A Paint Warranty
Important Points to Consider

Many paint and coating manufactures plus painting contractors use a paint warranty as advertising and marketing gimmicks, this is evident when you try to use the warranty. Good painting contractors honestly offer a warranty and are willing to honor it as part of good customer relations.

For the do-it yourselfers, a paint warranty offered by the manufacture isn't worth much or worth worrying about. If you choose the best products and do the right house painting steps, a warranty won't matter.

There is more than just one warranty to consider.

Manufactures Paint Warranties

The first type of warranty that most people think about is offered by the paint manufacture or the retailer. I have seen 10, 15, 25 year and even lifetime warranties offered for paint at home improvement centers. How can a manufacture offer a warranty on paint after it is applied? Let alone a lifetime paint warranty.

The use of a paint warranty is a marketing attention grabber. When you see a 10 or 15-year warranty on the label you stop and take a look. Maybe you will make the purchase. It works! Now try to use the warranty. This is another lesson in frustration. Read the label very carefully before the purchase. Personally I wouldn't bother with a product warranty.

A homeowner rarely uses product warranties, to difficult to prove your claim. The real warranty is with the professional painting contractor.

Painting Contractor Warranties

Another type of warranty is offered by the professional painting contractor. This warranty can be a gimmick, designed to entice the sale, or an honest attempt to be responsible for the quality of the job.

What is a reasonable paint warranty period?

There are many variables that can affect a home and a paint job. Most are beyond the control of the painting contractor; these include customer damage or abuse, customer supplied paint, roof leaks, etc. You get the point. The aspects of the job under the contractors control is the details that make up the labor of the job according to the contract and any supplied materials.

A reasonable warranty period for most exterior paint jobs is 3 years. It is during this time that any defects in workmanship will appear. Longer times are used by painters as a sales clincher to entice you to sign the contract. Most interior paint jobs don't require a warranty as this type of painting generally lasts for many years, even decades.

The real value of a professional paint job is the painter. Even with the most expensive primer and paint, experience is still the most important. With experience there is detail. Good results are in the details of the job, how it's performed, and the types of products used.

Paint Warranty Exclusions

All valid warranties will have a list of the items covered and excluded. As mentioned above, all forms of damage or abuse caused after the job was completed will be excluded.

This makes sense but you, the customer, also have a part in lengthening this list. For example, you demand a specific type of paint not normally used by the contractor or choose a color that will fade quickly. The painting contractor can't warranty products he/she is unfamiliar with.

Your home also plays its part in influencing the paint warranty. The condition and design of your home affects how long the paint job can last. This mostly affects old homes and buildings with multiple layers of paint, some of it failing in hideous ways. I have painted many buildings that I couldn't give a warranty. In order to warranty some homes I would have had to install new siding and windows, an expense well beyond the cost of the paint job.

Consider the paint contractor and the warranty together. If you have any problems, the painter will have to provide the labor to fix the problem. An honest, qualified professional house painting contractor is not cheap.

If you want a paint warranty that has real value you will have to pay the extra cost.