The Roof Life Plan

The part of your shingle warranty
nobody tells you about.

Every shingle we install carries a manufacturer warranty. Almost none of them pay for the labor to take the old roof off and put the new one on. That is the bill homeowners never see coming — and on this plan, it is ours.

One visit a yearOn the roof, not from the ground
No labor chargeOn any approved manufacturer claim
Photo reportPDF within two business days
Warranty stays liveFor as long as you stay on the plan

The gap

The manufacturer covers the shingles. Nobody covers the labor.

This is the single most misunderstood thing in roofing, and it costs homeowners thousands.

If your shingles turn out to be defective, the manufacturer will honor their warranty — by sending shingles. What arrives is a pallet of material in your driveway. Tearing the failed roof off, hauling it away and installing the new one is labor, and labor is most of what a roof costs. On a standard limited warranty, that part is yours.

On the Roof Life Plan, we do that labor for free. Where the manufacturer approves a claim and supplies the materials, we install them at no charge to you, for the area the manufacturer approves.

If a claim is approved Labor to tear off and reinstall
One slope, around 12 squares $3,900 – $5,100
A typical whole roof, 25 squares $8,100 – $10,600
A larger home, 40 squares $13,000 – $17,000

Our own installed labor cost, so you can see the size of the gap. Materials remain the manufacturer’s responsibility and any proration of them is theirs.

Every year

What actually happens on the visit

About an hour and a half on your roof, then a report you keep. Not a sales call.

First

We clear the roof

Leaf blower across the field, through the valleys, behind the chimney and against every wall. Debris holds water against the roof, and standing water is what rots decking and shortens shingle life. We check that the gutters and downspouts actually run while we are there.

Then

We walk it and photograph it

Field condition, granule loss, lifted or cracked shingles, nail pops, ridge and hip condition, ventilation. Photographed as found — whether or not anything needs doing. You get the pictures either way.

Then

We seal the flashings

Chimney, walls, valleys, pipe boots, vents and skylights, re-sealed as needed and included in the plan. Nearly every leak we get called to starts at a flashing, and sealant is the one part of a roof that wears out on a predictable schedule.

Finally

You get a report

A PDF within two business days: photographs, condition notes, anything worth watching, and confirmation your warranty is current for another year. When you sell the house, it is documented proof the roof was looked after.

Anything covered by the plan gets fixed while we are up there. Anything outside it gets photographed and quoted — never done without asking you first.

The plans

Two ways to be on it

Both include the annual visit, the report, the flashing work and the warranty. The second adds the chimney, through our sister company.

Roof only

Roof Life

  • Annual roof inspectionIncluded
  • Full debris clearingIncluded
  • Flashings re-sealed as neededIncluded
  • Photographic PDF reportIncluded
  • Matching shingles replacedOne bundle per 15 squares, every 5 years
  • Labor on an approved manufacturer claimNo charge
  • Workmanship warrantyWhile the plan is current
  • Scheduling after a stormPriority

$595 / year

Roofs up to 25 squares

Roof and chimney

Roof Life + Chimney

  • Everything in Roof LifeIncluded
  • Chimney inspectionNFPA 211 Level 1
  • Sweep where the flue needs itIncluded
  • Crown, cap and chase cover checkedIncluded
  • Roof and chimney in one reportIncluded
  • Visits combinedOne appointment

$845 / year

Roofs up to 25 squares

Larger roofs step up in price. Homes over 40 squares, or roofs with genuinely difficult access, are quoted individually rather than forced into a bracket — ask and we will tell you the number before you commit to anything.

The warranty

What it covers, and what it does not

The second list matters more than the first. A warranty that appears to cover everything is the one that turns into an argument on the day you need it.

Covered — our workmanship

  • +Leaks caused by how we installed the roof
  • +Fastening, nailing pattern and placement
  • +Flashing details, valleys, penetrations, terminations
  • +Underlayment, ice-and-water and drip edge
  • +Ventilation installed to the agreed specification
  • +Labor and materials to put any of it right, with no deductible

Not workmanship

  • ×Storm, hail, wind and fallen-tree damage — that is an insurance claim, and we will help you file it
  • ×Manufacturing defects in the shingles — the manufacturer covers those, and we cover the labor
  • ×Movement or failure of the building itself — rafters, trusses, walls or settlement. That is the house, not the roof covering
  • ×Ice damming where recommended ventilation or insulation work was declined
  • ×Damage from anyone else on the roof — satellite, solar, antennas, other trades
  • ×Interior finishes, contents and mould remediation

Decking is deliberately not on that list. We inspect every square foot of the deck once the old roof is off, and anything soft, delaminated or rotten is replaced before a single shingle goes down — photographed as we go, so you see what was under there. Bad decking is not a surprise we leave for you to discover in year six. It is the reason we tear off rather than lay over.

