Roof Inspection in Naples, FL

The contract on the house in Lely says the roof is from 2004, the seller's disclosure says it has never leaked, and your closing is in three weeks. This site connects you by phone with an independent local roofing contractor who inspects roofs in Collier County.

Lifted tile, a ladder, and the attic: what an inspection covers

Where a Collier County roof can bear a footstep safely, the crew walks it; the slopes it cannot walk get checked from a ladder or by drone. On tile, they lift tile at the eaves, the valleys, and around penetrations to see the underlayment, since the tile hides what matters. On metal, they check screw lines, panel seams, and the closures at the ridge. On shingle, they look for lifted tabs, granule loss, and cracked boots.

Then the attic. Pinpoints of daylight through the deck, dark rings on the plywood, and nail tips gone orange with rust say what the tile above cannot. The report comes back with photos, an estimate of remaining underlayment life, and a list of what should be fixed now versus watched.

Find the install year before the inspector comes

Find the roof's install year. It is on the original permit in the county or city permit portal under the address, and it is often on the wind-mitigation form from the last time the house was insured. Pull the insurer letter if there is one and note what form they want: a 4-point, a wind mitigation, or a roof condition certification.

If you are buying, give the contractor your inspection contingency date up front, so you have the report in hand while there is still room to negotiate. For a seasonal home, pick a date before you leave, not after you return.

Small things under 12 years, underlayment after 15

Most inspections on roofs under 12 years old find small things: a cracked tile or two, a pipe boot starting to split, foam at a ridge tile that has let go. Those are repairs. On roofs between 15 and 25 years old, the finding that matters is underlayment condition, and the answer is either a few more years, a lift-and-relay re-underlayment covered on the tile roofing page, or a replacement.

Following a named storm, the inspection turns into another kind of report altogether. Its job is to draw a line between damage the storm caused and wear that predates it, because that line is exactly what the adjuster is looking for. Even a written finding that the roof is sound carries weight on its own the day the insurer asks about it.

The three forms a Florida insurer may ask for

Insurers in Florida work from three distinct forms, and the findings from a roof inspection can end up on any one of the three. A 4-point inspection covers the roof, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, and is common on homes over 30 years old. A wind-mitigation inspection on the state's OIR-B1-1802 form records roof covering, deck attachment, roof-to-wall connection, and roof shape, and the credits apply to the wind part of the premium. When the question from the carrier is how many years the roof has left, the document they want is a roof condition report.

Florida law since 2022 stops an insurer from declining renewal purely over roof age on a roof under 15 years old, and on an older roof it has to honor an inspection that finds five or more years of useful life. If a carrier disregards those rules, the Florida Department of Financial Services consumer division is where the rules are spelled out and where complaints go.

A large share of Collier County homes sit empty from May to November. A documented inspection in April, with a local contact who can meet a crew, is how absentee owners avoid finding July's leak at Thanksgiving.

Booking the inspection: what to have ready

Have the address, the roof material and year if known, the reason for the inspection (purchase, renewal, storm, season away), and any deadline. Say whether the attic is accessible. Call (239) 341-5474.