Roofing in West Park, FL

What is on the roofs in West Park

West Park was assembled in 2005 from four long-established neighborhoods (Carver Ranches, Lake Forest, Miami Gardens and Utopia) that had been unincorporated Broward County. The city traces its first settlers, who bought land and built homes here, to the early 1940s, so many roofs sit on houses built decades before the city existed and before its building department kept records.^4,5,6

Local rules and history that affect your roof

• The city warns that it is unlikely to have plans or blueprints for homes built more than 10 years ago, because state records rules let it discard residential plans 10 years after the certificate of occupancy. If you need your roof's permit history for an insurer, plan to look at Broward County records too.¹
• West Park became a city on March 1, 2005, after voters approved incorporation 3,400 to 956 in November 2004; it was Broward County's newest municipality at the time.^4,7
• The city's Pioneer Wall at Mary Saunders Park honors early settlers who bought land and built homes in the area in the early 1940s, along with African American, Bahamian and Caribbean influences on the community.⁵
• Building services in West Park are not city staff: CAP Government, Inc. is contracted to issue permits and inspect work, and the firm also serves as building department for other South Florida governments.^1,8

Storms that hit Broward County

No storm record specific to West Park 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.⁹
• 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.¹⁰
• 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.¹¹

What this means for a re-roof in West Park

How old the houses are. The median home in West Park was built in 1961; 93.4% of its 4,944 homes predate 2000 and 2.4% 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.^3,12,13,14

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).^12,13,14

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.^13,14,15,16

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.^15,17

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.¹⁸