What we fix · Roof Inspections
Roof Inspections and Condition Reports
Four different people ask for a roof inspection and they want four different documents. A buyer wants remaining life. An insurer wants age and attachment. A seller wants to know what will come up. An owner wants to know whether to act now or next year.
Photographs and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, you will get that answer.
67
Florida counties we are licensed to build in
HVHZ
Miami-Dade and Broward product approval, done properly
GC
A general contractor, so the structure below is our problem too
25%
The code rule that decides repair vs. replace
The problem
Why this goes wrong
A one-page report saying "roof appears serviceable" helps none of them. What is useful is specific: what the covering is, roughly how old, what condition each elevation is in, what is failing and how fast, and what the code path would be if work is needed. That is a document you can make a decision with.
Recognise it
What it looks like
Drawn rather than photographed, so each one shows the mechanism instead of one particular roof.
What we look for on low-slope
Standing water, drain condition, and whether the insulation below is saturated.
What we look for on tile and shingle
Attachment, edge condition, and the age of the layer that actually keeps water out.
From the ground
Signs to look for
- Buying a South Florida property with a roof of unknown age.
- An insurer asking for a roof condition report or refusing to bind.
- Preparing to sell, and wanting no surprises during inspection.
- A roof that has been through several storms with no professional look.
- Budgeting — deciding whether this is a this-year or a three-years-out problem.
Scope
What we actually do
- 01Covering type, approximate age, and installation quality.
- 02Elevation-by-elevation condition rather than a single verdict.
- 03Penetrations, valleys, flashing and terminations examined individually.
- 04Deck condition where it can be assessed, including attic where accessible.
- 05Remaining service life, stated as a range and with the reasoning shown.
- 06Photographs throughout, and the code implications if work is needed.
Worth knowing
If you are buying, get this before your inspection period closes rather than after. A roof at the end of its life is one of the few findings large enough to reopen a negotiation, and "the home inspector said it looked fine from the ground" is not a position you can negotiate from.
FAQ
Common questions
- Is this the same as a wind mitigation inspection?
- No. Wind mitigation is a specific insurance form completed by a qualified inspector. Ask us and we will point you to what you actually need.
- Can you inspect before I buy?
- Yes, and it is the best time. Do it inside your inspection period.
- Will you tell me it is fine if it is fine?
- Yes. A report that always finds work is worth nothing to anybody, including us.
- Do you walk the roof?
- Where it is safe and where walking will not damage the covering. On fragile tile we assess from ladders, edges and drone-free close inspection rather than cracking twenty tiles to look at one.
Areas served
Where we work
HVHZ
Fort Lauderdale
Our home city, and a genuine mix: barrel tile on the mainland, flat and low-slope on the mid-century houses near Victoria Park, and metal appearing steadily on the newer waterfront builds. Broward is HVHZ, so every product on your roof needs a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance.
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HVHZ
Wilton Manors
Compact lots and a large stock of 1950s and 1960s single-storey houses, which in practice means low-slope and shallow-pitch roofs rather than tile. Those roofs rely on membrane and flashing detail, so the failures here look different from the tile failures a mile east.
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HVHZ
Oakland Park
A lot of housing built either side of 1970, now reaching the point where an original underlayment has certainly been replaced once and may be due again. HVHZ rules apply, and Oakland Park permitting is generally straightforward compared with the barrier-island municipalities.
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HVHZ
Pompano Beach
Two different roofing markets in one city: older single-family inland, and a wave of oceanfront towers built in the last decade. The beachfront work is almost entirely low-slope with heavy salt exposure, which shortens the life of fasteners and terminations well before the membrane.
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HVHZ
Lighthouse Point
Canal-front houses with long-tenured owners, which is exactly the profile where a tile roof has looked fine for twenty-five years while the underlayment quietly reached the end of its life. Salt air on the canals is hard on exposed fasteners and metal trim.
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HVHZ
Deerfield Beach
The northern edge of Broward, and the last city before the HVHZ boundary — cross into Palm Beach County a mile north and the product approval rules change entirely. Large stock of 1970s and 1980s condominium with low-slope roofs held in common by the association.
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Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.