Home repair and remodeling projects are high dollars, high anxiety, and fraught with financial risk. In Texas, there is almost no regulation over a person who calls himself or herself a “contractor”.
Many contractors will be offering some sort of warranty to soothe your worried mind and spur you to sign up. What are these warranties worth?
Reality check: you may have fewer rights with a written warranty, than with no warranty at all.
With no written warranty every written repair contract has an implied warranty of good and workmanlike performance. However, if there is a written warranty you agree to give up your implied warranty “rights”, to be replaced by the terms of the contract.
EXAMPLES:
A foundation company offers a “lifetime warranty” to level your house. Upon closer reading, the warranty is limited to the work performed. If the repair was done to the perimeter, and afterward the house starts sinking in the middle, the warranty won’t apply. The warranty may only apply to the original homeowner and there is an additional fee to transfer the warranty, or there is an annual fee to keep the warranty active. If problems arise because of defective workmanship, a two-year statute of limitation may apply.
The salesman gives you a “lifetime warranty” for window replacement, but it only applies to the manufacturer of the windows, who is in Arkansas (or maybe China). It does not apply to the company that did the installation.
WARNING WARNING! nearly half of all businesses go out of business in 5 years. So much for their warranties.
Foundation work, roof repair, replumbing, installing a pool, window replacement, remodeling a kitchen, or bath, or installing solar electric panels can all run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Most people take only a cursory glance at what they are signing and may be giving up their legal rights.
Prior to signing a high-dollar contract consider consulting with the Law Office of Elliott Klein, PLLC. A stitch in time saves nine.