Roofing in Cooper City, FL

What is on the roofs in Cooper City

Cooper City was planned by Morris Cooper as a properly zoned community on 691 acres of former orange grove and cattle land. It grew slowly at first, with 35 homes in 1959 and 120 by 1963, and filled in later with subdivisions such as Embassy Lakes and Rock Creek. Its newest large area came in 2006, when the city annexed the Waldrep Dairy Farm. Expect roofs on houses from the 1960s through the 2000s; where a homeowners association exists, the city collects its approval with the permit.^2,5,6,7

Local rules and history that affect your roof

• The city was created by special act of the Florida Legislature on June 20, 1959. By the end of that year 85 residents lived in 35 completed homes.^6,8
• Morris Cooper bought 691 acres east of SW 100th Avenue and Griffin Road in 1952; lots went on sale in 1959, and by 1963 there were 120 homes, most of them not yet occupied.⁵
• Cooper City lets you turn in your Homeowners Association approval and a certified Notice of Commencement at permit pickup rather than at submittal, but all permit fees are due when you submit, and every revision needs a new application.²
• The land was Wacico Groves, a citrus company, before Cooper bought it. Early settlers used the South New River Canal, today's C-11 along Griffin Road, to barge produce to Fort Lauderdale.⁶

Storms that hit here

• 1947 hurricane (1947). Flooding from the 1947 hurricane wiped out most of Morris Cooper's cattle investment on his Imperial Ranches here, and area residents recall the 1947-48 floods devastating the Wacico citrus groves that became the city.^5,6

What this means for a re-roof in Cooper City

How old the houses are. The median home in Cooper City was built in 1987; 79.4% of its 11,565 homes predate 2000 and 13% were built in 2010 or later. So most houses here went up before Florida’s first statewide building code took effect on March 1, 2002.^4,9,10,11

Pre-2002 wood-deck houses. When the old covering comes off, the deck gets re-nailed to current code and a secondary water barrier goes on; in the wind-borne debris region, insured homes of $300,000+ may also need roof-to-wall connections (capped at 15% of the re-roof cost).^9,10,11

Repair or replace. Replacing 25% or more of a roof section in 12 months generally means redoing the section to current code — unless that roof was built or replaced under the 2007 code or later.^10,11,12,13

Product approval. In the HVHZ every roofing component needs a current product approval — a Miami-Dade NOA or a Florida approval listed for HVHZ use. Ask for the numbers and look them up yourself.^12,14

Roof age and insurance. An insurer can’t refuse a policy just because the roof is under 15 years old. If it is 15 or older, you can get an inspection first; at least 5 years of remaining life means age alone isn’t grounds to refuse.¹⁵