Roofing in Southwest Ranches, FL

What is on the roofs in Southwest Ranches

Southwest Ranches is almost entirely rural residential and agricultural zoning, and the town describes itself as home sites of at least one to two and a half acres, mixed with farms, nurseries and equestrian ranches. Houses here sit on large, open lots rather than in tight subdivisions, and many share the property with barns, stables or nursery buildings, so it pays to confirm with the town's zoning desk which structures a roof permit covers before work starts.⁵

Local rules and history that affect your roof

• The town contracts out its building department: CAP Government, Inc. handles permits and inspections with staff at Town Hall, and J.A. Medina, LLC handles zoning, landscape review and code enforcement.^1,2
• Town zoning is almost entirely rural residential and agricultural, with home sites of one to two and a half acres minimum; many building permits also need Broward County or town zoning and engineering approval before they are issued.^1,5
• Residents incorporated the town in 2000 to avoid being annexed into Pembroke Pines or Davie; they voted on March 14, 2000 to form a new town, and the charter was approved on June 6, 2000, with the motto Preserve Our Rural Lifestyle.^5,6
• Every building permit package in Southwest Ranches must include the Broward County Uniform Building Permit Application and a Notice of Commencement, and payments at Town Hall are capped at $5,000 per card transaction.¹

Storms that hit Broward County

No storm record specific to Southwest Ranches was found in the sources we use, so these are the county-level impacts.

• Katrina (2005). On August 25, 2005, Katrina made its first U.S. landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near the Miami-Dade/Broward county line. Fort Lauderdale's airport recorded a 71-knot gust, and three of Florida's deaths were caused by trees falling in Broward.⁷
• Wilma (2005). Wilma crossed the peninsula on October 24, 2005, after landfall near Cape Romano. The National Hurricane Center concluded parts of Broward likely had Category 2 conditions with gusts near 100 knots; the Pompano Beach airport sensor quit at 72 knots sustained. Its report lists extensive roof damage across South Florida.⁸
• Irma (2017). Irma landed in the Keys and at Marco Island on September 10, 2017, but its wind field covered Broward: Deerfield Beach measured a 97-knot gust, most inland stations in the Miami-Dade and Broward metro area reported sustained winds just below hurricane force, and coastal Broward saw 2 to 4 feet of inundation.⁹

What this means for a re-roof in Southwest Ranches

How old the houses are. The median home in Southwest Ranches was built in 1982; 82.4% of its 2,322 homes predate 2000 and 5.6% 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.^4,10,11,12

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).^10,11,12

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.^11,12,13,14

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.^13,15

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.¹⁶