# What voids a roof warranty, and how to keep yours valid. Mammoth Roofing & Exteriors · https://mammothroofs.com/blog/roof-warranties-coverage-tips/ · (210) 934-9074 A warranty claim turns on the fine print. Here is a real 2026 roof warranty read clause by clause, what actually shrinks or ends the coverage, and what keeps yours in force. First published February 2025. _9 min read · Updated November 3, 2026_ **Key points** - You can read a roof warranty before you buy: federal rules make the seller let you read the text first, and a salesperson at your door must say they carry copies. - "Lifetime" usually means for as long as you own the house, and after the first years the maker pays a shrinking share of the material and no labor. - Ventilation can cut a shingle warranty to ten years; work by other trades, storms and neglect are excluded outright. - Report a defect fast: CertainTeed's 2026 warranty gives 30 days from discovery. - No salesperson can widen a written warranty. Get every promise into the contract. ## Read it before you sign. A roof warranty is a contract, and a claim turns on its fine print: a condition that was not met, an exclusion nobody read, a deadline that passed. The time to find those is before you sign, while you can still choose a different product or a different installer. You have a right to read it first. Under the Federal Trade Commission's warranty rules, roofing you buy through a home improvement contract counts as a consumer product, and the seller has to make the text of any written warranty available for you to examine before the sale. When the sale happens at your door, the salesperson has to tell you they carry copies. Our guide to [roof warranty types](https://mammothroofs.com/guides/roofing-warranties-explained/) explains which warranty is which; this one reads the document itself. ## The two documents on a new roof. A new roof usually comes with two warranties. The shingle maker warrants its product against manufacturing defects. The contractor warrants the installation: the flashing, the nailing, the underlayment and the vents. Federal law requires a written warranty on a consumer product to be labeled either "full" or "limited". CertainTeed's, like the other shingle warranties we see, is labeled limited, which under the law means it falls short of the federal minimum standards for a full one. On a Mammoth replacement the two layers are written down as the Mammoth Two Tusk warranty: our 10-year workmanship warranty, and the manufacturer's limited lifetime material warranty. The [warranty page](https://mammothroofs.com/warranty/) prints ours in plain English. ## A manufacturer's warranty, clause by clause. The clearest way to learn what voids a roof warranty is to read a real one. We hold CertainTeed's SELECT ShingleMaster credential, so here is CertainTeed's 2026 limited warranty for its asphalt shingles, in the order the document runs. Other makers organize theirs differently, but the same kinds of clause turn up in theirs. - **The promise.** The shingles will be free from manufacturing defects for the warranty period, for the original owner, "when subject to normal and proper use". CertainTeed decides whether a shingle is defective and chooses whether to repair, replace or clean it. - **What "lifetime" means.** For as long as the original individual owner owns the house. Homes owned by an association, a company or a landlord get a fixed term instead, of 40 or 50 years depending on the shingle. - **The full-coverage years.** For the first ten years on its lifetime shingles, a period it calls SureStart, CertainTeed pays for replacement shingles and the labor to put them on. Tear-off, metal work, flashing and disposal are included only on its top tier of lifetime products. - **The proration.** After that, its share of the shingle cost drops by 1/600 for every month since installation, and it pays no labor at all. - **The conditions.** Coverage assumes installation to the maker's printed instructions. On any deck CertainTeed judges inadequately ventilated, the warranty shrinks to ten years with no full-coverage period. The wind coverage above 110 mph applies only with the maker's own starter strips and caps, and never on a roof laid over old shingles. - **The exclusions.** A long list: wind above the warranty speed, hail, lightning, fire, flood and falling objects; movement of the deck, walls or foundation; equipment such as aerials, signs or air-conditioning units installed after the roof; algae, moss, mold and stains; misuse, abuse and neglect; ice dams; impact, foot traffic included; vandalism and animals; and anything else that is not a manufacturing defect. - **The transfer.