Roofs are one of the most important systems of your home. When considering your roof you should identify the material, shape, and year the home was built. Knowing these three things will be a valuable source of information when deciding to purchase a home or financial planning for an existing home.
Roof Material
If the roof fails, many other things will get ruined as well including insulation, drywall, paint and flooring. Knowing how many years your roof may have left is vital for planning for the future. This is why knowing what material your roof uses is essential. The most common roof materials in South Florida are asphalt shingles, concrete tiles, modified bitumen and metal. These four materials vary significantly in their useful life expectancies. Asphalt Shingles may last 20 to 30 years. Concrete tiles may last 30 to 50 years. Modified bitumen 10 to 20 years. Metal Standing Seam 40 to 70 years. The range of years is a result of weather which can shorten the lifespan of a roof. Consider hiring a licensed home inspector to assess the expected lifespan of your roof. Roof Shape Roof shapes are more than a cosmetic feature. In Miami-Dade County and Broward County homes are in the HVHZ (High-Velocity Hurricane Zone). This means that the roof shape is an important factor when determining the home’s strength against hurricane force winds. Insurance companies note the roof shape when receiving a Wind Mitigation to reduce insurance premiums. The preferred shape is a hip roof due to the way it evenly disperses hurricane force winds. A hip roof is a roof where 90% of the roof slopes to all directions at the ridge. If the roof forms a triangle shape on any side then it is probably a gable roof and not a hip roof. It is nearly impossible to change a roof’s shape after construction. Therefore, a home buyer should know this before making their purchase. Year Built Lastly, it is critical to know the year the home was built. Although, a roof can be replaced over time. Many of the original features of the roof will remain the same from the year it was built. That means if your roof is brand new, you may miss out on discounted insurance premiums because the roof construction is under an older building code such as SFBC-94. One solution is to have the roofer update the roof to wall attachment when reroofing the home. However, this will be much more costly than a re-roof.