New Roof Installation Built to Florida Building Code

Replacement means removing an existing roof and building a new one in its place. Installation covers that plus roofs going onto something that never had one — a new addition, a rebuilt porch, a garage conversion, new construction. We hold both a roofing license and a building license, so framing, sheathing and the finished covering can all run under one contractor and one permit.

In the High Velocity Hurricane Zone, which covers Miami-Dade and Broward counties, asphalt shingles are applied with six fasteners each. Placement matters as much as the count: nails go in the nailing strip the manufacturer specifies, driven flush rather than overdriven through the mat, and never above the strip where they miss the course underneath. Palm Beach follows the state high-wind provisions.

Yes. Florida requires existing decking to be re-fastened to the current schedule when the roof covering is replaced, no matter how sound the plywood looks. Older homes were often sheathed with smooth-shank nails at wide spacing, which is exactly what allows a deck to lift in high wind. Re-nailing is inexpensive while the roof is open and impossible once the new system is on.

It depends on the covering and the slope. Most re-roofs here get a self-adhered secondary water barrier bonded directly to the deck, because it seals around fasteners and keeps water out even if the covering above is damaged in a storm. Tile systems and low-slope sections use different approved assemblies. Whatever goes on your roof is named in the written scope, not just called underlayment.

We do, under our own state license, and the permit fee is already inside the quoted price. You will not visit a building department or receive a separate permit invoice. Your city or county inspects the work in progress, typically at dry-in, and again at completion. An unpermitted roof creates problems at resale and with insurance, so it is not a corner worth cutting.

Yes. The building license covers structure and the roofing license covers the covering, so framing, sheathing, the tie-in to the existing roof and the finished system all run on one schedule with one contractor responsible. Additions leak most often right at that tie-in, where new work meets old, which is exactly why it helps to have one crew answerable for both sides of the seam.