** Once, from the original owner to the next one. A transfer in the first ten years carries the coverage over, with a lifetime term becoming 40 or 50 years; a transfer after that leaves the new owner two years. A foreclosure counts as a transfer. - **The claim.** You must notify CertainTeed within 30 days of discovering the problem, prove ownership and the dates of purchase and installation, and allow samples and photographs. - **Registration.** Optional for this standard warranty: the document says plainly that not registering does not void it. The enhanced system warranties are different, and exist only once the contractor registers the roof. - **The limit on remedies.** The maker's total liability stops at the reasonable cost of shingles and labor to fix the defective ones. Damage to the house and its contents is excluded. - **The last line.** Nobody can change the warranty: not a distributor, not a dealer, not a seller. ## What actually voids or shrinks the coverage. Read against your own house, those clauses come down to a short list of things that can end a claim before anyone looks at the shingle. - **An installation that ignored the instructions.** Too few nails, the wrong underlayment on a low slope, reused flashings. This one is the installer's to prevent, so choose one who works to the maker's printed instructions; our [hiring guide](https://mammothroofs.com/guides/before-you-hire-a-roofer/) lists the checks. - **A hot, unvented attic.** The ventilation clause cuts the warranty to ten years. It is decided on install day, by whoever sizes the intake and the exhaust; our [ventilation guide](https://mammothroofs.com/guides/roof-ventilation/) explains the balance. - **Work done on the roof later.** A dish, an antenna, an air-conditioning stand or a new vent cut by another trade can take the area around it out of both warranties. - **Storms.** Hail, lightning and wind above the rated speed are never warranty items. They belong to your [homeowners insurance](https://mammothroofs.com/blog/roofing-insurance/), even on a [Class 4 roof](https://mammothroofs.com/blog/shingle-impact-ratings/). - **Neglect.** A leak left running, gutters left blocked, damage left unrepaired. - **A missed deadline.** Thirty days from discovering a defect, in CertainTeed's case. Report a problem when you see it. - **Taking the roof off.** CertainTeed's RoofRunner underlayment warranty ends if the underlayment or the roofing over it is removed. ## Our own warranty, read the same way. Our workmanship warranty runs ten years on every full [roof replacement](https://mammothroofs.com/services/roof-replacement/). If a covered defect in our installation shows up, we repair it at our expense, including the labor and the materials the repair reasonably needs, and the coverage moves to a buyer once if you sell, with written notice to us. It has exclusions too, and we would rather you read them now. It does not cover hail, lightning, flood, named storms or wind above the manufacturer's rated speed. It does not cover work by other trades on the roof, satellite dishes and equipment mounts included, or structural movement of the house, or water backing up from blocked gutters and drains. If damage of that kind makes the roof leak, the warranty ends unless we repair the damage, at the owner's cost. A claim costs nothing to make: call us, and we inspect, give you a written finding and schedule the repair. ## A worked example: what the proration pays. Take a CertainTeed lifetime shingle under the 2026 warranty, and a manufacturing defect reported within 30 days of being found. The maker's share depends on when it is found and how the attic was built: - **Found in year 6 (month 72).** Inside the ten-year full-coverage period: replacement shingles and the labor to install them. - **Found in year 15 (month 180).** Prorated: 180/600 comes off, so the maker pays 70 percent of the cost of comparable shingles, and no labor. - **Found in year 45.** The reduction stops at 480/600 after the fortieth year, so the maker pays 20 percent of the shingle cost. - **The same roof over an inadequately ventilated attic, found in year 5 (month 60).** The reduced warranty takes 1/120 a month, so 60/120 comes off: half the shingle cost, no labor, and nothing at all after year ten. - **The house sold in year 12.