Gas Fireplace Specs, Valor Blue, and Metal Roofing: A Buyer's FAQ

Nine years quoting hearth and roofing orders. Eleven mistakes I actually wrote down. About $47,000 in scrap material, redos, and rush freight that nobody put in a budget line.

I'm not a spec writer. I'm the person who assembles the submittal package, watches it come back rejected, and then explains the rejection to a project manager who is not happy. This is the FAQ I wish someone had handed me in 2017 — built around the questions I actually get asked.

• What goes in a gas fireplace specification guide?
• Is "Valor Blue" a real product color?
• What should I check in a commercial roofing catalog?
• Where do metal roofing orders go wrong?
• Do I have to buy a full pallet?
• What am I not asking that I should be?
• How long does spec review take?
• What's on your pre-check list?

Short answers below. Skip whatever doesn't apply to your project. That's the whole point of a FAQ.

1. What does a gas fireplace specification guide actually need to include?

Most "spec guides" I get handed are marketing sheets with a model number on them. That's not a spec.

A usable gas fireplace specification guide needs: the listing standard (ANSI Z21.88 / CSA 2.33 for vented gas fireplace heaters, ANSI Z21.50 / CSA 2.22 for vented decorative appliances), gas type and input range, venting configuration and termination, minimum clearances to combustibles taken from the listing, altitude derating, framing dimensions, and finish options with real codes attached.

In my first year (2017) I submitted a Valor fireplaces package that listed the unit and the framing but not the vent termination kit. Rejected. Resubmitted with the kit, wrong altitude derating. Rejected again. Two weeks gone over a column I could have copied straight out of the install manual.

The install manual is the spec. Everything else is a summary of it.

2. Is "Valor Blue" an actual product color?

Honestly? Not in any hearth or roofing catalog I've worked with. "Valor blue color" ranks high in search data, and my guess is it's a mix-up — similar-sounding brand names, a paint color, coatings terminology bleeding over. I've had two customers ask me for it in five years. Both times I asked for a finish code or a photo, and both times they meant something else entirely.

Here's the thing: color names are a red flag on a purchase order. "Charcoal," "slate," "Valor blue" — none of those are orderable. What's orderable is a manufacturer finish code plus a coating system (for metal roofing, usually a PVDF resin coating or a silicone-modified polyester), and a dye lot or batch where it applies.

If a blue-toned finish is what you're after, pull the current color chart from the manufacturer and get the code in writing. Don't let a search term turn into a line item.

3. What should I check before I trust a commercial roofing catalog?

Three things, in this order: revision date, listings, and whether it's project-specific.

No revision date means every price in it is expired. I don't care how nice the PDF looks. Treat an undated catalog as a brochure, not a price book. (I pulled a Valor commercial roofing catalog last month and the first thing I looked for was the revision date on the back page. Force of habit.)

Listings: for roof coverings you want the fire classification (ASTM E108 / UL 790), wind uplift data (UL 580 for assemblies, ASTM E1592 for standing seam panels), and water penetration (ASTM E2140 for metal panel systems). If the catalog doesn't say which assembly was tested — panel, clip, substrate, fastener — that number doesn't apply to your job.

And underlayment should be called out by standard, not by nickname. "30-pound felt" can mean ASTM D226 or ASTM D4869 depending on who's talking. Those aren't the same product. Verify current revisions with ASTM or your AHJ — standards get updated.

4. Where do metal roofing orders go wrong most often?

Underlayment. Every time. Not the panels.

September 2022, standing-seam order on a commercial building. Spec called for a self-adhered high-temperature underlayment. Our supplier shipped standard felt, reasoning that it's covered by metal anyway. The inspector caught it during a pre-cover walk. That error cost $4,100 in redo plus a 9-day delay on dry-in. Not catastrophic. Still real money.

I should add: the spec wasn't wrong. Our ordering process was. Whoever released the PO looked at panel count and never opened the underlayment page.

Two things I check now:

• Is the underlayment self-adhered (ASTM D1970 is the ice-dam spec most people mean) or mechanically fastened?
• Is a high-temperature product required under the metal? Ask. Don't assume.

Slope changes the answer too. An assembly that's fine at 6:12 isn't automatically fine at 2:12, and low-slope metal assemblies get much pickier about what's underneath.

5. Do I have to buy a full pallet? My order is small.

Depends on the supplier. And I'll say the unpopular part: a minimum order quantity isn't the problem. An unexplained minimum is.

In 2019 I was running a two-person operation and needed 14 pieces of trim and a partial roll of membrane. Two suppliers said no. One distributor took the $340 order, will-call, and called me when it was ready. Three years later that distributor got my $60,000 order. Not because they were cheap — they weren't — but because they answered the phone.

Small doesn't mean unimportant. It means untested. That's a different thing, and it's worth a supplier's time.

Practically: if you're under the MOQ, ask about a mixed pallet, a will-call pickup, or a distributor who stocks the item instead of going through the manufacturer. Ask what the actual cost difference is. Sometimes the answer is "it's $40 more," sometimes it's "we can't, here's who can." Both are fine answers.

6. What's the question I should be asking but probably aren't?

Who does the warranty actually belong to, and does it transfer?

This one bit us. We specified a Valor unit for a spec home. Owner sells in year three. New owner files a claim. Turns out the warranty runs to the original purchaser, non-transferable — and the venting components carry a different term than the unit itself. Nobody lied to us. We just never read past "lifetime warranty" on the front of the brochure.

Same thing happens in roofing at a bigger scale. A material warranty is not a labor warranty, and neither one is a no-dollar-limit (NDL) warranty. Three different documents, three different prices.

Even after we started asking, I kept second-guessing. What if the answer changes by state? What if dealer-of-record rules differ? The two weeks before we got written confirmation on a 40-unit order were stressful. Get it in one paragraph, in writing. Then you can stop chewing on it.

7. How long does spec review actually take, and what kills the timeline?

Ballpark, 5 to 10 business days for a clean submittal to a general contractor. Add time for anything with a fire-rated assembly, a historic district, or an AHJ that wants a stamped letter from the manufacturer.

What kills it:

• Missing vent termination details (hearth)
• Underlayment called out by nickname instead of ASTM standard (roofing)
• Clearances copied off a framing plan instead of the listing
• A finish code that doesn't exist

After the third rejection in Q1 2024, I built the checklist I still use. The next 14 submittals went through clean. It took me three years and roughly 400 submittals to understand that the mistake usually isn't the product. It's the paperwork wrapped around the product. The product was fine. My package wasn't.

8. What's on the pre-check list?

Short version:

1. Listing number and standard cited, with edition.
2. Venting or panel assembly tested as a system — panel, clip, substrate, fastener.
3. Underlayment by ASTM standard, not nickname.
4. Clearances pulled from the listing, not the drawing.
5. Finish by manufacturer code, not color name.
6. Warranty terms and transferability in writing.
7. Catalog revision date, current.
8. For hearth products: altitude, gas type, and derating confirmed.

Eight lines. It's caught 47 potential errors in the past 18 months. Not glamorous work. It has saved more money than any negotiation I've ever run.

The spec guide is the order. The brochure is not.