Roofing in Tamarac, FL

What is on the roofs in Tamarac

Tamarac was built as an active-adult city. Developer Ken Behring's first neighborhood, Tamarac Lakes, was one-story, one- or two-bedroom homes around a shared clubhouse, and residents paid monthly fees that covered lawn care, house painting and roof cleaning. The Mainlands and the Woodlands came next; the Woodlands was planned on 640 acres with about 900 clustered villas plus estate lots. That means many roofs here sit on low, one-story homes and attached villas.^5,6,7

Local rules and history that affect your roof

• Tamarac incorporated on July 19, 1963. Behring aimed to give retirees the convenience of a condominium with the privacy of a single-family home, and the city's irregular shape follows the parcels his company kept buying.⁵
• A Tamarac re-roof permit needs the building permit application, the city's roofing package, manufacturer specifications, a roof asbestos approval, a Notice of Commencement for jobs over $5,000, and product approvals for any vents, skylights or solar fans.⁸
• The city asks condo associations and management companies to call before applying for a re-roof. Under the Florida energy code in effect since January 1, 2023, new air-conditioning units are physically larger, and existing rooftop AC stands may not be allowed without alteration or replacement.⁸
• The Woodlands was aimed at the pre-retirement market, with homes starting at $20,000; more than half of the land he was buying lay west of the Florida Turnpike.⁶

Storms that hit here

• Wilma (2005). A Broward Sheriff's Office weather station in Tamarac recorded a minimum pressure of 955.6 millibars on the morning of October 24, 2005. The National Hurricane Center concluded that parts of Broward likely had Category 2 conditions in Wilma, with gusts near 100 knots (about 115 mph).⁹
• Irma (2017). On September 10, 2017, a Tamarac station logged sustained winds of 43 knots (about 49 mph) and a gust of 61 knots (about 70 mph), per the National Hurricane Center's Irma report.¹⁰

What this means for a re-roof in Tamarac

How old the houses are. The median home in Tamarac was built in 1981; 87.2% of its 34,141 homes predate 2000 and 3.9% 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