Broward Directory Blog

The cost of putting a roof over your head just got a lot more expensive.

Under a new state law aimed at strengthening existing homes against hurricanes, you could pay at least 22 percent more to replace your shingle roof and 20 percent more for a tile roof.

The law, which took effect Monday, applies only to single-family homes.

While most building experts agree more protections can only help, a state roofing association has tried to delay the law's implementation and plans to ask lawmakers next spring to fix it.

"We have a terrible problem in the industry right now with unlicensed activity and we feel this law will lead to an increase in it because people are not going to want to spend this kind of money," said Steve Munnell, executive director of the Florida Roofing, Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors Association, Inc., in Winter Park.

The law requires homeowners to pay for additional water barriers to prevent leaks. Owners of coastal homes valued at $300,000 or more, which were built before March 2002, must also pay for stronger roof-to-wall connections.

Munnell estimates the new requirements will add a minimum of $2,600 to the cost of new shingle roof, which in South Florida typically costs between $12,000 and $15,000 for a three-bedroom home. A new tile roof on a similar home, which last month was priced between $24,000 and $30,000, will now cost $5,000 more, he said.

Florida Senate Insurance Chairman Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, championed the changes by stressing mitigation as the best way to deal with rising property insurance premiums. He has said strengthening homes to withstand storms will save homeowners on insurance premiums.

The law specifies a homeowner cannot be required to spend more than 15 percent above the cost of the new roof to inspect and fix the roof-to-wall connections.

Broward roofer Billy Cone, owner of RoofTech and president of the statewide roofers association, said removing the roof deck and inspecting the connections easily eats up the 15 percent limit, leaving nothing for repairs. Owners would have to spend thousands more on structural improvements to bring their roofs up to code.

Munnell said retrofitting connections on an older three-bedroom home costs another $6,000 to $8,000.

"It's expensive enough already and now we have something else being dumped on the homeowner," said Richard Pepin, president of Ray Roofing Co. in West Palm Beach.

Roofers are up in arms over the requirement that a licensed general contractor or someone with similar certification perform structural work by inspecting and repairing the roof-to-wall connections. Some roofers are general contractors, but many are not. Those that aren't have to hire someone else to do the work. That could delay jobs and make them even more expensive, they said.

Roofers also worry that if they can't inspect connections through an attic, they have to remove roof decks and leave homes exposed.

"You've turned a re-roofing job into a week or more," Pepin said. "This is Florida, not Arizona, and the chances of rain every day when you've opened up someone's roof is a problem."

Robin Benedick can be reached at rbenedick@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7914.