What Does a 5-Year Warranty Actually Cover? (The Honest Answer)

Ask most contractors what their warranty covers and you’ll get a version of “workmanship is guaranteed” — no timeframe, no specifics, nothing written down. That’s not an accident. A vague warranty costs nothing to offer, because nobody can ever prove exactly what it was supposed to mean.

We do the opposite. Every Cornerstone project is backed by a 5-year workmanship warranty — five times the industry standard — and it’s specific enough that you’ll know exactly what’s covered before you ever need to use it.

Why Most Renovation “Warranties” Don’t Mean Much

Ask anyone who’s tried to actually use a contractor’s warranty and you’ll hear the same story:

• ❌ A verbal promise with nothing in writing to point back to
• ❌ The industry-standard one year, which barely outlasts the first change of seasons
• ❌ Wording vague enough that almost anything can be argued as “not covered”
• ❌ A contractor who’s simply no longer around to answer the phone by the time something goes wrong

None of that is unusual. It’s just what happens when a warranty gets built to close the sale instead of to stand behind the work.

What Five Years Actually Covers

Coverage runs for five full years from the date we hand the project back to you, and it applies to workmanship by Cornerstone and our authorized subcontractors.

If something we built fails because of how it was installed, we fix it. No runaround, no charge.

The 5-Year Warranty, In Plain Terms

Your coverage starts the day we hand the completed project back to you — not the contract date, not the start date. From there, workmanship on flooring, drywall, paint, trim, cabinetry, doors, and fixture installation is covered for five full years.

This is one piece of the Cornerstone Certainty Stack — the same set of written commitments that includes our Price Lock Guarantee and $300/Day On-Time Guarantee.

What the Warranty Doesn’t Cover — And Why That’s Honest, Not a Loophole

We’ll always be straight about the one thing that isn’t ours to warranty:

• ❌ The products themselves — a faucet, an appliance, a light fixture is covered by its own manufacturer, not by us
• ❌ Normal wear and tear that comes with living in a home, not a defect in the work
• ❌ Damage caused by something other than how we built it — a leak from a different source, an impact, a lack of basic maintenance

What never changes is our side of it — if the installation was the problem, that’s ours to fix, full stop.

So Why Five Years, Not the Industry-Standard One?

Because a warranty is really a statement of confidence, and one year is barely a statement at all. Most workmanship problems that are going to show up — a seam that opens, a door that starts sticking, a tile that comes loose — show up well within five years, not one. Standing behind the work for five years means we’re actually exposed if the work isn’t right, which is exactly the incentive that makes a warranty worth something in the first place.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is covered under the 5-year warranty?

Workmanship on flooring and tile installation, drywall and paint finishing, cabinetry and door installation, and electrical fixture installation. If a failure traces back to how it was installed, it’s covered — the product itself is covered separately by its manufacturer.

Does the warranty cover the appliances and fixtures themselves?

No — a faucet, light fixture, or appliance is covered by its own manufacturer’s warranty. What we cover is the installation: was it mounted, wired, or set correctly.

When does the 5-year clock start?

The date we hand the completed project back to you. Not the contract date, not the start date — handover.

What if I notice a problem — what do I actually do?

You contact us directly and we assess it. If it’s workmanship covered under the warranty, we fix it — no charge, no runaround.

Does this apply to subcontractor work too, or just your own crew?

Both. The warranty applies to workmanship by Cornerstone and by our authorized subcontractors. You’re not left trying to figure out which trade to chase down.

Is five years actually longer than what other contractors offer?

Yes. One year is the common standard in this industry. Five years is five times that — and it’s written into every proposal, not just promised verbally.