Roof Inspection in St. Augustine, FL

The contract on the house in Julington Creek says the roof is original to 2005, the seller's disclosure says it has never leaked, and your closing is in three weeks. This site connects you by phone with an independent local roofing contractor who inspects roofs in St. Johns County.

What the crew does first

The crew walks the roof where it can be walked safely and looks at the rest from a ladder or a drone. On shingle they check seal strips on the north and east slopes, granule loss, cracked boots, and the flashing at walls and chimneys. On metal they check fastener lines for rust and backed-out screws, panel laps, and the closures at the ridge. On tile they lift pieces at the eaves and valleys to see the underlayment.

Then the attic. Daylight through the deck, stains on the plywood, and rusted nail tips all tell the story the surface does not. The report comes back with photos, an estimate of remaining life, and a list of what should be fixed now versus watched.

What to do in the next hour

Find the roof's install year. It is on the original permit in the county or city permit portal under the address, and it is often on the last wind-mitigation form. The St. Johns County Property Appraiser record for the parcel shows the year the house was built, which on most 2000s subdivisions is also the year of the roof. Pull the insurer letter if there is one and note what form they want: a 4-point, a wind mitigation, or a roof condition certification.

For a purchase, share the inspection contingency deadline so the report lands in time to negotiate. For a house you are about to leave for the summer, pick a date before you go.

What is usually found and what it means

Most inspections on roofs under 12 years old find small things: a cracked boot, a lifted ridge cap, a screw that needs a new gasket. Those are repairs. On shingle roofs between 15 and 25 years old, the finding that matters is the seal and the granule loss, and the answer is either a few more years, a section replaced, or a roof replacement. On island metal roofs the finding is usually rust at the fasteners, which decides between a re-screw and new panels.

After a named storm or a long nor'easter, the inspection is a different document. It records what the storm did versus what was already there, and that separation is what an adjuster reads. "The roof is sound" in writing has value all by itself when the insurer asks.

St. Johns County notes: the three inspections insurers ask for

Florida carriers use three separate forms, and a roof inspection may feed any of them. A 4-point inspection covers the roof, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, and is common on the 1950s and 1960s homes in St. Augustine South and Davis Shores. A wind-mitigation inspection on the state's OIR-B1-1802 form records roof covering, deck attachment, roof-to-wall connection, and roof shape, and is covered on the wind mitigation page. A roof condition report is what a carrier asks for when it wants to know how much life is left.

Since 2022 a Florida insurer cannot refuse to renew solely for roof age if the roof is under 15 years old, and for older roofs it must accept an inspection showing five or more years of useful life. The Florida Department of Financial Services consumer division explains those rules and handles complaints when a carrier ignores them.

A large share of the shingle roofs between World Golf Village and Julington Creek went on within a few years of each other. When one house on the street gets a renewal letter, the rest are usually a year behind it, and a spring inspection is how owners get ahead of the deadline.

Calling about a roof inspection

Have the address, the roof material and year if known, the reason for the inspection (purchase, renewal, storm, leaving for the season), and any deadline. Say whether the attic is accessible. Call (904) 895-7548.