There have been several glaring examples recently of issues related to warranty that I would like to discuss. It also pertains to why you should use a professional installer for your remodeling projects. At Levco we use subcontractors proudly because they specialize in installing their products and are certified by the manufacturer. What does this mean to you? It means that although it may not look that difficult to install a particular roofing material or flooring for example, in many cases the manufacturer won’t warranty the product unless it was installed by a certified installer.

Anyone can install laminate flooring, right?

Laminate flooring

Case in point a builder installed laminate flooring to save a buck but the floor cracks and pops when you walk on it. The owners had no idea and are frustrated that their floor has essentially failed. Could it have been faulty product? Possibly, but the manufacturer is off the hook because a non certified installer put it in. In another example, a potential client called to have me look at a roofing job that went sideways. Turns out the roofer made recommendations on having a porch roof rebuilt “while they were at it” and went beyond their permitted scope and ended up screwing up the guy’s house in a historic district. In addition, a membrane roof was also installed by this company that was chosen because they had the best price.

Hey what about my roof!

Roofers In Action

Did the roof get put on, “you bet” looks like they knew what they were doing to the owner. Upon careful scrutiny by the city inspector there are some very suspicious areas that are sure to leak not to mention multiple code violations. The contractor was clearly not certified.

We live on the edge of a desert and although it is raining right now ( and is predicted to all week) we don’t get much rain here. Two years down the line when there is a problem and the roofing company is not around, theoretically the manufacturer would cover the repairs by another certified installer.

In this case the  the product wasn’t installed correctly and there is no warranty. The owner is out of luck. At Levco this does not happen because although there are not many rules for roofing installation, we understand the importance of having subcontractors that are certified in the materials they are installing.

Although I laugh when I say “we live in America everything is warrantied. ” The truth is that when your read the fine print, in most cases, the product is only warrantied when installed by a certified installer. Buyer beware.