Roof Inspection in Port Charlotte, FL

The four reasons people here book one

Nearly every inspection request we get in Charlotte County falls into one of a few situations, and the report is written with that purpose in mind.

• A house is being bought or sold. A general home inspector looks at the roof among forty other things. A roofer's inspection goes further and puts a condition and an expected remaining life against each slope.
• An insurer has sent a letter. Carriers writing policies in Florida pay close attention to roof age. A notice of non-renewal that cites the roof is often the first time an owner learns theirs is considered old.
• A storm has been through. Wind can break seals and shift tiles without leaving anything visible from the yard.
• Hurricane season is coming. June 1 is a sensible deadline for finding the loose ridge cap or the open soffit while there is time to deal with it.

Tell Port Charlotte Roofing which of these applies when you call. An inspection for a real estate closing and one for an insurance question look at the same roof, and the write-ups emphasize different things.

What is examined

Roof age and the 15-year line

Florida put rules around roof age into statute in 2022. Section 627.7011(5) says an insurer may not refuse to issue or renew a homeowner's policy solely because of the age of a roof that is less than 15 years old. For a roof that is at least 15 years old, the insurer must allow the homeowner to have a roof inspection performed by an authorized inspector, and may not refuse on age alone if that inspection indicates the roof has five years or more of useful life remaining.

The statute also defines how age is counted. It runs from the last date on which the whole roof surface was built or replaced under the building code in force at the time, or from the start of a partial replacement when later partial work completed the rest.

Two practical points follow. First, the permit record is the evidence of that date, so it is worth pulling before you argue about it. Second, each carrier has its own view of who counts as an authorized inspector and which form it wants. Ask them in writing before paying for any inspection, ours included, and we will tell you honestly whether our report fits what they have asked for.

The roof questions on a wind mitigation form

Insurers in Florida use a standard document, the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, to record the features of a house that reduce hurricane losses. Most of its questions concern the roof. Knowing them helps you understand what a re-roof changes and what it cannot.

• Roof covering. The permit date and whether the covering meets the Florida Building Code.
• Roof deck attachment. The size and spacing of the nails holding the sheathing to the trusses, checked from inside the attic.
• Roof-to-wall attachment. Whether the trusses are held by toe nails, clips, or straps that wrap over the top, and how each is nailed.
• Roof geometry. Hip roofs perform better in wind than gables and are recorded separately.
• Secondary water resistance. Whether the deck is sealed beneath the roof covering.

The form has to be signed by one of the kinds of professional it lists. Our inspection photographs the same roof features, which is useful preparation, and the re-roof permit file supplies the proof for the covering, the deck nailing and the sealed deck.

What you receive

A written report with dated photographs, organized by slope and by component. Each finding is marked as serviceable, needing repair, or at the end of its life. Where repairs would extend the roof, they are listed with a reason for each.

The report also gives an opinion on remaining service life, with the basis for it stated. That number is a judgment. A roof assessed at eight years can be ended by one hurricane, and a careful owner can stretch a roof past its estimate. We explain how we arrived at it so you can weigh it yourself.