Tallahassee Expert Roofing: Shingle, Tile & Flat Roof Replacement and Repair

Architectural (dimensional) shingles are the step up from flat 3-tab: HomeGuide rates them for winds up to 130 mph against about 60 for standard 3-tab, and prices them at $400 to $600 per 100-square-foot square installed, against $200 to $500 for 3-tab. In Leon County the design wind speed sits between 115 and 120 mph. At that speed the Florida Residential Code's table calls for shingles tested to ASTM D7158 Class G or H, or ASTM D3161 Class D or F. The class is printed on the bundle wrapper. It takes ten seconds to check, so ask which one is going on your roof. On a tear-off of an older home, the code also requires the deck to be re-nailed and a secondary water barrier laid under the shingles. The City and County inspect both before the shingles go on.

See roof replacement in Tallahassee for the tear-off, permit and inspection steps, and architectural shingle roofing for wind classes and product lines. Panels on the roof? Read solar panel removal and reinstall first.

Leaks often start where something passes through or meets the roof: a cracked rubber boot around a plumbing vent, step flashing that has pulled away from a wall, or a worn valley where two slopes meet. HomeGuide lists a vent boot at $75 to $150, flashing at $200 to $500, and small repairs in general at $150 to $1,000. A repair over 100 square feet needs a permit, both inside city limits and in unincorporated Leon County. The 25% rule (below) decides when a large repair turns into a code-compliant reroof.

See roof repair in Tallahassee, or roof decking replacement when the plywood under a leak has gone soft.

Tile costs roughly twice what shingles do. HomeAdvisor's Florida figures for a 2,000-square-foot roof are $20,000 to $30,000 in concrete tile and $22,000 to $32,000 in clay. Florida code points tile installers to the FRSA/TRI high-wind tile manual for fastening, slope and underlayment. Tile is heavy, so a home switching from shingles may need an engineer's check first; HomeGuide sets reinforcement at $1,000 to $10,000. Salvaged tile can only go back on to repair a tile roof with matching tile, and cracked tiles can't be reinstalled.

See tile roof repair and replacement.

Porch roofs, carports, mid-century additions and dens tied into a pitched roof are often too flat for shingles. Shingles need at least a 2:12 slope, and the City wants roofs under 4:12 reviewed before it issues a permit. On those sections the choice is usually TPO, a white heat-welded membrane that HomeGuide puts at $4 to $10 a square foot, or modified bitumen at $4 to $7.50. Membrane roofs need a design slope of at least a quarter inch per foot so water doesn't pond, which matters during summer downpours.

See flat roof repair and replacement. Manufactured homes follow their own rules: mobile home roof repair.

Tree canopy covers 55% of Tallahassee, much of it water oaks, so limbs on roofs are as much a storm problem here as wind. On May 10, 2024, an EF2 tornado damaged the roofs of a hotel and a shopping center near Capital Circle NW. Photograph the damage before anything is moved. A new claim must be reported within one year of the date of loss (Fla. Stat. 627.70132). Florida also bars roofers from offering gift cards, deductible waivers or rebates for letting them inspect your roof or file a claim, and from negotiating the claim for you unless they hold a public adjuster license. A roofer who offers any of these is breaking state law.

See storm damage roof repair and insurance claims.

A tarp is a stopgap. It keeps the rain out for the few days or weeks it takes the insurer and the roofer to look at the damage. HomeGuide puts emergency tarping at $175 to $700 for a typical job, rising to $1.00 to $2.80 a square foot after hours. Leon County doesn't require a permit for temporary tarping. Ask for the tarp to be battened down along its edges, so wind can't lift it and let rain in underneath.

See emergency roof tarping.

Insurers ask for two kinds of roof paperwork. A roof-condition inspection shows how much life an older roof has left; Citizens' roof inspection form can be signed by a Florida-licensed contractor, a building code inspector or a home inspector. A wind mitigation report, on state form OIR-B1-1802, records the covering's permit date, the deck attachment, the roof-to-wall connections, whether the roof is hipped, and any secondary water barrier. A qualified inspector fills it in, not a roofing contractor. The roofer's part is the upgrades the form gives credit for, and a reroof is the cheapest time to add the deck re-nailing and sealed deck. HomeGuide puts a general roof inspection at $100 to $400.

See roof inspection and roof certification for insurer paperwork, and wind mitigation roof upgrades for the work that earns the credits.

With almost 59 inches of rain a year, gutters do a lot of work here. Seamless aluminum gutters are formed on site from a coil, so there are no joints along a run to leak. HomeGuide prices new gutters at $12 to $25 a linear foot, or $2,200 to $5,000 for a typical house, and most installs take one to two days. Six-inch gutters cost $1 to $2 more per foot than five-inch, and carry more water than the five-inch size.

See seamless gutter installation for new runs. Existing gutters that sag or drip belong on gutter repair, and gutter guards compares the cover types.