Roofing in Lighthouse Point, FL

What is on the roofs in Lighthouse Point

Lighthouse Point was built out on canals in the 1950s and 1960s, starting with the Hillsboro Isles subdivision in 1951, and 80% of its homes are single-family houses, many facing the city's 18 miles of waterways. So most roofs here sit on houses 55 to 75 years old, framed long before the 1994 South Florida Building Code. That age is why the city's re-roof paperwork asks when your house was permitted and how its roof is tied to the walls.^1,5,6,7

Local rules and history that affect your roof

• If your house was permitted before 1994 and is valued at more than $300,000 (tax or insured value), the city's Single Family Re-Roofing Affidavit requires a roof-to-wall connection certificate. If the connections fall short, up to 15% of the re-roof cost goes to retrofitting them, and the certificate must be done before the tin-tag inspection.¹
• The city says 80% of its residences are single-family homes and many front its 18 miles of waterways. Its east edge sits on the Intracoastal Waterway, under the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse the city is named for, which has stood since 1906.⁶
• Voters incorporated the Town of Lighthouse Point on June 13, 1956. Venetian Isles, Lighthouse Manor and Wooler Heights were added between 1957 and 1969, and Coral Key and Pompano Waterway Estates were annexed in 1970.⁵
• Lighthouse Point is a mandatory evacuation area for Category 3 and stronger storms. The city asks residents to trim trees and remove coconuts before the season, and it picks up vegetation weekly so yards are clear before a storm.⁸
• Roof inspections are among the few city inspections that do not require anyone to be home, which helps if you are away while the roofer works.⁹

Storms that hit here

• Wilma (2005). When Wilma crossed South Florida on October 24, 2005, the official wind sensor at nearby Pompano Beach Airport quit at a 72-knot (about 83 mph) sustained reading, and the National Hurricane Center says stronger winds likely hit there. It judged that parts of Broward saw Category 2 conditions, with gusts near 100 knots.¹⁰

What this means for a re-roof in Lighthouse Point

How old the houses are. The median home in Lighthouse Point was built in 1967; 89.5% of its 6,316 homes predate 2000 and 6.6% 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.^4,11,12,13

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).^11,12,13

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.^12,13,14,15

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.^14,16

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.¹⁷