Are you strongly considering CertainTeed shingles, or do you already have them? Do you need to know the warranties CertainTeed provides on their shingles?
Whether you have a current roof problem or warranties are important to your decision-making, you need to know how your investment is protected. The good thing is CertainTeed has some of the best warranties available to homeowners.
However, it’s hard to know exactly what’s offered or covered without doing research. You can go to their website to dig through the information and documents, but it’s time-consuming.
Let’s make it much easier.
For over 30 years, Bill Ragan Roofing has helped homeowners understand the finer details of their roof investment. So, let’s look at the protections CertainTeed offers on their shingles.
In this article, you’ll learn the types of CertainTeed warranties, what they cover, the length, and more.
Algae-resistance warranty
As a roof ages, black streaks caused by algae growth form on the shingles. To help avoid the black streaks as long as possible, CertainTeed applies their StreakFighter® to all of their shingles.
So, every CertainTeed shingle comes with an algae-resistance warranty. This ensures CertainTeed pays to clean or replace any algae impacted shingles if they’re still in the warranty period.
Depending on the shingle, the length varies anywhere from 10 years to 30 years. However, the 25 to 30-year algae-resistance warranty requires installing CertainTeed’s algae-resistant (AR) hip and ridge shingle accessories as well.
Without the accessories, coverage is limited to 10 years from the date of installation.
Wind-resistance warranty
All CertainTeed shingles come with a wind warranty to protect against wind damage or shingle blow-off caused by high-velocity winds. The wind speed each shingle can handle is determined by ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials).
Other than their 3-tab shingle, the majority of CertainTeed shingles come with a basic 15-year 110-mph wind-resistance warranty. If any shingles or hip/ridge accessories are damaged by wind while under warranty, they’ll provide replacement shingles.
Just know that any wind damage will not be covered if the shingles aren’t installed correctly, even during the warranty period.
Limited lifetime material warranty
The main warranty CertainTeed provides on all their shingles is the prorated limited lifetime material warranty for manufacturer defects. This means CertainTeed will pay to repair, replace, or clean any defective shingles for the roof’s lifetime.
When it comes to shingles, “lifetime” means for as long as the original buyer owns the home the roof was installed on. However, there are two different variations of the warranty.
If the shingle has a “LifetimeA” limited warranty label, CertainTeed covers shingle replacement, roof tear-off, metal work, flashing, and disposal costs. On the other hand, a “LifetimeB” limited warranty label will only cover the defective shingles.
SureStart™ warranty
As you just learned, CertainTeed’s main material warranty is the limited lifetime warranty. However, the first 10 years are covered under the SureStart™ warranty.
During the non-prorated SureStart™ protection period, CertainTeed covers 100% of the labor and material costs to replace defective materials (for a reasonable price). And remember, they’ll also cover costs for flashing, metal work, tear-off, and disposal if a shingle has the “LifetimeA” label.
But once the SureStart period ends, only the shingles are covered, and it starts prorating by 1/600 per month.
SureStart PLUS™ extended warranty
The standard SureStart™ warranty period is great, but the prorating begins as soon as 10 years pass. Fortunately, CertainTeed also offers a SureStart PLUS™ extended warranty that pushes the coverage to 20 to 50 years.
To get the extended warranty, you must get a roof system with specified components installed by a CertainTeed-certified contractor. However, the roofing contractor’s certification level determines the length and what’s covered.
Below are the different levels of SureStart™ PLUS extended warranties:
- 3-Star Protection
- Coverage for 20 years
- Covers material and labor costs
- Tear-off is covered
- 4-Star Protection
- Coverage for 50 years
- Covers materials and labor costs
- Tear-off is covered
- Dump-fees are covered
- 5-Star 10 Protection
- Coverage for 50 years
- Covers materials and labor costs
- Tear-off is covered
- Dump-fees are covered
- CertainTeed provides a 10-year workmanship warranty
- 5-Star 25 Protection
- Coverage for 50 years
- Covers materials and labor costs
- Tear-off is covered
- Dump-fees are covered
- CertainTeed provides a 25-year workmanship warranty
CertainTeed’s SureStart™ PLUS extended warranty is one of the best in the roofing industry. So, make sure you hire a roofing contractor with at least a 3-star level certification to install your roof.
What voids CertainTeed shingle warranties?
CertainTeed has great warranties, but they mean nothing if they aren’t honored. Unfortunately, there are two big things that void any material warranty CertainTeed offers.
The main reason CertainTeed voids warranties is due to improper roof installation. They simply won’t stand behind products that aren’t installed per the instructions they provide.
CertainTeed also won’t honor their warranties if your attic isn't correctly ventilated. Without proper ventilation, trapped air will damage the shingles and shorten the roof’s lifespan.
Just like poor installation, they won’t cover a roof they can’t trust to perform to the standards CertainTeed expects. This means you have to rely on the roofing contractor’s workmanship warranty to fix any problems caused by improper installation and inadequate attic ventilation.
What are the best CertainTeed shingles?
After reading this article, you have a better understanding of the warranties that CertainTeed provides for their shingles. As I said, they have some of the best protections in the roofing industry.
Just make sure to hire a certified roofing contractor to get long-term protection. While I love their best-in-class warranties, CertainTeed has a large shingle selection to fit any style or budget.
In fact, one of the main reasons they’re my preferred shingle brand is the high quality across all their shingle lines. So, I wrote another article breaking down the best CertainTeed shingles to consider for your new roof.
Check out The Top 5 CertainTeed Asphalt Shingles to learn the other great products CertainTeed offers, what they provide, and how they compare on key factors.