Roof Replacement in Pompano Beach, FL

Most replacements here keep the material the house already has. The HVHZ reroofing section of the Florida Building Code allows one narrow shortcut: asphalt shingles may go over a single existing layer of shingles when the old surface varies by no more than 1/8 inch. Old tile, slate, metal shingles and wood shakes can never be covered over, though. And no new roof can go over sheathing that is soaked, rotted or not fastened to code. In practice, most quotes are for a full tear-off, because nobody can see the deck until the old roof is off.

Changing material changes the paperwork and sometimes the framing. Every roofing component in the HVHZ needs a current product approval. The city's permit form asks for the approval's front page and its system description, plus different form sections for each material: tile uses one more than shingles or metal. Check the exact product on the state's Florida Product Approval search or its Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance before you sign. Slope matters too. Nailed tile and metal shingles need at least 4:12, while metal panels and mortar-set tile can go down to 2:12. Tile is also heavy, so a structural engineer (about $100 to $220 an hour in HomeGuide's figures) may need to check the trusses before a shingle house switches to tile. The tile and metal pages cover those systems in depth.

A single slope or wing can count as its own roof section. That helps when one side took the damage and the rest is sound. On roofs permitted before the 2007 code took effect, repairing more than a quarter of a section within 12 months forces the whole section to current code (the 25% rule). Ask how the new section will tie into the old one at the ridge and valleys, and whether the existing material is still made in a matching color.

Plenty of houses pair a pitched main roof with a flat porch, Florida room or carport out back. On the city's HVHZ application, low-slope roofing uses sections A, B and C, while shingles, tile and metal use A, B and D. So the quote should list both systems. Under the reroofing code, the contractor must warn the owner up front about any chance of ponding and suggest an engineer's look at the structure if so. Ask whether both areas will be done under one permit and on the same schedule. The flat side has its own choices, covered under flat roof replacement.

About 39,400 of the city's 64,308 homes were built between 1950 and 1979, by Census counts, and only about 9,300 date from 2000 or later. Under a roof that old, the deck has usually been through several coverings. The code requires every area of deteriorated sheathing to come out and be replaced. Spaced board sheathing has to be filled in solid or re-sheathed before any roof covering except wood shingles goes back on. Replacement decking runs about $2 to $5 a square foot in cost guides. The permit packet also includes an owner's notice that the deck may need renailing once it is exposed.