Warranties or not

[spirits]

It has been awhile since we paid for any major renovations. My DH is handy but getting to the age where he wants to let others do the work while he writes the cheque (Note I am still working, he is retired )
Having coffee with a friend the other day and he mentioned that someone he knew was having a metal roof with a 50 year warranty replaced after 15 years. Of course the company was out of business. Someone at the next table overheard the conversation and chimed in with her story of having a 10000 patio renovation using brick with a 5 year warranty. We live in a northern climate and over the winter the frost heaved the bricks. She called the contractor and was informed that he no longer lived in the country but had returned to his home of origin when his visa had expired.
So much for warranties when the companies, people may not be around to make good on their work. I think it is just a word to the wise to remember that any warranty is built into the price and to either withhold some payment or strongly negotiate a better price knowing their guarantee may not be worth the paper it is printed on.

 

[ScoopKona]

It has been awhile since we paid for any major renovations. My DH is handy but getting to the age where he wants to let others do the work while he writes the cheque (Note I am still working, he is retired )

Just keep in mind that nobody cares more about your house than you two do. When you hire others to do the job, they are trying to perform the task as quickly and cheaply as possible while still fulfilling the terms of whatever contract you enter.

 

[easyrider]

Product warranties are not affected by the seller going out of business unless it was the company that made the product. With roofing product problems it is the company that makes the roofing that is responsible for the material. Same goes for many other materials used in construction but there are limitations.

The person how did the mason work did not have a footing under the bricks that protected the bricks from expansion of the earth and the job failed,imo. This is not a product failure but an installation problem that would have been caught if the required permit was acquired.

Contractors are feeling the economic slowdown and many are going out of business but many of the contractors that have been around for 10 - 30 years have weathered these situations in the past and will still be around for as long as they choose.

 

[hvacrsteve]

Always hire the most stable and confident company you can find!
They know and understand their product and what is required to install it correctly and make it last!
I see companies and Governments everyday go with the least expensive price only to have to do it over at a higher cost because the labor is not covered in the warranty, although the product may be, if properly installed!

Most likely if it failed prematurely, it wasn't properly installed!
Hence, no warranty coverage!

Don't waste your money on the warranty!

 

[spirits]

Miss my handy DH

Wonderful husband was an electrician and did a lot of work around our house. He always did a good job and anyone he hired we went on the basis of a good reputation though his network of tradesmen. Ask any hard worker on a job who the hard workers are. They know
Anyway, age (he just turned 70 and has arthritis from a broken hip) have slowed him down. He would still like to do the work but quite often cannot handle it anymore. Good thing all the work he did before was structural and it is only cosmetic work that his wife wants He just asks me to turn down the lights and go to work so it becomes out of sight out of mind. I retaliate by buying and/or researching timeshares. Works for me.:rofl: