Roof Inspection
Florida roofs take a beating compared to the rest of the country. Thanks to our unpredictable storms, a roof that’s in great shape in May can easily show damage by September.
Roofs down here take damage from things people never think about. Tree limbs hanging over a roof may break and will potentially scrape shingles and crack tiles during a storm. Sometimes Iguanas climb up to get out of the heat and lift tiles trying to squeeze underneath them. South Florida has more country club communities than almost anywhere in the state, and homes sitting along those fairways in places like Boca Raton, Weston, and Palm Beach Gardens deal with a problem most roofs never face. Homes backing up to a golf course get hit with stray balls, and one bad shot is enough to crack a concrete tile. Even routine maintenance causes problems, because a lot of HOAs require regular pressure washing and that alone cracks more tiles than most homeowners would guess. None of these are things you notice from the ground. They show up during a roof inspection.
A roof inspection tells you the current condition of your roof, what needs attention, and how many years of service life remain. Kore Home Inspections performs residential and commercial roof inspections throughout Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, and St. Lucie counties. You get your report instantly.
Roof Inspection Services
A professional roof inspector reads a roof differently than a homeowner does. They know where water travels and where damage starts. They spot the small problems before those problems reach your ceiling.
An experienced roof inspector understands how each material fails. Asphalt shingles curl and lose granules. Concrete tile cracks and the mortar crumbles. Metal panels corrode at the fasteners. Modified bitumen blisters and separates at the seams. Each material has a different failure pattern and a different service life.
Location changes what a roof inspector looks for. Homes near the beach show rusted vents, corroded flashing, and rusted nail heads. Salt air attacks metal components years before the roof covering itself wears out. Those rusted components create leak paths while the surrounding roof surface still looks new.
A roof inspector also reads water flow. Where does water go when a heavy rain hits your roof? Which valleys carry the most volume? Where does the water sit instead of draining? Ponding water on a flat roof shortens the life of the membrane. A roof inspector identifies these conditions and tells you what they mean for your roof over the next several years
Is the roof inspection for insurance or Personal?
Start by deciding why you need the inspection. The answer changes the scope of the work and what the report needs to say.
Insurance inspections usually start with a letter. Your carrier requests documentation of your roof condition, or you receive a notice of potential cancellation. Sometimes you need the report to bind a new policy on a home you are buying. In each case, the insurance company sets the requirements and the report follows a specific format. Every roof certification in the state of Florida uses the same standard form set by Citizens property insurance to determine eligibility.
Personal inspections are almost always circumstantial. You noticed a stain on the ceiling. You saw missing shingles after a storm. You are preparing to list the home and want to know what a buyer’s inspector will find. These inspections have no required format and no third party dictating the scope.
Tell your roof inspector which type you need before the inspection begins. The distinction determines which form gets completed and what documentation you receive.
Roof inspection for insurance
A roof inspection for insurance is also called a roof certification. Carriers like Citizens Property Insurance require one to confirm your roof is in reasonable condition before writing or renewing a policy.
A roof certification is not a home inspection. The scope is narrow. The inspector completes a form the insurance company provides, and the form asks a specific set of questions about material, age, permit history, and condition.
Two requirements drive the outcome. First, the underwriter wants to see a minimum of five years of remaining useful life. Second, the roof needs to show no visible damage. Miss either requirement and the carrier will decline coverage or require repairs before binding the policy.
Roof age matters more than most homeowners expect. A roof with three years of remaining life will fail the certification even with no damage present. Understanding your roof age and your remaining useful life before you order the inspection saves you time and prevents surprises.
Roof inspection service for personal use
A roof inspection for personal use is strictly for the homeowner. They want to use the report to understand the condition.
The most common reason is a suspected leak. You found a water stain on a ceiling and want to know where the water enters. A roof inspection traces the path from the interior evidence back to the source on the roof surface. In South Florida this comes up constantly after storm season.
Alternatively a seller may order roof inspections before listing their home. Knowing the condition of your roof before a buyer’s inspector arrives gives you time to address problems on your own terms. A cracked tile costs a few hundred dollars to repair before listing. The same cracked tile found during a buyer’s inspection becomes a negotiating point worth thousands. In competitive markets like Miami and West Palm Beach, sellers who handle this early keep control of the negotiation.
Buyers order roof inspections generally as a part of their home inspection period while under contract. It is a key part of the home inspection process and makes most buyers nervous. Roof age carries more weight with Florida insurance carriers than almost anything else on a property, which is why buyers here pay close attention to it.
Choosing a Roof inspection contractor
Florida insurance carriers accept a roof certification from five types of licensed professionals: a licensed home inspector, a licensed roofing contractor, architect, engineer, or a building code inspector or official.
Architects, engineers, and building code inspectors rarely provide roof certifications for residential or commercial properties. They are qualified to do the work, but their practices focus on large scale projects, and a single family roof certification falls outside their normal scope.
South Florida homeowners are left with two realistic options. A licensed home inspector or a licensed roofer.
Hiring a licensed home inspector
A licensed home inspector is the better choice for most roof inspections. Four reasons drive this.
Price
Home inspectors charge significantly less. Construction trades carry job minimums, and those minimums run high. A roofer sending a crew and a truck to your property has a floor on what the visit costs. A home inspector arrives alone with the tools required for the job. Home inspection companies are also generally smaller operations.
No sales incentive
A home inspector has no product to sell you. There is no reroof at the end of the report and no repair contract waiting. The inspector has no financial reason to exaggerate damage or downplay a problem. You get the condition of your roof and nothing else. This gives you confidence that the inspector is impartial.
Broader system knowledge
Home inspectors evaluate every major system in a house. This comes in very handy. A homeowner might see a wet spot on the ceiling and call a roofer only to discover it is not a roof leak at all. Meanwhile, a home inspector can go into the attic and find a dripping supply line, or a poorly insulated condensate line from the HVAC system dripping onto the drywall. This provides clarity for the homeowner and direction for who to call. A roofer looking only at the roof might not comment on those systems.
Availability
Roofers work long jobs. A reroof takes days, and crews commit to those jobs weeks in advance. Fitting a one hour inspection into their schedule is difficult. Home inspections takes one to three hours. Home inspectors schedule multiple appointments per day and offer far more flexibility on timing.
Pros and Cons of hiring a licensed roofer instead
A licensed roofer brings real advantages. They speak to building code requirements with authority. In Miami-Dade and Broward, where High Velocity Hurricane Zone requirements govern every roofing product installed, that knowledge has real value. They have taken roofs apart and put them back together, and hands on installation experience gives them insight at certain points in an evaluation. But the drawbacks outweigh those advantages for most homeowners.
Cost is the first problem. We have seen roof inspections from licensed roofers priced upward of $800. For a document your insurance company requires, the price is difficult to justify.
The sales incentive is the second problem. A roofer sells roofs. A roofer evaluating your roof has a financial interest in the outcome of the evaluation. Some will recommend a reroof before you need one. The recommendation might be correct. You have no easy way to know.
Scope is the third problem. If your leak turns out to be plumbing or HVAC related, the roofer finds nothing and you start over with a different trade. You pay twice and lose a week.
Roof assessment process
Every inspector has a process. Sticking to the process is what produces consistent results. Our roof assessment follows three stages in a specific order. The rooftop is first. The interior comes afterwards. Then the attic is last. This order brings reliable results. When the inspector spots a questionable area on the roof surface, they carry the observation into the attic and look directly at the underside of the deck in the same location. Reversing the order loses the connection. An inspector who checks the attic first has no idea which areas deserve extra attention.
The Exterior: Rooftop inspection
The rooftop inspection documents the roof material, damage, and deficiencies across the entire roof surface.
What the inspector finds depends on the material. Shingle roofs lose granules, curl at the edges, and show exposed nail heads where fasteners have backed out. Concrete tile roofs crack, slip out of position, and lose mortar at the hips and ridges. Metal roofs show fastener corrosion and separation at the panel seams. Flat roofs blister, pond water, and split at the seams.
Components around the roof matter as much as the covering. Fascia board, soffit, and gutters are part of the roof system, and inspectors overlook them more often than any other component. Rotted fascia means water has been getting behind the drip edge. Blocked gutters push water back under the roof edge. Damaged soffit allows pests into the attic and disrupts ventilation.
Roof penetrations deserve close attention. Plumbing vents, exhaust fans, skylights, and any point where something passes through the roof surface. Flashing at these points fails before the surrounding roof material does. Most roof leaks start at a penetration.
The Interior: Moisture and Thermal Imaging
Inside the home, we document moisture with a moisture meter and an infrared thermal camera.
The moisture meter gives you a reading at a specific point. Wet drywall reads differently than dry drywall, and the meter tells you which one you have. Thermal imaging shows temperature differences across a surface. Wet material holds temperature differently than dry material. It is also very good at showing the point of origin. A stain could manifest a foot away from the actual water source.