** The buyer gets two years of coverage from the date of the sale. The same shingle, the same defect, and the payout runs from a full repair down to a fifth of the material cost, or to nothing over a poorly vented attic after year ten. The difference is time, the attic and a sale, which is why the ventilation and the paperwork matter as much as the product. ## How to keep yours valid. - Before you sign, ask for both documents, the maker's warranty and the contractor's, and read the exclusions and the claim clause. - Check that the quote names the product, the underlayment and the ventilation the maker requires. - On build day, keep the invoice, the installation date and the photographs of the finished roof with the warranty. - If an enhanced warranty was promised, get the registration certificate. - Call your roofer before anyone else cuts into or mounts anything on the roof. - Keep the gutters and drains clear, and get small problems fixed while they are small. - Report a defect within the maker's deadline, in writing, with photographs. ## Frequently asked Does a roof warranty pay for water damage inside the house?Not the manufacturer's. CertainTeed's 2026 warranty, for example, limits what it pays to the shingles and the labor to replace them, and excludes damage to the building and its contents. Ask your insurer about water damage inside the house. Can a salesperson promise more than the written warranty?They can say it, but it will not count. The manufacturer's document says no seller or dealer can change it, and Texas requires contractors to warn you that a promise left out of the written contract may not be enforceable. Get every promise written into the contract. How long do I have to report a warranty problem?It depends on the document. CertainTeed's 2026 shingle warranty gives 30 days from the day you discover the problem. For our workmanship warranty, call us as soon as you notice a leak. Do I have to register a shingle warranty for it to count?Not CertainTeed's standard limited warranty: the document says failing to register does not void it. An enhanced manufacturer warranty is different, and exists only once your contractor registers the roof and a certificate is issued. Does adding a skylight or an attic fan affect my roof warranty?It can. CertainTeed excludes damage caused by equipment installed after the roof, and our workmanship warranty does not cover leaks from other trades or new openings. Call your roofer before anyone cuts into the roof. What does "limited" mean on a roof warranty?It is a legal label. A full warranty has to put a defect right without charging you anything, installation included; a warranty that leaves you paying part of the cost, through proration or by leaving out labor, has to be called limited. Read a limited warranty for what it leaves out. #### Sources and notes - CertainTeed, Asphalt Shingle Residential Products 2026 Limited Warranty (the promise, "lifetime" defined, SureStart, the 1/600 monthly reduction and its 480/600 floor, the ventilation clause and its 1/120 reduction, the wind conditions, the limitations, transfer, the 30-day notice, optional registration, the limitation of remedies, no modification by sellers): [the warranty document](https://pdf.lowes.com/productdocuments/250c3ee7-3990-4e2b-b4b8-d0e319b1c249/85880401.pdf) - CertainTeed, RoofRunner and RoofRunner AIR Underlayment 2023 Limited Warranty (coverage ends if the roofing is removed): [the warranty document](https://pdf.lowes.com/productdocuments/e9ecfcd7-0bee-4fd9-8dad-4b35d40655d2/63940056.pdf) - Federal Trade Commission rules under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act: 16 CFR 700.1(e), roofing bought in a home improvement contract is a consumer product: [law.cornell.edu](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/16/700.1); 16 CFR 702.3, written warranty terms available before the sale, and the door-to-door disclosure: [law.cornell.edu](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/16/702.3); 15 U.S.C. 2303 and 2304, the full or limited label and the full warranty's minimum standard: [law.cornell.edu](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/2303), [law.cornell.edu](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/2304) - Texas Property Code §53.255 (the "Know your rights" disclosure: a promise left out of the written contract may not be enforceable): [statutes.capitol.texas.gov](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.53.htm) - Mammoth Roofing & Exteriors: [the Two Tusk warranty](https://mammothroofs.com/warranty/) (ten years of workmanship, labor and materials, one transfer with written notice, the exclusions, how to claim) and [roof warranty types](https://mammothroofs.com/guides/roofing-warranties-explained/) (the SELECT ShingleMaster credential; enhanced warranties and registration). First published in February 2025 as "Understanding Roof Warranties" and rewritten in November 2026. ## Want the paperwork read with you? Book a free Roof Grade. We inspect the roof, tell you in writing what its condition means for any warranty it still carries, and if you are replacing, we hand you both warranty documents before you sign anything.