Calusa Roofing

Roofing contractors in southwest Florida

Most of the difference between two roofing quotes is not the shingle. It is what happens underneath it, and what happens if the decking turns out to be soft.

What separates a complete quote from a cheap one

  • Flashing — replaced, or re-used and sealed? Re-using it is the most common reason a new roof leaks in its first year.
  • Decking — what is the price per sheet, and how many sheets are assumed? Nobody knows the real number until the old roof is off.
  • Underlayment — does ice-and-water shield go at the eaves and in the valleys, or only where code requires it?
  • Ventilation — corrected, or simply reinstalled? A hot attic shortens the life of whatever goes on top of it.
  • Warranty — the manufacturer covers the material; the contractor covers the labour. The second is worth more.
A roof here rarely gives out in the field. It gives out where the water is told to leave. Six of them, numbered. Five are places where the roof meets something else.
Garage Point 1 — ridge caps 1 Point 2 — the field of the roof 2 Point 3 — valleys 3 Point 4 — flashing 4 Point 5 — vent boot 5 Point 6 — eaves and ice dams 6
  1. 1 The ridge. The highest, hottest course, and the one the sun works on all day.
  2. 2 The field. Tile or shingle above, and the underlayment that actually keeps water out below.
  3. 3 Valleys. One channel carrying what two slopes shed, at the pace this coast rains.
  4. 4 Flashing. Where the lanai and the enclosure meet the house, and where neither trade owns the seam.
  5. 5 Penetrations. Every vent and curb is a hole the underlayment has to seal, and the first place it stops.
  6. 6 Eaves and metal. Drip edge and fasteners, which salt air reaches years before it touches the covering.

The work

Why roofs fail in this region

A winter that crosses the freezing point dozens of times rather than settling below it. Post-war Capes and split-levels with rooms built into the attic, so there is no ordinary space left to ventilate. A second layer of shingles that the state tolerated for years and a great many houses accepted. Skylights and dormers added in the 1980s and 1990s, each one a hole surrounded by flashing. And a roof edge that takes every drop of water the roof sheds. Most of what gets reported here traces back to one of those.

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