Roof replacement · Lee County, Florida
A new roof is a
last resort, not a
first suggestion.
A lot of the roofs people call us about turn out to be repairable. But when a roof is genuinely finished, a full replacement in Florida buys you something a patch never will — and most of it happens under the shingles, where you'll never see it.
Not sure you need one? Good. That's the right starting position, and the inspection is free either way. We put the roof's remaining life in writing, and plenty of those reports say "leave it alone".
- Free, with no obligation
- Written report with photos
- Office on Cypress Lake Drive
First, the honest part
Four reasons to replace. One of them isn't on this list.
"It looks old" is not a reason. Neither is a door-knocker telling you it is. These are.
The roof has stopped being one surface
Widespread granule loss, curling or cupping across whole slopes, brittle shingles that crack when walked. At that point you aren't fixing a defect, you're fixing everything at once, and repairs stop being economic. This is the common one.
The deck underneath has gone
Soft spots, delaminated plywood, rot around penetrations. You cannot fix a deck without taking the covering off, and once it's off you are replacing the roof whether you planned to or not. This is what an inspection finds — before the job starts, rather than halfway through a repair.
Storm damage crosses the 25% line
Florida law sets a threshold at which a repaired section forces the whole roof assembly up to current code. Detail below — it's the single most misrepresented rule in this industry and it is worth understanding before anyone quotes you.
Your carrier has drawn a line
Some Florida carriers now decline to write or renew over a certain roof age, or over a certain condition, regardless of whether the roof leaks. That's an insurance decision rather than a roofing one, but it is a real reason people replace, and we won't pretend otherwise.
What nobody should do is decide this from the driveway. A roof that looks dramatic from the street is often repairable, and a roof that looks fine from the street is sometimes finished. The photographs decide it. If the photographs say you'd be throwing money at a roof with years left, the report says so, and shows you why.
What Florida actually requires
The part of a re-roof you never see is the part that matters.
A Florida replacement is not the same job as a replacement in Ohio. Three code requirements change what goes on your deck, and most quotes never mention them.
A secondary water barrier is not optional
Under the 2023 Florida Building Code, 8th Edition — in effect since 31 December 2023 — when a roof covering is removed and replaced, a secondary water barrier must be installed (R908.7.2, and 706.7.2 in the Existing Building volume). Roof slopes under 2:12 with a continuous roof system are deemed to comply.
This is the layer that keeps water out of your house when the shingles above it are gone. It is why a modern Florida re-roof survives a storm that strips the covering, and it is the first thing to check is included in any quote you're given.
There are three legal ways to do it, and they are not equivalent
R905.1.1.1 permits three methods: full deck coverage with a self-adhering polymer-modified bitumen sheet (ASTM D1970); 3¾-inch strips taped over the deck joints with approved underlayment over the top; or a two-layer system using ASTM D226 Type II, D4869 or D8257 at a maximum fastener spacing of 12 inches on centre, horizontally and vertically.
All three comply. They do not all perform the same. Ask which one you're being quoted — if the answer is vague, that tells you something.
The deck gets re-fastened while it's open
When the covering comes off a wood deck in the wind-borne debris region, deck attachment requirements are triggered (706.8). Re-nailing an existing deck to current standards is one of the few moments in a building's life when it's even possible, and it is a large part of why a re-roofed house performs better in wind than an old one.
Nobody can tell you Lee County's wind speed off the top of their head
Design wind speed has no single countywide figure. It is read per location from the ASCE 7-22 map for the address, at Risk Category II for an ordinary house. Two homes a few miles apart can sit at different design speeds, and a coastal address is not the same as an inland one.
If a contractor quotes you one number for the whole county, they've either rounded or guessed. Where the design speed reaches 170 mph or above, the code additionally requires metal caps on underlayment fasteners — a small detail that tells you whether someone is reading the code or reciting it.
The 25% rule
The most misquoted sentence in Florida roofing.
Section 553.844(5), Florida Statutes, is the provision everyone refers to and few quote correctly. In broad terms it governs when repairing part of a roof requires bringing the wider roof assembly up to current code, rather than simply patching like for like.
It matters to you for one reason: it is the difference between a repair quote and a replacement quote, and a contractor who wants the larger job has an incentive to read it generously.
We wrote the rule up properly, including the exception that applies to roofs built to the 2007 code and later, because it deserves more than a bullet point.
A straight warning. If someone tells you the 25% rule means you are legally required to have a full replacement, ask them to show you the section and the exception. Then get a second opinion.
The rule exists to stop people patching a failing roof indefinitely. It is not a sales tool, and it is not as broad as it is often made to sound.
How it goes
From the first phone call to the final inspection.
01
Inspection and a written report
Whole exterior, attic where there's safe access, photographs of everything we find. You get the report whether or not you use us, and it says plainly whether you need a replacement at all.
02
A quote that names the materials
Which underlayment, which secondary water barrier method, which shingle and which profile. Not "premium underlayment". If you're comparing us against someone else, compare those lines — that's where the difference in price usually lives.
03
Permit — your contractor pulls it
Your contractor pulls the permit, not you. On jobs at or above the statutory threshold a Notice of Commencement is recorded first. A roofer who suggests skipping the permit is telling you something useful about how they work.
04
Tear-off and deck inspection
The covering comes off in full courses. This is the only moment anyone gets to see your deck, so it is the moment to photograph it — ask for those pictures. Soft or delaminated sheets get replaced and the deck gets re-fastened before anything goes back on.
