Where the 25 Per Cent Question Comes Up Most

A homeowner with wind damage to one slope is frequently told the entire roof must be replaced because more than a quarter of it is affected. Florida amended that rule in 2022, and for roofs built to a sufficiently recent code edition a partial repair may be permitted — which is worth confirming with your building department before accepting a full replacement.

The practical difficulty is that a homeowner receiving three quotes may get three different answers, because each contractor is applying their own reading of the rule rather than the building department's. That is the reason to ask the department directly rather than treating it as a matter of opinion between bidders.

Wind damage on shingles is not always missing tabs. It includes creased shingles where the seal has broken and the tab has folded back and returned, and lifted shingles where the adhesive strip has released even though nothing has moved out of place.

Both are real damage and both are easy to miss from the ground, which is one of the reasons a documented roof-level assessment matters more on a shingle roof than the visible evidence suggests.

1. 01Assess the extent honestly rather than to the convenient answer.
2. 02Raise the partial repair question rather than assuming full replacement.
3. 03Document the damage for your insurer.
4. 04Refer the rule question to your building department.
5. 05Match materials where a repair is appropriate.

Ask your building department directly whether a partial repair is permitted on your roof. It is a phone call, the rule changed in 2022, and a great many homeowners are still being told the older position.

All 5 →