Roof Inspections in Northeast Florida

Typically $125 to $300 as a standalone visit in Northeast Florida, and less when bundled with a wind mitigation or full home inspection. Complex tile or multi-level roofs sit at the higher end.

Architectural asphalt shingle commonly runs 15 to 25 years here, three-tab less, tile and metal considerably longer with maintenance. Coastal and barrier island exposure shortens all of it — UV load, salt air and wind-driven rain are harder on a roof in Jacksonville Beach than the same product inland. Age alone doesn't condemn a roof; condition does.

Frequently, on older roofs. Many Florida carriers now request roof documentation or condition verification at renewal once a roof passes a certain age, and roof condition is one of the four systems on a 4-point inspection. A roof documented with roughly three years or less of remaining life will generally block a new policy.

When it is safe and the covering allows it, yes — walking gives the most accurate picture. Steep pitch, wet conditions, brittle tile or fragile aging shingle can make walking unsafe or actively damaging, and in those cases the roof is evaluated from ladder and eave level, from the ground with optics, and from the attic side. The report states which method was used.

A roofing contractor's inspection is a sales visit, and their answer is a roof. We do not sell, install or repair roofs. We document condition and remaining life, and if the answer is 'this roof has eight good years left and needs three vent boots,' that's what the report says.

Usually 45 minutes to an hour and a half, including the attic-side evaluation. Large, complex or multi-level roofs take longer.

Yes. Documented, dated, photographed condition is what supports a claim and what distinguishes storm damage from pre-existing wear — which is exactly the argument carriers make. Having a report from before the season is even better, because it establishes the baseline.

Because underwriters are pricing the next several years, not today. A carrier is estimating how likely the covering is to fail during the policy term, especially under storm loading, and it uses covering type, age, and estimated remaining life to do that. Most Florida carriers want to see at least three years of remaining life, and many draw a hard line on asphalt shingle around the fifteen-to-twenty year mark, with longer tolerances for tile and metal. A twenty-year-old shingle roof with no active leaks can still be declined or accepted only on an actual-cash-value roof endorsement, which pays depreciated value rather than replacement cost after a loss. That endorsement is worth reading carefully, because it can shift most of a future roof claim back onto you.

No. Those dark streaks are algae, most often Gloeocapsa magma, which feeds on the limestone filler in asphalt shingles and thrives in humid Southeast climates. It is a cosmetic issue. It does not shorten shingle life in any meaningful way, it does not cause leaks, and it is not evidence of a failing roof. It can be cleaned with a low-pressure application of an appropriate solution, never a pressure washer, which strips granules and will genuinely shorten the roof's life. Algae-resistant shingles containing copper granules resist regrowth, which is a reasonable specification on your next replacement. What actually matters on an aging shingle roof is granule loss exposing the mat, curling and edge lift, broken sealant bonds, and the condition of boots and flashings.

Because on a tile roof the tile is the rain screen, not the waterproofing. The actual water barrier is the underlayment beneath it, and that underlayment ages on a much shorter clock than the tile does. Older organic felt underlayments commonly reach the end of their service life somewhere around the twenty-year mark under Florida heat, while the concrete or clay tile above still looks new from the street and may last fifty years. When the underlayment goes, you get leaks with no visible cause from outside. A tile re-roof usually means lifting and re-setting or replacing the tile, installing new underlayment, and re-detailing the flashings. That is why a tile roof assessment leans on attic-side evidence, valley and flashing condition, and the age of the last permitted underlayment work.

Ask for three things: the contractor's invoice with a scope description, the permit record if the work was substantial enough to require one, and any remaining workmanship or material warranty with confirmation it transfers to you. Then have the specific repair area inspected. The failures worth checking are repairs that treated the symptom rather than the source: a patched ceiling with no roof work above it, a new pipe boot installed but the rotted deck around it left in place, sealant smeared over a flashing that should have been replaced, or a partial shingle patch that does not match and was never properly woven into the surrounding field. Also confirm whether the repair was a partial overlay, because a second layer of shingles affects both future re-roof cost and some carriers' willingness to write.