Together these tools locate roof leaks and define how far the water has traveled. A stain on a ceiling shows you where the water arrived. The stain does not show you where the water entered or how much of the surrounding structure got wet. Thermal imaging maps the actual extent of the moisture.
The interior stage also documents damage already visible. Water stains, sagging drywall, peeling paint, and separation at ceiling joints all indicate water intrusion at some point in the past. This may be necessary if you intend to submit the report to a homeowners association who is responsible for the roof and roof replacements.
The Attic: Water Damage and Roof Leaks
A roof can appear perfectly sound from above and still leak. The evidence sits on the underside of the roof deck where you cannot see from outside. Water stains on the deck are a clear sign the roof was leaking at some point. With the moisture meter and thermal camera, we determine whether the leak is recent or historical, which matters in South Florida where afternoon rain falls most of the year and a stain from last week looks the same as one from last summer.
A roof can also leak with no visible sign anywhere inside the living space. Periodic leaks release small volumes of water at intervals. The water never accumulates enough to reach the ceiling drywall or small leak can dry on the wood decking and insulation before reaching any finished surface.
Severe leaks sometimes show at the fascia board with no interior evidence at all. Water enters at the roof deck, travels down a truss web member, and exits at the fascia outside the exterior wall. During rain the water blends with runoff and would be almost invisible. A leak like that can continue for years unseen.
Ignoring a roof leak can produce four outcomes. Mold can grow in the attic and wall cavities, and Florida humidity gives it everything it needs to spread fast. There could be electrical hazards where water reaches wiring or junction boxes. It also can ruin insulation removing the R-value. The most common issue is softened drywall requiring replacement. These issues alone would bring on 4 more trades to address.
How much does a Florida roof inspection cost?
The cost depends on who performs the inspection. A licensed home inspector or a licensed roofing contractor. Across South Florida, expect to pay between $100 and $900 for a roof inspection. The range is wide because the two categories of provider price the work differently.
Residential Roof Inspection Cost
Our residential roof inspection is $133.51 for most homes.
Other licensed home inspectors in South Florida charge between $150 and $300 for the same service. Pricing usually increases at around 2,000 square feet, so a larger home costs more with most companies.
Licensed roofing contractors charge considerably more. We have seen quotes upward of $800 for a residential roof inspection.
Ask what the price includes before you book. Some companies charge separately for the report itself or add a fee for the insurance form. Our price includes the inspection, the completed roof certification form, and the report delivered instantly before we drive away.
Commercial Roof inspector cost
Our commercial roof certification is $250. Our in house general contractors perform commercial inspections, which insurance carriers require for commercial properties. A home inspector license alone does not satisfy carrier requirements on commercial buildings.
Other companies charge $300 and up for commercial roof inspections. Large properties and multi building sites are priced individually.
How to prepare for a roof certification
It is important to prepare for your roof certification. It can avoid delays and disappointments.
Repair visible tile damage first. Cracked tiles are one of the most common reasons a roof certification fails. Gluing or replacing cracked tiles before the inspection costs far less than a failed certification and a second inspection.
Consider a roof coating on a flat roof. A white elastomeric coating on a modified bitumen or built up roof extends the service life and improves the appearance of the surface. Talk to your insurance agent before making changes. Some carriers have specific requirements about coatings and what they will accept.
Gather your roof documentation. Specifically it helps to have permits, invoices, and any repair records. Building departments sometimes take several days to produce permit records, and some older permits are difficult to locate. Start this process early. Without a valid roof permit, binding coverage becomes extremely difficult. Permits are the best source. An invoice is secondary only because it does prove it was done with approval by the local building department.
Repair and paint previous water damage. Water stains on ceilings and walls raise questions during the inspection even when the leak was repaired years ago. Repair the damage and repaint the affected areas before your inspection date.
Understanding the Roof Certification Form
The roof certification form asks a defined set of questions. Knowing what goes on the form helps you know what you can expect.
Knowing the Roof Material
Roof material comes first. The inspector identifies every material present on the roof. Options include concrete tile, clay tile, asphalt shingle, metal, modified bitumen, tar and gravel, TPO, and EPDM. Those last four appear most often during a flat roof inspection. Many South Florida homes have two materials, with a sloped section in one material and a flat section in another.
