Long Home Products is a home improvement service provider based in the Washington, D.C., area with 80 years of experience. Its longevity is a testament to the quality of its products and industry experience.
Of the companies I’ve reviewed, I’ve found them to be in line with competitor prices and a cut above in quality and installation. However, that’s not without caveats. In this article, I’ll give you an overview of the company, my professional thoughts on its products and services, and a few things to watch.
If you’re ready to get started with Long Home Products, you can start the process today:
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Fast Facts About Long Home Products
Before I get into details, here are a few fast facts about Long Home Products:
- Today’s Homeowner Rating: 79.5/100
- Better Business Bureau (BBB) A+ rating
- Founded in 1945 by Henry Long as Long’s Fence Co. in Washington, D.C.
- Headquartered in Savage, MD
- Numerous industry awards
- Operates on the Eastern Seaboard
Long Home Products Pros and Cons
On par with its peers in the large-scale home improvement space, Long Home Products does many things well but has some shortcomings. A few of these are difficult to place as a pro or con and can depend on the homeowner’s feelings. I’ll touch on all of these points in the article so you’ll come away with a better understanding to base your opinion on.
What Services Does Long Home Products Offer?
Long Home Products provides various home improvement products and services and various options within each category. I didn’t find them exceptional in this category, but I didn’t find them lacking either.
They’re perfect for doing narrow home improvements involving specific upgrades, like a new roof or windows. However, they’re not the best choice if you’re looking for more expansive improvements, like renovations or home remodeling. In those cases, a general contractor would be a better bet.
Windows
Long Windows’ service is very good. It offers double-hung, casement, awning, and bay window products and installation. Included are standard estimation and measurement services. Where possible, it offers one-day or next-day installation for new or replacement windows.
It also has a Red Carpet service, ensuring that your house is protected. The company places tarps and drop clothes to protect against debris and dirt from the installation and foot traffic. Every reputable contractor does that, but it’s nice that Long Windows puts it in writing.
Roofing
Long Roofing doesn’t offer expansive options, but it should be sufficient for most homeowners. It offers asphalt, metal, flat, luxury shingle, and designer roof replacements, including all standard work, like replacing gutters and tearing off the old roof. It also performs roof repairs, an uncommon service among these larger companies.
The biggest selling point is a 50-year transferable warranty on CertainTeed shingles. It has some caveats, such as transfers being limited to the first 10 to 15 years, but it’s one of the best warranties on the market.
Long Roofing also has its CertainTeed Integrity Roof System™. This system isn’t different from a standard installation process, but it uses CertainTeed products exclusively. However, it’s in alignment with trade standards, so you’ll at least know that your roof is being put on correctly with all the necessary components that a roof should have and no cut corners.
Baths
Long Baths’ services are limited to new showers and baths, so don’t expect to use them for an entire bathroom remodel or a new vanity. Among Long Home’s services, I think this is the weakest. Its services are limited to the bathtub or shower and it uses an unfortunately popular modular bathroom system that is subpar compared to traditional options, like stalls or tiled showers.
I do give the company credit for offering accessibility conversions and services. It retrofits existing baths for accessibility or installs new accessibility baths or showers. In all my reviews of companies, it’s the only one that specifically mentions it.
Doors
Services here are decent. It does entry, patio, and storm doors, which most likely require professional installation. The strong point is in their door selection and custom door designs. Homeowners have various style and material choices for a door that best fits their home. It’s not an unprecedented service, but it’s nice nonetheless.
Where Is Long Home Available?
Long Home Products’ service area is along the east coast, where it serves 10 states and Washington, D.C.:
- Maryland
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Massachusetts
- Rhode Island
- New Hampshire
- Connecticut
- Pennsylvania
- Maine
- Florida
- Washington, D.C.
What Type of Warranty Does Long Home Offer?
Long Home has a top-tier warranty, which impresses me. But the warranty is through CertainTeed, a roofing material manufacturer, which means you’ll have to purchase CertainTeed products to get the warranty.
CertainTeed is a reputable roofing material manufacturer. Their 50-year warranty is transferable (within the first 10–15 years) and covers labor by certified installers, of which Long Home Products is one. It’s rare for a manufacturer to warranty the labor of third-party installers, so I rate that pretty highly.
