[nvkhardscaping]

How many years of warranty you give to your custommers on retaining walls?

Right now I'm giving 2 years, but some customers say that it is not enough for retaining wall and pavers.

[Stonehenge]

I think it depends on what your market expects. I know there are members here that offer a standard 5 year warranty. When I started business I offered 3 years, but found that everyone else only offered a single year. So I dropped ours to two years - one less year of liability, and still twice as long as anyone else.

But if other players in your market offer more, you may end up needing to offer what they do just to get business.

[nvkhardscaping]

Thank You for your reply. Becouse it is important part of business. First thing most custommers ask is a warranty info.

[Bill Schwab]

Regardless of your personal warranty, every state makes their own statue of limitations on your liabilities. For example, our state makes all contractors liable for 10 years on certain items after a project has been signed off upon. Worst case scenario, you build a 23' tall engineered segmental wall. It was designed with the intent that a high school will be positioned over the middle of the Strata Grid, thus, your wall is supporting the load from the high school. And lets say some janitor allows an irrigation break to get out of hand, cause plasticity in the soil, and, subsequently, your wall fails, causing the school to crack in half, rendering it useless until the problem can be corrected.

Even though you provided a 2 year warranty to the General Contractor, the school, and the school board, that they agreed to, the state law drags you right into the middle of the mess, even though when th4e forensic team begins to tear the thing apart, they find most of the fault laid upon that janitor and engineer because he did not for see anticipated problems from surrounding conditions the school was subject to.

As I further delve into the construction of segmental walls, the more I learn about the liabilities. Key things here. Take pictures before, during and after sign off and acceptance. If there was some pole that appears in the picture after you are complete that cut your grid, you need to document it was not there.

Second, what liabilities are you assuming the minute you accept the job? This goes well beyond you being hired, you the contractor who built the wall accepted the challenge, and the liability.

So before you think you got it handled, I would strongly advise checking what your state will hold you accountable for, and get a very well versed attorney as much as i hate to say it, in construction laws of your state and just pick their brain and perhaps even let them write your warranty. It might be the best couple grand you ever spent.

[NCSULandscaper]

i offer 5 years because i am that confident that my retaining walls will not fail for many years to come

[Stonehenge]

It's great to have confidence in what you do, and there can be some positive PR value to a longer warranty, so you have to weigh the PR gained with a longer warranty against the added potential liability (in the form of possible callbacks and repairs, whether the fault of an issue is yours or not). If the dollars and cents work out in your favor, then by all means you should do it.

[cutntrim]

I go one year, and I'm not aware of any provincial requirements here. But then again, I've only done walls under 3' in height, and none have been engineer stamped. I also go one year on patios, and plantings.

[HardDaysKnight]

The warranty system has changed drastically over the years.
Now if you buy a Major appliance you get 90 days basic and
have to pay for extended coverage. I would not commit to more than 2 years. We are also confident in our work , however ,we
as contractors have to close the commitment door sooner rather than later. Bill is right about the law. In NY, I believe a signed acceptance of a warranty/guarantee sticks. If a customer asks
me "how long is your guarantee on this wall?" I ask them
what do you think is fair. One client said "at least one year".
I said , "Lets make it 2". Maybe we should start offering
extended coverage for a price for hard and soft-scapes.

[HardDaysKnight]

Originally posted by cutntrim
I go one year, and I'm not aware of any provincial requirements here. But then again, I've only done walls under 3' in height, and none have been engineer stamped. I also go one year on patios, and plantings.

One year on plantings is very generous and an extremely bad
Idea. That's way too long C&T. Just my opinion. Johnny

[cutntrim]

I should have clarified. That warranty has been offered for my maintenance accounts that have us do landscape installs. So...we're onsite weekly to monitor plant health. Most of my landscaping is for existing customers.

One-time-shot customers are given 90 days.

[HardDaysKnight]

Originally posted by cutntrim
I should have clarified. That warranty has been offered for my maintenance accounts that have us do landscape installs. So...we're onsite weekly to monitor plant health. Most of my landscaping is for existing customers.

One-time-shot customers are given 90 days.

OK, thats better and is a good selling tool to get your
maint, accounts to use you.

[Paul]

Here a one year warranty is standard on plants, you couldn't get a job with out it. Wall work is one year on and 5 years on material. From what I've seen most walls fail after 15 to 20 years unless they have been improperly installed or under engineered. Normal walls under 4' tall it's rare to see a failure.

[Stonehenge]

We do one year on plantings, but exclude all perennials, groundcovers and the like. As long as the right people are planting them, it tends to not be an issue. Too easy to plant 200 Ajuga and get a call because 5 of them croaked.

Funny side note to this conversation - had a call from a client we did a patio for 7 years ago. Well it seems the edge restraint has risen out of the ground in several places. During our meeting I got the sense that because her yard was going to be part of the local garden walk, she was expecting that I'd be motivated to replace the edging with the new style we use, all for free, in exchange for the off chance someone would ask about her tiny patio.

If she were hosting a harscape show, maybe. But a 250 sqft patio in a yard filled with huge plantings? Nuh-uh.

I'm looking forward to her response when she gets a bid.

[4seasons]

we offer 2 years on our hardscapes also. shrubs get 90 days.
I've been tossing the idea around of some type of plant insurance. I first heard of a company in colorado doing this but forgot to ask how they went about doing it and keeping the customers happy. maybe some of you out there know how to go about it? thanks

[albert]

2yrs waranttee on patio and pavers . we also add into our estimating of plant material 10% to cover anything that may die in the guarantee period usually 1 year.....yes ,we profile people as to what type of guarantee we will give(how the property is maintained)