The Big Problem With Contractor Warranties

Once you’ve seen enough home renovation contractor warranties, you’ll notice they all have something in common. Rather than guaranteeing the results of the project, a contractor’s warranty usually only covers their “workmanship” (or “installation”, “labour”, etc).

This leaves the manufacturer’s warranty to cover the actual products installed. Perfect coverage, right? In theory, sure. But in practice, definitely not.

The Warranty Gap

In our previous careers as manufacturer’s representatives, we saw the same warranty fight between contractors and homeowners, over and over and over again. It always went the same way:

Step 1: Homeowner notices an issue with their siding
Step 2: Contractor sees the issue and concludes that the material must be defective
Step 3: Homeowner submits a warranty claim to the manufacturer
Step 4: Manufacturer denies warranty claim due to faulty installation
Step 5: Contractor disputes the manufacturer’s finding

Since the contractor and manufacturer are both able to pass the buck, the homeowner gets caught in the middle of the warranty gap. The homeowner gets no help, and either has to live with the issue or pay out of pocket to rectify it.

We decided to make sure that our customers were protected from this cycle.

The Better Way

Our solution is simple: at Blue Jay, our warranties cover both the installation and the material. If our customers experience failure of the material for any reason, it’s up to us to fix it. If we want to make a claim against the manufacturer’s warranty, that’s up to us as well. No extra run-around for our customers.

Taking on the material warranty may seem like a crazy risk for a contractor, but it really isn’t. We would never recommend any product that we don’t know well enough to stand behind, regardless of our warranty obligations. Any contractor that truly uses the best materials from the most reputable manufacturers should have no problem with warrantying the products too.

The Blue Jay Warranties

Blue Jay Exterior Renovations offers two warranties:

Warranty 1:

A 10-year limited warranty covering both material and workmanship for the following product lines:

Boral Building Products: Versetta Stone
Gentek Building Products: Sequoia D4 and D4.5, Driftwood D4 and D4.5, Concord D4 and D4.5, Board & Batten, Gentek soffit and fascia
LP Building Products: Smart Trim
Mitten Siding: Oregon Pride 40 series, Highland 42 series, Sentry 44 series
Royal Building Products: Residential, Estate, Portsmouth, Board & Batten, AlumiPro
Tando Building Products: Shakes, Stone
Wayne Building Products: Lux Panel, Wayne aluminum soffit and fascia

Warranty 2:

A 15-year limited warranty covering both material and workmanship for James Hardie siding and trim products.

Want to compare the Blue Jay warranties to those of our competitors? Contact us for a quote on your project, and see how we stack up!