If you want to know more about their Integrity Roof System, check out their video:
What Does the Warranty Cover?
The warranty (again, through CertainTeed) covers 100% of material and labor, including sundry costs, like flashing and tear-off. The warranty specifics vary and depend on the shingle, but the variance is low.
From a professional perspective, the coverage of CertainTeed’s warranty impressed me. It’s incredibly thorough for a manufacturer and places much trust in certified installers by also warranting labor. That tells me CertainTeed holds their certified installers to a high standard.
How Long Is the Warranty?
The CertainTeed SureStartPLUS™ offered through Long Home Products is a 50-year labor and material warranty transferable for the first 10 to 15 years. (Specifics depend on the product.) This means you can transfer the warranty on your roof to anyone buying your home.
There are various factors and variables to this guarantee that you can read on CertainTeed’s website, but they don’t vary much. Any exceptions on specific aspects of the warranty were reasonable to me, and I think most homeowners would agree.
Related: Certainteed vs GAF Roofing Shingles Comparison
What Is the Process to Work With Long Home Products?
Long Home Products has several processes to start your home improvement project. It does online, over-the-phone, or in-person consultations. It also provides free estimates and in-house design consultation for homeowners unsure of what will look good on their house.
For financing, Long Home Products offers in-house financing up to $100,000. I couldn’t get a clear answer on this point, but it seems that financing is only available in unsecured loans. Financing can be problematic for homeowners with low or no credit score. Even for homeowners who can get approval, it generally means higher interest rates. The tradeoff is not having to put up collateral to secure the loan.
Long Home guarantees that financing is no money down and that it wants to avoid surprising customers with hidden or unexpected fees. I found no complaint on this point, so its billing seems honest and straightforward. It’s unfortunate, but I consider that a selling point. Too many companies in the home improvement space hide their fees, so kudos to Long Home Products for its transparency.
For this type of company, Long Home Products is one of the better ones regarding service and variety. I dug into the fine print of its 50-year warranty. But besides the aforementioned caveats, I found the warranty solid and transparent.
The company offers a solid variety of products. Companies like CertainTeed are well-known and respected among professionals. While those products may come at a premium, the homeowner nonetheless gets good value for them.
I’ve read many satisfied reviews of Long Home Product’s service, process, and installation team. Customers report that it’s quick, efficient, and professional, with a high level of workmanship.
While I listed some of the general cons of the company, most of those are just part and parcel of working with a large home improvement provider. The most concerning things I saw were in reviews, and they appeared to orbit around two central complaints: aggressive sales pitches and tactics and poor follow-ups on corrective action.
Aggressive sales tactics mostly took the form of a pushy salesperson or spam-like phone calls. I also read reports of gross over-bidding, sometimes on the order of nearly three times the market. While I’d like to say that it’s wholly the company’s fault and to find a different one, it’s unfortunately common in all companies in this space. Even more disappointing, it disproportionately affects the vulnerable, especially older adults. I’m not saying it’s the rule with Long Home Products (or other companies like them), but people are reporting these things happening, so homeowners should be aware and prepared if they run up against these issues.
Corrective action is the other one. Some consumers reported experiencing an underwhelming response from the company when work was incorrect or products were faulty. That includes difficulty getting answers and long wait times for the work to be corrected. Again, I’m not saying this is what you should expect from Long Home Products, but I think you should be aware of it.
Conclusion: Is Hiring Long Home Worth It?
While I encourage people to support local companies and local tradespersons, if that’s not an option for you, I think Long Home Products is a solid choice. It has strong and weak points, but on the whole it provides many various products, services, and guarantees. While customer reviews aren’t perfect, positive reviews outweigh negative ones. If you approach the process with confidence and don’t cave to any pushy or aggressive sales tactics, you’ll likely have a positive experience.
FAQs on Long Home Products
What are the best features of Long Home Products?
The 50-year transferable warranty is probably the best feature of Long Home products. The warranty covers labor, material, and miscellaneous costs and is transferable within the first 10 to 15 years after installation.
What is the most popular Long Home Product?
There is no publicly available information about Long Home Products’ sales.
What are the pros of using Long Home Products?
It makes the process as efficient as possible by giving homeowners a single point of contact who will take care of the entire process, from estimating and designing to installation and cleanup.
