.

Roofing shingles are deteriorating well before their guaranteed lifetime warranties, an investigation by CBC-TV's Marketplace has found.

The Marketplace team headed out with roofing contractor Mike Kavanagh to inspect some roofs in Markham, Ont., including one that he installed himself.

“We’re finding at 12 years they’re falling apart,” said Kavanagh. “Just crumbling. This roof is supposed to last 25 years and this basically looks to me to be garbage.”

Canadian shingle companies sell products with warranties of 25, 30 and 40 years, including some with a “lifetime” warranty.

Ten years ago, Larry Bingley forked out $3,000 for a new roof, and not being one to take chances, he opted for more expensive shingles that came with a 25-year warranty.

“I figured 25-year shingles was about the premium, so that would last me a lifetime,” said Bingley.

But last year, his roof sprang two leaks.

“I said, what’s this 25-year warranty? And that’s when I found out about the limited section of it,” said Bingley.

Kavanagh, who installed Bingley’s roof, examined it and found the shingles had deteriorated well before their warranty, in fact, nearly 15 years before the warranty was to expire.

“You can see all kinds of granules and larger pieces of shingles in your eavestrough. These ones are starting to dry out very quickly, and they’re not going to last much longer,” said Kavanagh.

Bingley made a warranty claim to the company that sold him the shingles, manufacturing giant IKO.

With 30 production facilities in North America and Europe, IKO agreed to replace the rotten shingles, but Bingley is still out of pocket.

“They offered me 26 bundles of Cambridge 30-year shingles, which has a value of something like $600,” said Bingley.

Bingley said he believes IKO should pay for the shingles and the labour to replace the whole roof, a cost estimated at $6,000.

When contacted by Marketplace about shingles failing too early, IKO said it stood "behind our products and our warranties,’’ and blamed improper installation for early deterioration.

GAF announced in January 2011 that they were going to change the warranty on all their fiberglass asphalt laminated shingles. No longer would they call their 30 year shingles "30" year. They now would have a "Limited Lifetime" Warranty.

The manufacturer apparently is not promising that their shingles are going to "last" a lifetime. In fact, they do not say how long the shingles will last even when they called the shingles a "30 year Limited Warranty". What they are saying is this ... They offer a Limited Lifetime Warranty that promises that they made the shingles according to the standards they said they would make them, free of manufacturing defects, and for the life (or 50years) of the original owner who purchased the shingles they would stand by that commitment. THEY DO NOT PROMISE how long they will last. They do say that if the manufacturer made defective shingles not to the standard that they committed to, they would offer certain remediation pro-rated on a reducing limited scale to certain maximum dollar values. They are not offering warranty about longevity, or degrading appearance of shingles over a period of time. They are simply saying "we offer a promise that we made the shingles with the quality we promised you, and that promise lasts a lifetime".

On properties that are not as likely to be sold as often .... multi-family projects and commercial buildings ... the warranty commitment is limited to 20 years maximum for this promise. Why ? Because those units are more likely to have kept the original warranty documents and are therefore far to likely to attempt to make claims against shingles that are looking or appearing to degrade inside of twenty years (which is highly likely).

It is a marketing department's ploy and strategy to differentiate themselves from the competition, and that might mislead consumers into believing that thin lighter duty asphalt shingles were suddenly going to last far longer than anyone has ever thought they would last.

Most shingle manufacturers have responded to match the "Limited Lifetime Warranty", even though they were not planning any upgrades to their shingles. They simply would allow their marketing departments to make "promises that last a lifetime" (one time transferrable to the next homeowner) if all conditions have been met, that they also made shingles to the standard they said they would.

So, no one has an advantage again. We simply have grandiose (in our opinion) misleading statements of promises that last a lifetime or 50 years, whichever comes sooner.

What we also have is that shingle manufacturers have been able to substantially reduce the variety of shingle weights in their product offerings. GAF and Owens Corning have discontinued their mid-weight classes of shingles ... they no longer "40 year" shingles. They now will make a whole lot more "thinner" builder's grade entry level shingles, and they will still offer the thick versions of their shingles.

Certainteed still highly recommends that savvy consumers and discriminating buyers need to select their super thick shingles and heavy weight shingles if they want to make a smart choice.

Why do consumers need to consider thicker heavier weight shingles if all laminated fiberglass asphalt shingles now carry the same "Lifetime Limited Warranty" ?

Roof shingles don't live up to warranties: Marketplace

Last Updated: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 | 3:10 PM ET Comments66Recommend86

CBC News

Last Updated: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 | 3:10 PM ET Comments66 Recommend86