Compare roofing quotes on what is under the tile

For years the code allowed a new roof over the old one, and plenty of houses from the eighties and nineties carry the result. Pulling two layers is close to twice the labor and twice the disposal of pulling one, and under tile the old layer is heavy. A quote priced for a single layer on a roof that has two will not stay at that price.

Under tile the deck can look sound from the attic and be soft along the eaves and at every valley, and nobody knows until the tile is off and stacked. A price per sheet, and the number the estimate assumes, bounds that risk. A quote that says nothing about decking has left it to be settled in the heat.

Under tile the membrane is the roof; the tile is its shade. Whether the quote names a self-adhered product, a mechanically fastened one, or just says "underlayment" is the difference between a roof that lasts and one that starts weeping into the lanai ceiling by its tenth rainy season. Ask for the product by name.

Ice is not the question here; summer rain that arrives sideways is. Whether the deck is fully sealed with a self-adhered membrane, taped at the seams only, or left at the code minimum decides what happens the day a tile cracks and nobody is home to see it. Each answer is a different quantity of material and a different premium on the insurance.

Where a lanai roof meets the wall or a dormer meets the main slope, re-using the old metal and sealing it is faster on the day. In salt air that sealant has a short life, and re-used flashing is the usual reason a roof a few years old is staining a ceiling near the pool cage.

Chimneys are rare on this housing, but every roof has penetrations that behave the same way: vent stacks, satellite mounts, solar standoffs. Each is a flashing detail of its own, separate from the field, and each is routinely absent from a headline number.

A Florida attic over a concrete block house can run far hotter than the air outside for most of the year, and that heat cooks the membrane from underneath. Reinstalling the vents that were there does nothing about it. Adding intake and exhaust is real work, and the quote should say whether it includes that.

The metal at the eave and the starter course under the first row are where wind gets under a roof, and here that is the whole game. Whether the edge metal is rated, how it is fastened, and whether the starter is sealed are cheap lines that decide how long the edge of the roof stays down.

Aluminum gutters on a house that sits empty from May to November fill with leaves nobody is there to clear. Whether they come down and go back, get replaced, get guards, or get worked around should be a written line, not a guess.

Each county here issues its own permit, and the inspection includes the fastening schedule and the sealed deck. Whether the contractor pulls the permit, bills it separately, or leaves it to you are three different arrangements, and the permit is what the insurer will ask to see.

The manufacturer stands behind the tile or the shingle. Somebody has to stand behind the fastening and the membrane, which is what gives out while the house sits closed for the summer. A material warranty with nothing in writing on labor protects the tile, which was never the weak point.

Old tile comes down heavy and in pieces, onto a paver driveway and beside a pool cage. Where the container sits, how the screen enclosure is protected, and whether the crew sweeps for nails before the owner returns in November are small lines that produce most of the complaints afterward.