If you are planning to paint your house, you have probably wondered what the warranty actually covers. It is a fair question. Painting a house is not cheap, and when you are spending real money you want to know that what you are paying for will last.
Here is how painting warranties work, what a typical one covers, and what to ask before you sign anything.
A short video walking through our exterior warranty in detail:
The two types of house painting warranty
Manufacturer warranty
The first is a manufacturer warranty from the company that made the paint.
This is the only warranty a DIY project has, and it comes directly from whoever you bought the paint from.
Manufacturer warranties typically cover defects in the paint caused by a faulty product. They do not cover workmanship errors or environmental causes. Ten years down the road, it is going to be hard to prove the paint itself was faulty, however badly it failed.
There is also a practical limit: with the way color trends move, most houses get repainted long before a manufacturer warranty term runs out.
That does not make a manufacturer warranty meaningless. It just means it covers less of your investment than most people assume.
Contractor warranty
The second is the contractor's warranty, and this is usually the far more comprehensive of the two, because it covers the part that actually goes wrong: how the paint was applied.
A reputable, professional house painter should offer one as a way of standing behind their work.
What we see too often is a warranty used to close a sale rather than to protect a customer, either because the contractor does not honor it, or because what is being offered is so limited that it adds no real value to the job.
Not all warranties are created equal
Get your warranty in writing, and make sure you understand the terms before you sign.
Questions worth asking:
- How long is the warranty good for?
- What exactly does it cover?
- Does it cover workmanship only?
- Does it cover acts of God or nature?
- How does the warranty define a defect?
- Does it cover damage not caused by acts of nature?
What a house painting warranty typically covers
Most contractor warranties cover workmanship and the quality of contractor-supplied paint, and not much else. Terms vary a great deal, but two to eight years is typical, depending on the paint chosen. Lower-quality paint generally means a shorter term.
Every warranty has a list of exclusions. The most common by far is Acts of God, meaning weather damage.
Damage caused after the job is finished is usually excluded too, whether that is the homeowner, someone else, or ordinary chipping, peeling and cracking.
And where a house has existing structural damage, layers of old peeling paint, or other underlying problems, many contractors will not offer a warranty at all.
Our warranty
We pride ourselves on our industry-leading warranty. Every exterior paint job comes with a warranty of 10 to 12 years depending on the product: 10 years on Sherwin Williams Emerald, 11 on Emerald Rain Refresh, and 12 on Benjamin Moore Aura.
It covers all manufacturer defects in the paint, 100% of our workmanship, and cracking, peeling, fading and chipping.
Unlike most painting contractors, we also cover damage to your paint caused by kids, cars, dogs, BBQs and the rest of it, because life happens and no paint job is indestructible. We will fix it whether we caused it or not.
It also covers up to $1,000 of hail damage to your paint. That is worth pausing on, because hail is the single most common thing a painting warranty excludes, and in Colorado it is the thing most likely to happen.
Because of how we work, existing problems will not undercut the workmanship you get: we deal with old paint damage and any wood that needs repairing before we paint anything.
We cannot cover mistakes made by previous painters, but we can make sure your house is prepped and painted properly this time.
There are still a few things no painter can cover, and large-scale acts of nature are the main one: hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, flooding, and hail damage beyond that $1,000 ceiling. That is what home insurance is for.
If it does happen, let us be your second call after your insurer. Years of doing this makes the insurance side of it considerably less painful.
If you would like to know more about the warranty, or you have a question about one you have been offered elsewhere, contact us online or call us at (720) 637-4805.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a manufacturer and a contractor warranty?
A manufacturer warranty comes from the paint company and typically covers only defects in the product itself, not workmanship or environmental damage. It is the only warranty a DIY project has. A contractor warranty comes from the painter and is usually far more comprehensive, because it covers how the paint was applied.
What does a typical house painting warranty cover?
Most contractor warranties cover workmanship and the quality of contractor-supplied paint, and not much else. Terms usually run two to eight years depending on the paint chosen, with lower-quality paint carrying a shorter term. The most common exclusion is Acts of God, followed by damage caused after the job is finished.
What should I ask a painter about their warranty?
Get it in writing, then ask how long it runs, exactly what it covers, whether it covers workmanship only, how it defines a defect, whether it covers acts of nature, and whether it covers damage not caused by nature. The answers vary enormously between contractors.
Does Kind Home Painting's warranty cover hail?
Yes, up to $1,000 of hail damage to your paint, which is unusual: hail is the single most common exclusion in the industry. Beyond that ceiling, large-scale storm damage is what your home insurance is for, and we are happy to be your second call after your insurer.
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