How Roof Ages work
The inspector documents the age based on available documentation including permits and invoices. Roof age is measured from the commencement date when work began, not from the completion date
How much remaining useful life does my roof have?
Remaining useful life sounds complicated. The calculation is simple.
Average roof life for the material – the age of the roof = remaining useful life.
A ten year old asphalt shingle roof with a thirty year average has twenty years remaining. A thirty five year old concrete tile roof with a forty year average has five years remaining.
Different materials carry different averages. Citizens and private underwriters enforce these numbers strictly. An inspector will not assign more useful life to a roof than the material average allows, regardless of how good the roof looks.
Most carriers will not bind coverage with fewer than five years of remaining useful life.
Average service life by material:
Asphalt shingle, both 3-tab and architectural. 30 years. Concrete and clay tile, all styles. 40 years. Metal panel. 80 years. Modified bitumen. 20 years. TPO and EPDM. 30 years. Tar and gravel. 40 years. Rolled roofing. 10 years. Metal shingles. 40 years. Poured concrete roof. 80 years or more.
Run the numbers on your own roof before ordering the inspection. If your material average minus your roof age produces a number below five, the certification will not pass. Knowing this in advance lets you plan for a reroof rather than paying for an inspection to confirm what the math already told you.
The roof inspection report for insurance requires a signed Roof Certification Agreement. An example of the agreement appears below.
Average Roof service life by Material
- Asphalt shingle – 30 years
- Concrete and clay tile – 40 years
- Metal panel – 80 years
- Modified bitumen – 20 years
- TPO and EPDM – 30 years
- Tar and gravel – 40 years
- Rolled roofing – 10 years
- Metal shingles – 40 years
- Poured concrete roof – 80 years or more
Run the numbers on your own roof before ordering the inspection. If your material average minus your roof age produces a number below five, the certification will not pass. Knowing this in advance lets you plan for a reroof rather than paying for an inspection to confirm what the math already told you.
Real site conditions will vary and may be more or less than these averages. These ages are approximations for underwriting and should not be relied upon for understanding the fine details of the roof.
The roof inspection report for insurance requires a signed Roof Certification Agreement. An example of the agreement appears below.
Roof Assessment
The second half of the form documents roof condition. This is the rooftop inspection portion.
The inspector marks all conditions present from the following list.
- Cracking. Cracked concrete or clay tiles. On flat roofs, surface material dries out and cracks with age and sun exposure.
- Cupping and curling. Asphalt shingles curl at the edges under sustained heat over time. South Florida sun accelerates this.
- Excessive granule loss. Asphalt shingles carry a granule layer resembling sand. The granules shed water and protect the asphalt below. Bare patches indicate advanced wear.
- Exposed asphalt. The granule layer has worn away completely, exposing the asphalt underneath. The roof has limited time remaining at this stage.
- Exposed felt. The roof covering no longer protects the felt underlayment beneath. Water reaches the felt directly.
- Missing, loose, or cracked tabs or tiles. Similar to cracking, with the material displaced or gone.
- Soft spots in decking. Usually indicates rotting wood beneath the roof covering. This finding requires immediate attention.
- Visible hail damage. Blunt force impact damage to the roof surface.
The form then asks whether visible signs of leaks are present and where those signs appear. The form asks about signs of leaks, not whether the roof is actively leaking. A water stain from a leak repaired five years ago may count as a visible sign and may negatively impact the results of a roof certification.
Why call Kore Home Inspections for a roof certification in Florida?
Choosing an inspector comes down to a few practical questions. Will they show up when they said they would? Do they know what they are looking at? What does it cost, and how soon can they get out there? Here is where we stand on each of those.
Florida's #1 Trustworthy Inspector
We show up on time. That sounds like a low bar until you have waited around a house for half a day. More importantly, we work for you and not the insurance company. Our report says what the roof condition is, and we are not adjusting findings to satisfy a carrier or to sell you something on the back end. Kore Home Inspections is fully licensed and insured, carrying both general liability and errors and omissions coverage on every job we take.
Experienced
Almost every inspection we perform involves a roof. A home inspection for a purchase includes one. So does a wind mitigation, and so does a 4-point. That means our inspectors are on roofs constantly across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, working with every material and every roof type common in this market. A roof certification is not an occasional service we offer on the side. It is part of the work we do every single day.
Affordable
We keep roof inspection pricing low across South Florida on purpose. If your roof turns up damage or an active leak, you are likely bringing in a roofer, and possibly a plumber or an electrician depending on what the water reached. We would rather the inspection be the cheapest part of that process instead of another expense stacked on top of repairs you did not plan for.
