Roofing in Ocean Ridge

Ocean Ridge issues its own roof permits from the Building Department at 6450 North Ocean Boulevard, and every application goes through BS&A Online with the town's Roofing Packet checklist, the re-roof form and the hurricane-mitigation form attached. The town publishes a review window of two weeks to 30 days, so we file before we set a tear-off date.

Every parcel sits in a flood hazard area, so minor work that other towns exempt still needs a permit here, and a project reaching a little over a third of the building's value is flagged for a substantial-improvement check. On the roof itself, the town sets which inspections apply and when a signed roof sheathing and roof metal installation affidavit can stand in, and a secured ladder has to be left in place for the inspector.

Over the last twelve months we signed or completed a few roofing jobs at Ocean Ridge addresses, one of them a tile re-roof here, and the pictures on this page are from that job. From the street that roof looked sound.

Once the tile was lifted, the underlayment had given out and the valley metal was worn thin, which is the usual order of events where salt air works on metal every day. It is why we lift the covering at chosen points and photograph what is underneath before we put a price on an island roof.

1. Ask whether the price includes the town permit, because in a flood hazard area a small repair usually needs one, and unpermitted work tends to surface when the house is sold. Ask for photographs of the valleys and flashings rather than a description, because that is where island roofs give out.
2. Ask who books each inspection and leaves the secured ladder, since a missed booking holds up the job. And because many homes here are seasonal, owners who spend part of the year elsewhere should ask for each stage of the job to be photographed and sent to them.

Each service has its own Ocean Ridge page showing what changes on the island: roof leak repair, roof inspection, roof maintenance, flat roof repair and replacement, storm damage roof repair, and replacement pages for tile, metal and shingle roofs, plus roof replacement cost. Choose the one that fits, or call and a roofer will come out and look.

If repairs, replacements or roof recovering cover more than a quarter of a roof system or section in any 12-month period, the code generally requires replacing or recovering the roof covering across that entire system or section to meet current code requirements. If that system or section was built, repaired or replaced in compliance with the 2007 Florida Building Code or a later edition, only the portion being worked on must meet applicable current code requirements.

Our inspection helps determine which applies to your roof. We check the permit history and measure the damaged area before recommending another repair.

From a free inspection of your roof rather than a rule of thumb. Roof area and pitch, the covering, how much deck needs replacing, the secondary water barrier we specify under the new covering, the grade of the edge and valley metal, and the town permit all move the number.

You get it in writing, line by line, and financing is available on approved credit. Our Ocean Ridge roof replacement cost page sets out the county figures we work from.

Ask for proof rather than promises. A straight roofer shows you photographs of the problem, puts the permit on the quote and can tell you which grade of metal goes back on.

Check the state licence number; ours is CCC1327429. Get the warranty in writing: we give a lifetime workmanship warranty on our installation, and the manufacturers' product warranties cover the materials.

When your insurer asks for a roof certification letter after the work, we provide one. Be wary of anyone offering to skip the permit in a town where even small jobs need one.

Usually the one the house was built for, specified to the island. Tile needs salt-grade valley and flashing metal beneath it, standing seam metal needs clips and trim that match the panel, and shingle needs edge metal that stands up to sand and salt.

The code allows more than one secondary water barrier method; under any covering we specify a self-adhered one over the deck, and on sound clay barrel tile we can detach and reset: lift the tile, replace the underlayment and reset the same tile. Whatever the covering, the fastening follows the county's coastal wind rating.

We are a GAF Certified Contractor and Owens Corning Preferred Contractor, and we can price more than one option side by side.

Ocean Ridge is a low-density barrier island town founded in the 1930s, with the ocean on one side and the Intracoastal on the other and every parcel inside a flood hazard area. In Palm Beach County a shingle roof generally lasts 13 to 18 years, tile 15 to 20, metal 20 to 25, and a flat roof 15 to 20.

On this island those ranges are the outside of the envelope rather than the middle, because salt reaches the valley metal, the flashings and the fasteners long before it reaches the covering. The practical timing rule here is that you replace a roof when the metal under it has gone, not when the tile looks tired, and the only way to know which you have is to lift the covering at a few points and look.

One more local consequence of the flood designation: because small work is permitted here rather than exempt, an island roof tends to have a paper trail, and that trail is worth reading before you decide between another repair and a replacement.