South Florida Homeowner Guides

The Wind Mitigation Inspection — How It Works and What It Saves

A wind mitigation inspection is the single highest-ROI piece of paper most South Florida homeowners can put in front of their insurance carrier. The inspector documents the home's wind-resistant features on a state-standard form (OIR-B1-1802). Your carrier reads that form and applies credits to your premium. Most homeowners with a modern roof and any opening protection save between $800 and $2,500 per year. Bigger homes with full impact-window protection often save more.

The inspection itself costs $75-$150, takes about an hour, and the report is good for five years. Five years of credits typically returns 100-300x the inspection cost.

What the inspector documents

• Roof covering — material, age, and whether it meets current Florida Building Code
• Roof deck attachment — nail pattern and size (6d, 8d, ring-shank, etc.)
• Roof-to-wall connection — toenails, clips, single wraps, double wraps
• Roof geometry — hip, gable, flat, or mixed
• Secondary water resistance (SWR) — peel-and-stick underlayment under shingles
• Opening protection — impact glass, shutters, or none

How to Read a Roofing Quote

A complete roofing quote has 12 specific line items. If yours is missing more than two, you don't have a quote — you have a sales pitch. Here's the full checklist.

1. Tear-off — how many layers, disposal included
2. Deck inspection & repair allowance — $/sheet for rotten plywood, with a cap
3. Re-nail to current code — 6" pattern with ring-shank nails (FL code since 2007)
4. Underlayment — type (peel-and-stick, synthetic, felt) and brand
5. Drip edge & starter strip — color and gauge
6. Roofing material — exact product name (e.g., "GAF Timberline HDZ"), color, and warranty
7. Flashing — chimney, wall, pipe boots — new or reused, material
8. Ventilation — ridge vent, off-ridge, or turbines — quantity
9. Permit — pulled by contractor, fees included
10. Cleanup & magnetic nail sweep — final yard pass
11. Warranty — manufacturer (years), labor (years), transferable?
12. Payment schedule — deposit, progress draw, final

The South Florida Permit Process

Every roof replacement, every impact window, and every electrical/plumbing change above minor maintenance requires a permit in tri-county. The process varies by jurisdiction but follows the same five steps:

1. Application — contractor submits plans, product approvals, and fees
2. Plan review — building department checks for code compliance
3. Permit issuance — contractor receives the printed (or digital) permit
4. Inspections during work — typically deck/dry-in inspection mid-job
5. Final inspection & close-out — required for the permit to close in your records

Typical timelines

• Reroof: 1-4 weeks (Miami-Dade longest, Broward fastest)
• Impact windows: 2-5 weeks (structural review adds time)
• Electrical or plumbing scope: usually 1-2 weeks
• New construction: 8-16+ weeks depending on scope

When a permit's final inspection doesn't happen, the permit stays openon your property record. Open permits show up during a future sale, can block your title from clearing, and sometimes block insurance carriers from writing your policy. Always confirm the contractor closed the permit after final inspection — your county permit search portal can confirm.

When to Replace Your Roof (Before Insurance Forces You)

Florida insurance carriers have aggressively tightened roof-age underwriting in the past five years. The rule of thumb: a shingle roof over 15 years old is at risk of non-renewal; over 20 years it's nearly impossible to keep coverage. Tile and metal have longer material life, but the underlayment underneath is usually shot at 20-25 years.

Material lifespans (with code-compliant install)

• 3-tab asphalt shingle: 15-20 years
• Architectural asphalt shingle: 20-25 years (warranty often 50, real-world 20-25)
• Concrete tile: 30-50 years material; 20-25 year underlayment
• Clay tile: 50+ years material; 20-25 year underlayment
• Standing seam metal: 40-70 years
• Flat / modified bitumen / TPO: 15-25 years

The five visible signs you're close: missing or curling shingles, granules in the gutter, cracked or slid tiles, visible water stains on interior ceilings, or daylight visible in the attic. Any one of these means inspection. Any two means quotes.

Hurricane Prep for Your Home

Before storm season (June 1)

• Photograph every elevation of the home, the roof from the street, every room from each corner
• Save photos to cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, email to yourself)
• Save the current policy declarations page, mitigation report, and recent permits as PDFs
• Walk the property — clear gutters, trim trees away from roof, check shutter/garage door hardware

Day-of (Tropical Storm Warning issued)

• Deploy shutters if you have them; clear furniture/grills/anything that becomes a projectile
• Fill tubs, charge devices, fuel vehicles, pull cash
• Photograph the home one more time, timestamped — this is your pre-loss baseline

After

• Photograph all damage before any tarping or temporary repair
• Make reasonable emergency repairs (tarp roof) — keep all receipts
• File the claim with the timestamped photos in hand — the strongest claims have the strongest documentation

Roofing Materials 101 — Quick Reference

The full breakdown lives in our roof replacement cost guide, but here's the one-paragraph summary on each material South Florida actually uses:

• Architectural asphalt shingle — cheapest install, $900-$1,500/sq retail. 20-25 yr life. Most popular material in tri-county permits.
• Concrete tile — $1,000-$1,500/sq. 50+ yr material life but 20-25 yr underlayment. Heavy — needs structural verification.
• Clay tile — $1,300-$1,800/sq. 50+ yr material life. Premium aesthetic, common in older Spanish/Mediterranean homes.
• Standing seam metal — $1,500-$2,200/sq. 40-70 yr life, 160 mph wind rating. The premium choice.
• Flat / TPO / modified bitumen — $1,000-$1,800/sq. 15-25 yr life. Used on flat-roof sections of mixed roofs.

More guides on the way

We're actively building out detailed sub-guides on each of these topics. If there's a specific South Florida homeowner question you wish someone had written a clear guide for, tell us — we read every note that comes through the lead form.

Data last updated: March 2026