Availability and Efficiency
Scheduling takes about a minute through the Book Now tab on our site. If you would rather talk to someone, a licensed inspector is available by phone 24/7 Sunday through Friday. You are not leaving a voicemail with an answering service and waiting for a callback. Most roof inspections are completed in one to three hours, and your report is delivered the same day.
Kore Home Inspections Roof Certification Agreement
This is an Agreement between you, the undersigned Client, and us, the Inspector, pertaining to our roof certification inspection of the Property at: {{ADDRESS}}
The terms below govern this Agreement.
1. You will pay us ${{PRICE}} for our roof certification inspection.
2. We will perform a roof certification inspection of the property consistent with insurance industry standards and provide you with a written report.
3. A roof certification inspection is a very limited inspection. It is not nearly as comprehensive as a residential home inspection.
4. Our inspection and report are for your use only. You give us permission to discuss observations with real estate agents, insurers, owners, repair persons, or other interested parties. You will be the sole owner of the report and all rights to it. We are not responsible for use or misinterpretation by third parties, and third parties who rely on it in any way do so at their own risk and release us (including employees and business entities) from any liability whatsoever. If you or any person acting on your behalf provide the report to a third party who then sues you and/or us, you release us for any liability agree to pay our costs and legal fees in defending any action naming us. Our report is in no way a guarantee or warranty, express or implied, regarding the future use, operability, habitability or suitability of the home/building or its components. We disclaim all warranties, express or implied, to the fullest extent allowed by law.
5. We assume no liability for the cost of repair or replacement of unreported defects or deficiencies either current or arising in the future. You agree that in all cases our liability shall be limited to liquidated damages in an amount not greater than the fee you paid us. You waive any claim for consequential, exemplary, special or incidental damages or for the loss of the use of the home/building. You acknowledge that the liquidated damages are not a penalty, but that we intend them to (i) reflect the fact that actual damages may be difficult and impractical to ascertain; (ii) allocate risk between us; and (iii) enable us to perform the inspection for the agreed upon fee.
6. We do not perform engineering, architectural, plumbing, or any other job function requiring an occupational license in the jurisdiction where the property is located. If we hold a valid occupational license, we may inform you of this and you may hire us to perform additional functions. Any agreement for such additional services shall be in a separate writing.
7. If you believe you have a claim against us, you agree to provide us with the following: (1) written notification of adverse conditions within seven days of discovery; and (2) immediate access to the premises. Failure to comply with these conditions releases us from liability.
8. You agree that any litigation arising out of this Agreement shall be filed only in the Court having jurisdiction in the County where we have our principal place of business. If you fail to prove any claim against us, you agree to pay all our legal costs, expenses and fees incurred in defending that claim. You agree that any legal action against InterNACHI itself, allegedly arising out of this Agreement or our membership in InterNACHI, must be brought only in the District Court of Boulder County, Colorado. Before bringing any such action, you must provide InterNACHI with 30 days’ written notice of the nature of the claim. In any action against us or InterNACHI, you waive trial by jury.
9. If a court declares any provision of this Agreement invalid, the remaining provisions remain in effect. This Agreement represents our entire agreement; there are no terms or promises other than those set forth herein. No statement or promise by us shall be binding unless reduced to writing and signed by one of our authorized officers. Any modification of this Agreement must be in writing and signed by you and by one of our authorized officers. This Agreement shall be binding upon and enforceable by the parties and their heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assignees. You will have no cause of action against us after one year from the date of the inspection.
10. Payment of the inspection fee (less any deposit noted above) is due when we complete the inspection. You agree to pay all costs and attorney’s fees incurred in collecting the fee owed to us. If the Client is a corporation, LLC, or similar entity, you personally guarantee payment of the fee.
11. If you request a re-inspection, the re-inspection is subject to the terms of this Agreement.
12. You may not assign this Agreement.
13. If a court finds any term of this Agreement ambiguous or that it otherwise requires judicial interpretation, the court shall not construe that term against us by reason of the rule that any ambiguity in a document is construed against the party drafting it. You had the opportunity to consult qualified counsel before signing this Agreement.
14. If there is more than one Client, you are signing on behalf of all of them, and you represent that you are authorized to do so.
I HAVE CAREFULLY READ THIS AGREEMENT. I AGREE TO IT AND ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIVING A COPY OF IT.
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