The rules

In plain language, before you sign anything

There is no version of this where the fine print says something different from the sales pitch.

  • Who it coversThe person named on the installation contract, at the property where we installed the roof.
  • How long it lastsFor as long as the plan stays current, up to 30 years from installation on asphalt shingles and 40 years on standing seam metal. We will not warrant a roof for longer than the roof is built to last.
  • If the plan lapsesThe warranty ends. You get 30 days written notice first, and you can reinstate within 90 days by settling up. After that it takes a fresh inspection at your cost.
  • If you sell the houseIt passes to the buyer only if they take over the annual plan without a break. There is no transfer fee. If nobody continues the plan, the warranty ends with the sale.
  • AccessOne scheduled visit a year, at a reasonable time we agree with you. Two documented failed attempts count as a refusal.
  • Manufacturer claimsWhere the manufacturer approves a claim and supplies materials, we install them free of labor charge, for the area they approve. If they approve one slope, that is the slope we do.
  • Shingle allowanceOne bundle of matching shingles for every 15 squares of roof, once every five years. A bundle covers about 33 square feet, so a typical 25-square roof carries a two-bundle allowance. It is a repair allowance for shingles we find lifted or cracked at inspection. It is not a partial re-roof, and we would rather say so now than disappoint you later.
  • Color matchingBest effort. Shingle lines get discontinued and weathered shingles never match new ones exactly. Anyone who promises otherwise is guessing.
  • Roofs we did not installYou can buy the service, the clearing and the report on any roof. The workmanship warranty attaches only to roofs we built — we will not warrant work we never saw go on.

Straight answers

Questions people actually ask

Is this just an extended warranty I am paying for?

No. You are buying a service — a visit, a cleaning, flashing work and a report — and the warranty is what stays alive because of it. If we never came out, we would be guessing about the condition of your roof, and a promise made blind is not worth much. The inspection is what makes the warranty real.

Why does my roof need clearing at all?

Leaves and needles pile up in valleys, behind chimneys and along walls, and they hold water against the roof surface long after the rain stops. That is how decking rots and how shingles age early. On a wooded lot in this valley it is the single most useful thing anyone does for a roof.

What happens if I skip a year?

The warranty ends. We will write to you first and give you 30 days, and you can reinstate within 90 days by settling up. Past that we would need to inspect the roof again at your cost before putting the warranty back on, because we would no longer know what condition it is in.

Does the warranty cover storm damage?

No, and no honest roofer’s workmanship warranty does. Storm damage is what your homeowner’s insurance is for, and we handle those claims constantly — we will document it and help you file. What our warranty covers is our own work.

I already have a lifetime warranty on my shingles. Why do I need this?

Because that warranty pays for shingles and not for labor, and labor is most of the cost of a roof. Read the section at the top of this page — on a typical 25-square roof, an approved defect claim still leaves the homeowner eight to ten thousand dollars out of pocket. That is the gap this plan closes.

Can I get the plan on a roof somebody else installed?

Yes for the service — the annual visit, the clearing, the flashing work and the report are all available on any roof. No for the workmanship warranty. We cannot stand behind an installation we did not do and never watched go on, and any company that offers to is not thinking it through.

What if you go out of business?

Then the warranty goes with us, and that is true of every contractor warranty you will ever be offered, however long the number on it. It is worth asking any roofer who promises you decades of coverage how they have funded it. We set money aside against ours rather than paying for claims out of next year’s sales.

Do I have to be home for the visit?

No. We only need access to the outside of the house. We will let you know when we are coming and send the report when we are done.

Ask us about it on your next inspection

If we are already quoting your roof, the plan is a two-minute conversation at the end of it. If your roof is a few years old, we will look at it first and tell you honestly whether it is worth enrolling.