When the three shingle replacement bids on your table do not line up, the difference often lies in what each contractor expects to find under the old covering. The 25% replacement rule is usually the first thing people think of, but that information, though still in circulation, stopped being current in 2022. Senate Bill 4-D narrowed it on May 26, 2022, through Florida Statute 553.844(5). If your existing roof was built or repaired under the 2007 Florida Building Code or any later edition, only the repaired or replaced portion has to meet current code. At PRG Roofing & Construction Inc., based in Fort Myers and serving Naples, we settle which code edition your roof falls under, because that changes what belongs in a written scope.

What We Do Once The Covering Is Off

What We Do Once the Shingles are Off

Once the old shingles are off, there are two items code compliance says we must do first, and a third item depends on two conditions and a cost test. Florida Statute 553.844(3)(a) requires a roof replacement to incorporate the techniques specified in subparagraphs (2)(b)2. and 4., and the current Florida Building Code carries that requirement forward. The first is a secondary water barrier, and the statute bars limiting the criteria to one method or material. A self-adhering membrane over the whole deck complies, so do taped seams under approved underlayment, and so does approved 30 pound felt or synthetic underlayment run across the entire deck with nails and tin tabs. Ask which path your bid prices. The second is deck attachment, where the code adds supplemental ring-shank nails at six inches on center over wood structural panels, and requires none where the existing 8d nails already sit that close.

Roof-to-wall connections are the conditional item in the code, and the cost cap is about them alone. The statute covers a building in the wind-borne debris region carrying an insured value, or a just valuation for the structure rather than the whole parcel, of $300,000 or more. Collier County design wind speeds run 160 to 180 mph, so essentially every Naples address sits inside that region, and the $300,000 line is the filter that matters here. Those connections are not required unless evaluation and installation at gable ends or all corners can be completed for 15% of the cost of roof replacement. Ask where your house lands against that 15% figure.

The One Number No Bid Can Settle In Advance

The condition of your sheathing is the one number that becomes real on the day of the tear-off. You cannot see a panel that has gone soft or separated at the plies until the sheathing is up, which is where a mid-job change order comes from. Ask for the price of replacing bad sheathing stated per sheet and written into the scope before you sign, and before the tear-off. Our crew photographs every panel we pull, so the count you are billed for is the count in your file.

The Questions Worth Carrying Into Every Quote

Two questions show how carefully a bidder priced your roof, starting with the shingle wind class. Asphalt shingles carry a tested class under ASTM D7158, where Class D, G, and H correspond to basic wind speeds of 115, 150, and 190 mph. That class holds only when the shingle is installed exactly as the manufacturer specifies, nail count included. The second question is the attic ventilation plan, because poor ventilation shortens the life of the shingles and the deck beneath. Florida Building Code Residential R806.2 sets the minimum net free ventilating area at one square foot for every 150 square feet of attic. The one in 300 ratio applies only where 40% to 50% of the venting sits within three feet of the ridge, with the rest in the bottom third. Ask each bidder which of those two ratios your attic will meet.

One Check You Can Run In About A Minute

Florida licenses roofing contractors through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and the license search is free. A Certified Roofing Contractor license is valid anywhere in the state, while a Registered license is limited to specific counties, so the class shows where a contractor is cleared to work. Run every name on your bid stack through that search before you weigh a single price, and our numbers are CCC1331196 and LCC20190000882.

Scheduling A Tear-Off In The Wet Season

The Southwest Florida rainy season runs roughly May 15 to October 15, and we work it by opening only what we can dry that day. A roof replacement also needs a permit, an inspection partway through the job, and a final inspection to close it out. We pull the permit, and Collier County sets the specifics.

What To Put In Writing Before You Sign

Ask each bidder for the shingle wind class, the attic ventilation ratio, and the per-sheet decking allowance in writing, then set the quotes beside each other on those lines. Our crew will walk your roof before you sign, photograph what we find, and put every code item into a written scope you can price against those other bids. Call PRG Roofing & Construction Inc. at (239) 237-2906 and we will get that walk on the calendar.