Each summer the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), dedicates a whole week to all things roofing.

Okay, that’s a little bit vague. By all things roofing, we mean working to raise awareness about the importance of roofing to every home and business across the U.S., and to share the good deeds of the industry. Most importantly, it’s a time to promote positive practices and to educate local communities about making conscious choices on the maintenance or purchase of a roofing system.

SureCoat Systems has years of expertise in the construction and roofing industry and saw that there was a need for reliable products, services, and support, and took the opportunity to develop and provide just that.

One thing we work hard to educate on is the importance of a warranty.

It’s not hard to see that sustainability is the direction of the world. And, with that, we see numerous single-ply membrane products on the market being touted as the next best green innovation. But are they?

From the market research we’ve done, many, if not all of those systems fail long before the warranted lifecycle mainly because they are not field-tested. They never make it outside of the lab and into the field before they are packaged up and put on sale, which means double the work and double the money. Most will have to be repaired, removed or replaced.

Perfect example, we had a customer ask if the team could help his friend analyze the bids she got from three different contractors. When we got down to looking at the technical data, all three systems were the same. None of the systems had a warranty attached to the quote for the products or systems, and there was no warranty provided at the end of the project either. The only warranty mention was a manufacturer’s 10-year warranty on the coating, and that warranty was for protection against defect, not performance. A previous system that was chosen and used had turned out to be leak city for the customer. And it turns out the contractor did not read the technical data sheet which states the perm rating and that the system was water resistant but cautioned against use in areas of poor drainage.

Pro Tip: Be careful of terms like resistant. In the grand scheme of things, resistant doesn’t mean a whole lot. Sure, the product can resist elements for an hour, a day or a week, but that doesn’t mean that the product won’t end up leaking. Misleading terms and statements aren’t uncommon in the world of warranties because the whole point is to limit warranty liability.

Most coatings out there are not waterproof. Looking at the perm rating will tell you exactly how fast moisture will pass through a membrane. Flat and low-sloped roofs need very low perm ratings so that the moisture can stay on the surface and evaporate. In short, don’t use anything with a perm rating higher than a 1 on a true flat roof.

We have a library of roof pictures, all less than 3-years old that are in disrepair leaving the owners spending more money on recoating their properties twice a year because the loophole warranty is void due to ponding or some obscure terminology.

Before you go throwing down thousands on a system that you assume is going to protect you, get to know your product. Understand the technical data, perm ratings, solid content, etc., read the installation specifications and request a copy of the warranty up front.

It’s not only important to recognize the terms of any warranty you are getting into, but it’s important to partner with manufacturers and contractors that provide the transparency needed to support your projects and stand behind the products and services they offer.

At SureCoat we have that support for each step of each project worked on. A contractor or customer will understand what single-ply membrane products we have and how to use them, so they don’t even have to think twice about, gosh what’s that thing called again??? Oh yeah, a warranty!

We are proud for the opportunity to take part in this weeklong event to further promote a positive work ethic and celebrate roofing, contractors, our team members and partners in the industry.

Thank you, NRCA!