The company that installed my roof is gone and now it leaks. Who will fix it, and should I replace it out of pocket?

Another roofer can fix it, and with the installer gone, the repair or replacement is usually paid out of pocket. Robust Roofing inspects roofs other companies installed, photographs what failed, repairs it when that is enough, and puts a 50-year labor warranty in writing on every roof it installs, where most contractors cover their workmanship for 1 to 10 years.

What does the shingle manufacturer's warranty cover once the installer is gone?

Defects in the shingles, not mistakes in how they were put on. A shingle maker's standard warranty answers for shingles that were made wrong, not for shingles that were installed wrong; GAF's standard limited warranties, for example, exclude workmanship. So when a roof leaks because flashing was set wrong or nails were driven high, the manufacturer's warranty generally does not pay, and the company that owed you the fix is the one that closed.

Two things are still worth checking before you pay out of pocket. Manufacturers commonly attach conditions to their coverage, such as installation to their instructions and adequate attic ventilation, so a poor installation can limit what the material warranty will do. And if your roof was registered for an upgraded manufacturer warranty, read that certificate: some upgraded tiers include workmanship coverage backed by the manufacturer itself. Your closing documents or the manufacturer can tell you whether one was registered. Our roof warranties guide explains how the two kinds of coverage differ.

Will another roofer fix someone else's work?

Robust Roofing will. A roof we did not install gets the same start as one we did: a free inspection done on the roof, the leak traced uphill of the stain to where the water actually gets in, and photos that show you what failed and why. You get a straight answer and a written price before anything is done. If a storm may have played a part, check whether insurance should pay first; our licensed Property and Casualty adjuster on staff can give you a read before you spend your own money.

What one repair cannot do is make the rest of another company's installation sound. If the same mistake shows up on every slope, fixing one spot leaves the next leak waiting, and we will tell you that rather than sell you a string of out-of-pocket patches. Read more about our roof repair work.

What usually fails on a poorly installed roof?

The details, almost always. Shingles themselves rarely cause an early leak; the places where water changes direction or meets something else do. These are the usual suspects when a roof starts leaking long before it should:

• Flashing. Step flashing left out along a sidewall, or a chimney sealed with caulk instead of real flashing. Sealant dries and cracks long before the shingles wear out.
• Pipe boots. Collars that are the wrong size or set without the shingles lapped correctly around them.
• Drip edge. Missing, or tucked under the wrong layer, so water wicks behind the gutter and rots the fascia and the edge of the deck.
• Ventilation. Too little intake at the soffits, too little exhaust up high, or mixed exhaust types that short-circuit each other. A starved attic bakes shingles from below and can put manufacturer coverage at risk.
• Nailing. Nails driven high, overdriven or too few per shingle, which lets shingles lift and blow off in wind a properly nailed roof would ride out.
• Valleys. They carry the most water on the roof, and a valley cut wrong or missing its ice-and-water barrier leaks in heavy rain.

On a Robust Roofing replacement, none of those details are reused from the old roof: drip edge, flashing and pipe boots are new, valleys get ice-and-water barrier, and the ventilation is corrected.

Should you repair or replace?

Repair it when the problem is one detail on a roof with good years left; replace it when the mistakes are everywhere or the roof is near the end of its life. The photos usually make the call obvious:

• Repair when a single pipe boot, a short run of flashing or one valley failed, the shingles are still flexible, and the decking underneath is solid.
• Replace when the same installation mistake shows up on several slopes, leaks come back after proper repairs, the decking is soft, or the roof is old enough that it would be replaced soon anyway.

Paying out of pocket for repair after repair on a roof nobody stands behind is the expensive path; a self-pay replacement ends that cycle. A Robust Roofing replacement starts over from the deck: a full tear-off, every board of decking inspected with any replacement sheets priced before they go down, synthetic underlayment, and every detail on the list above built new. The quote is written from your roof’s measured size, each shingle and upgrade shows its price before you pick it, and most average-size roofs are done in a single day.

How do you make sure the next roof's warranty outlasts the company?

Get the workmanship warranty in writing from a company that intends to be here, and keep the paperwork where you can find it. A labor warranty is a promise from the installer, so it is worth exactly as much as the company behind it.

Robust Roofing backs every roof with a 50-year labor warranty in writing, compared with the 1 to 10 years roofing contractors typically offer on their own workmanship; the National Roofing Contractors Association notes that many offer one or two years. That warranty sits alongside the manufacturer's coverage on the materials. It comes from a GAF certified company with more than ten years of experience that plans to be around as long as your roof is, and your signed agreement and project photos stay in your RoofMap portal instead of a folder that can go missing. The full terms are on our warranty page. Before you sign with any roofer, ask:

• What does your workmanship warranty cover, for how many years, and is it in writing?
• Which manufacturer warranty applies to this roof, and will it be registered?
• How long have you worked in this area, and what do your reviews say?
• Where will my contract, warranty and photos be kept after the job?

Why is Robust Roofing the best choice to fix or replace a roof another company installed?

Because a roof that has already failed once needs two things: an honest diagnosis and a warranty with a company behind it.

• An honest answer with proof. The failure is found on the roof and shown in photos, and you hear plainly whether a repair will hold or a replacement is the smarter spend.
• A warranty with someone behind it. The 50-year labor warranty is in writing, and the company that wrote it intends to be here to honor it.
• Workmanship you can see. “Very happy with how the roof turned out. The work looks amazing,” Naquan R. wrote in a Google review. More in Robust Roofing's reviews.

When you are paying out of pocket, the lowest bid on a roof that has already leaked once is rarely the best value; our page on the cheapest quote versus the best value explains why. See why Robust Roofing is the top recommendation for an out-of-pocket roof replacement in North Georgia.

How do you get the roof inspected and priced?

Call (470) 887-6637 or book a free inspection online. Pull together whatever paperwork came with the roof, such as the old contract, a warranty certificate or your closing documents, since it shows what coverage may still exist. You leave with photos of what failed, a straight repair-or-replace answer and a written quote before a dollar goes out of pocket.

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