Compare
Repair or Replace?
This is the only question that matters, and in Florida it is often not a judgement call — the code decides it.
Photographs and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, you will get that answer.
Side by side
| Category | Us | Full Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Hundreds to a few thousand | Tens of thousands |
| The 25% rule | Applies if under 25% in any 12 months | Required once you cross it |
| Underlayment age | Fine if it has years left | The real trigger. Tile outlives it |
| Isolated storm damage | Usually the right answer. Repair wins here | Overkill |
| Disruption | A day | Days to weeks. Repair wins here |
| Insurance and resale | No change to roof age | Resets roof age, often helps binding |
| Repeat repairs | Two in a year means you are losing money | Ends the cycle |
| Code upgrade | None triggered | Whole system brought current |
Each row marked “wins here” is a genuine advantage of the alternative. A table that gives the other side nothing is an advertisement wearing a table's clothes.
Their case
When full replacement is the right call
Where they genuinely win
Replacement is the right answer more often than homeowners want to hear. If the underlayment is at the end of its life, a repair buys one season and you pay twice. And once you are past the 25% threshold in any twelve-month period the code decides it — nobody can repair their way around that, and a contractor offering to is a warning sign.
Where it goes wrong
The usual failure is a run of repairs that each look reasonable on their own. Three visits across two years generally costs more than the replacement would have, and none of it resets the roof age for insurance. We would rather say at the first visit that the underlayment is finished.
Our view
The honest verdict
If the underlayment or membrane has life left and the damage is localized, repair — and be suspicious of anyone who skips straight to replacement without lifting anything to look. Once you are over the 25% threshold, or once you are paying for a third repair in two years, replacement is not an upsell, it is arithmetic.
Other comparisons
A Roofing Company vs. a General Contractor
For most roof jobs a dedicated roofing company is the right call and will be faster and cheaper. Here is the situation where that stops being true.
Read more →
The Crew That Knocked on Your Door
Not everyone who knocks after a storm is a problem. Some are perfectly good companies working hard in a busy week. The checks below cost you five minutes and separate the two.
Read more →
Doing It Yourself, or Calling a Handyman
Some roof work is genuinely fine to do yourself. Some of it will cost you a warranty, an insurance claim, or a fall. The line is clearer than you would think.
Read more →
Coating a Flat Roof vs. Replacing It
Coatings are a real product with real applications. They are also the most oversold thing in Florida roofing, and the difference comes down to what is under them.
Read more →
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.