05
Dry-in, and the inspection that follows it
Secondary water barrier and underlayment down, and in most jurisdictions an inspection happens at this stage — before the covering hides it. From dry-in onward your house is watertight even if weather arrives mid-job.
06
Covering, final inspection, and the paperwork
New roof on from the eave up, site cleared and magnet-swept. Then the final inspection, and you get the permit close-out and the manufacturer warranty registration. Keep both — you'll want them at renewal and at sale.
Afterwards, get the wind mitigation form done. A new roof with no wind mitigation inspection filed is money left sitting on the table — the features you just paid for only count with your carrier once they are documented on form OIR-B1-1802.
By roof type
Four different jobs that all get called "a new roof".
The tear-off is similar. Almost nothing after that is.
Shingle roof replacement
The most common roof in Lee County and the fastest to replace. Architectural shingles, wind ratings that actually mean something, and the underlayment decision that most quotes gloss over.
Tile roof replacement
Heavier, slower, and far more dependent on what's underneath — on most tile roofs it's the underlayment that fails long before the tile does. Which changes the conversation entirely.
Metal roof replacement
Standing seam and exposed-fastener systems are not the same product and don't age the same way. Longest-lived option here, and the one with the most variation in how well it's installed.
Flat and low-slope replacement
Different code, different failure modes, different materials. Also the only category where a fluid-applied coating is sometimes a legitimate alternative to replacing at all — over a sound membrane, and only after a moisture survey.
Cost
What actually moves the number.
We don't publish prices, because a price for a roof you haven't seen is a guess dressed up as information. What we can tell you is what the quote is made of.
Squares, not square feet
Roofing is measured in squares — 100 square feet each — and measured on the roof surface, not the footprint of the house. A steep roof has considerably more surface than its floor plan suggests.
Pitch, and how much of the job is safety
Past a certain pitch the crew needs fall protection, staging and more time for the same area. Steep roofs cost more per square for reasons that have nothing to do with materials.
How many layers are coming off
Tear-off and disposal is real labour and real landfill weight. Two layers is close to twice the work of one before anything new goes on.
Penetrations and detail work
Valleys, skylights, chimneys, vents, dead valleys against walls. Flashing detail is where roofs leak and where the labour hides. A simple gable and a cut-up hip roof of the same area are not the same job.
What the deck turns out to be
Nobody can price deck replacement honestly before the roof is open. Insist on a rate per sheet up front, so that if rot is found you already know what it costs and it isn't a negotiation held on the day.
Questions
Roof replacement, answered straight.
How long does a roof replacement take?
Most single-family shingle roofs in this area are a two to four day job, weather permitting. Tile and metal run longer. The honest answer is that the tear-off tells us — a deck that needs significant replacement adds a day, and we'd rather add the day than rush it.
Will my house be exposed overnight?
No competent crew tears off more than it can dry in the same day. Once the secondary water barrier and underlayment are down, the house is watertight even without a covering, which is exactly what that layer is for.
Can you just go over the existing shingles?
We don't. A layover hides the deck, so nobody inspects or re-fastens it, and it makes the secondary water barrier requirement impossible to satisfy properly. It is cheaper on the day and worse in every other respect. If someone quotes you a layover in Florida, ask them how they're meeting R908.7.2.
Do I need to be home?
No, though it helps for the walkthrough at the start and the end. You will need to move cars off the driveway, and it is worth taking anything fragile off the walls — tear-off carries more vibration through a house than people expect.
What happens to my landscaping?
Beds and shrubs should be tarped before anything comes off, and the site magnet-swept for nails at the end of each day rather than only at the end of the job. Both are fair things to have written into the contract rather than assumed.
Is a new roof covered by insurance?
Sometimes, if the roof was damaged by a covered event such as a storm. Wear and age are not covered events on any policy we've seen. If there's a claim involved, the roof should be documented thoroughly and the claim itself stays between you and your adjuster — Florida law is specific about what a contractor may and may not do on a claim.
What warranty comes with it?
Two separate things, and people conflate them. The manufacturer warrants the materials, on their terms, and that warranty has to be registered. The contractor warrants the workmanship. Ask any roofer for both in writing, with the workmanship period stated in years, and read what voids them — inadequate ventilation voids more shingle warranties than defects do.
Does this cover new construction?
The pages here are written around replacing a roof that already exists — tear-off, deck condition, what the old permit history says. New construction is a different conversation with different scheduling and a different set of inspections. Ask us and we’ll point you at someone who does it.
Where we work
Getting a roof replacement quoted in Lee County.
Four cities, and the roofs in them do not age the same way — nor does the permit go to the same desk. Each page covers what is specific to that one.
Fort Myers roofing
Home base, on Cypress Lake Drive.
Cape Coral roofing
Open canal lots, so edges and corners take the wind first.
Estero roofing
Mostly tile, and mostly inside communities with a say over it.
Bonita Springs roofing
Closest to the Gulf, so corrosion arrives early.
Outside these four? Call and we will tell you straight whether we can reach you on the day you need us, rather than claim a service radius we cannot cover. All service areas.
Book it
Find out whether you need one.
Three short steps. The inspection is free, you keep the photographs and the written report, and a fair number of them come back saying the roof has years left.
Get it in writing before you commit.
About an hour on site, photographs of every problem area, and a plain answer about whether this is a repair, a replacement, or nothing at all yet.
Book a free inspection