• $$$$
  

 

• 30, 20, 15 years

These are Manufacturer's Labor and Material Warranties which are considered the gold standard in roofing,  Why?
Because they remain in place even if your humble roofing contractor goes out of business, God forbid. The most common Warranty is for 15 years.  The longer Warranties are not available for all roof situations and cost more.  As always, refer to the Manufacturer's docs for the final word.

 

• 20, 15, 10, 7, 5 years

The most common Manufacturer's Warranties on Roof Coatings are for 10 years. You can get 15 years if you install a special "Infra-Red" topcoat  for some brands, including Hawaiian SunGuard.  20 years is much tougher to get. Residential homes are often limited to the Contractor's 7 years Labor and 10 year Material Warranties.  However, in many cases you can get a Manufacturer's 10 year Warranty if you pay a little extra and your roof conditions warrant it. Recently, we have added an optional "Infra-Red" topcoat to our line, which can add 5 more years to the Manufacturer's Warranty.  It is super white, with a blinding reflectivity that resists dirt and mildew stains.  If a better ingredient comes up in the future than we'll add that in too.

 

• 20, 12, 10, 7, 5 years

The typical Warranty is usually 7 or 10 years, but longer Manufacturer's Warranties can be had for up to 20 years if roof conditions allow.

 

• Longest Warranties, backed by the Manufacturer's deep pockets
• White membranes reflect heat and lower AC costs
• PVC's can self-extinguish in a fire
• Duro-Last covers unlimited ponding water-no need to tear off
  

 

• Affordable, lightweight
• Goes over existing roof without expensive tear off
• Ceramic coatings keep temps cool--lowers A/C
• Warranties can be renewed after expiration

 

• It's an old, and generally reliable, roof system
• Newer, reinforced membranes resist tearing
• If you are in a chilly mountain area it can help to heat up your building
• Often less expensive than single ply

 

• Most expensive roof systems
• Manufacturers don't  usually warranty homes for labor costs
• Limited choice of colors-white, tan and grey
  

 

• Ponding water can create problems, unless coating has Lipacryl in it
• Insist on a fabric reinforcement and a min. of 5 gals. per 100 SF
• For good adhesion use an epoxy primer
  

 

• The heavy weight means you often have to tear off old roof first
• You must be very careful to make sure all seams are tight
• These granulated membranes degrade under the intense Hawaiian sun
  

When you are calculating life cycle costs, spread out over many years, they make sense. If your budget doesn't allow for 5 to 10 year pay offs, then consider the fabric reinforced Roof Coatings which will do the trick for less up front costs. These are all good brands, but we prefer the Duro-Last Warranty and the fact that it can take unlimited ponding water--which often saves you big money on messy roof tear offs and re-sloping costs.  It is also the only Warranty we know of that covers "Consequential Damage." It covers such things as interior damage, loss of computers, etc.

These are all good brands that we have installed successfully for many years.  You will do well with any of them.  However, we admit to being partial to our own brand, Hawaiian SunGuard, because we have it specially formulated  for our Hawaiian weather.  We added Ceramic which acts as a "heat dump" and keeps your roof cool.  We have "White Titanium" for reflectivity and durability.   We wouldn't think of using "Yellow Titanium" which discolors in the sun.  It contains Rohm and Haas' amazing additive Lipacryl which protects against most ponding water.  We have the maximum fungicides allowed to fight mildew growth.

I started out roofing in the '80's pulling a smelly hot tar kettle on the back of my truck. Aaahh, the bad old days. I don't miss 'em a bit! Asphalt is struggling now in the market due to high oil prices and the fact that don't always meet today's Cool Roof standards. I prefer the 'Torch Applied' method because the seams melt together tighter. However, for insurance reasons, most new Asphalt Roofs are now 'Self Adhering' membranes-commonly called Peel and Stick. Sometimes we see these seams unravel under ponding water. It's better to install these on roofs with some sort of slope. Few people use Hot Tar these days. Often, the best dollar value is to repair the existing roof and coat it with a fabric reinforced Roof Coating.