Roof Questions Before Buying an Older House in Tallahassee

Buying an older house in Tallahassee often means buying an older roof, and the roof is one of the few parts of a house that can turn a good deal into an expensive first year. Many of the homes for sale in the established neighborhoods were built when the oaks overhead were saplings, and some have had the same roof for a long time. None of that is a reason to walk away. It’s a reason to ask the right questions before your inspection period ends, while there’s still room to negotiate. Here’s what we’d want to know about the roof if we were the ones buying.

Start with the age, and prove it

The first question is how old the roof is, and the seller’s memory is a starting point, not an answer. The better source is the permit record. A re-roof needs a permit, and the city or county building department, depending on whether the address is inside the city limits, keeps a record of permits issued for each property and whether they passed final inspection. A permit search on the address often shows the roof’s history in a few minutes.

If there’s no roof permit on record for a long stretch of years, either the roof is original to a much older date than anyone remembers, or a past roof went on without a permit. Either one is worth knowing. An unpermitted roof wasn’t inspected, and an insurer may treat its age as unknown.

Paperwork from a previous re-roof is also worth asking for: the contract, the invoice and any workmanship warranty. Some contractor warranties can be transferred to a new owner, usually with a notice and sometimes a fee, so ask before closing whether that applies.

What the home inspection covers, and what it doesn’t

A general home inspection is the core of your due diligence, and a good inspector will note the roof material, its rough condition, any visible damage and signs of leaks inside. But the inspector is covering the whole house in one visit. On a steep or tall roof, or a wet day, they may judge the roof from the ground or the eaves.

Read the roof section of the report closely. Phrases like “near the end of its service life,” “further evaluation by a roofer recommended” or “evidence of prior leaks” are the inspector telling you to look further. That’s when a roofer’s visit is worth booking. We walk the roof where it’s safe, go into the attic and give you a written price for whatever we’d do, so you have a number rather than an opinion to take back to the seller.

The insurance side

In Florida, the roof often decides whether insuring an older house is easy or hard. Many insurers ask for a four-point inspection on an older home before they’ll write a policy. It covers the roof, the electrical system, the plumbing and the heating and cooling, and it records the roof’s age, material and condition. A roof with active leaks or obvious wear can hold up a policy until it’s fixed.

A wind mitigation inspection is a different report that records how the roof and the house resist wind: how the roof deck is attached, how the roof is tied to the walls and whether the openings are protected. It doesn’t pass or fail anything, but many insurers use it to set the premium.

Ask the insurance agent for a quote on the house early in the inspection period, not the week before closing. If the insurer needs a roof repair, or won’t write the policy on the roof as it is, you want to know while you can still ask the seller for a credit or a repair.

What to look at yourself on the walk-through

You don’t need to climb anything to learn a lot about a roof.

• From the street, look for slopes that look different from the rest, where shingles were patched in a different color. Look for bare patches, curling edges and lines of shingles that sag between rafters.
• From the yard, look at the gutters and fascia. Soft, stained or missing fascia boards suggest water has been running behind the gutters for a while.
• Up close, look at the trees. Big limbs over the roof mean debris in the valleys and a risk in storms. Fresh-cut stumps near the house can mean a tree came down not long ago.
• Inside, look at the ceilings near exterior walls and around chimneys and skylights for stains, fresh paint in odd patches, or a ceiling that’s been textured over in one room only.
• In the attic, if you can get in safely, look at the underside of the deck with a flashlight. Dark stains, daylight showing through or soft spots around the chimney all tell a story.

Older decks and what they mean for a price

Many older homes around Tallahassee have a roof deck made of boards rather than plywood sheets. That’s fine on its own, but board decks can have gaps, split boards and rot that only shows once the old shingles are off. If a replacement is in the house’s near future, ask your roofer to explain how deck repairs are priced. On our estimates, replacement wood is priced per board and per sheet ahead of time, so a buyer can work out a likely range before closing.

Repair, replace or negotiate

Once you have the inspection and a roofer’s price, you have options. A roof with a few problems but good years left needs a repair, and a seller will often handle it or give a credit. A roof near the end of its life is a bigger conversation: a price reduction, a credit at closing, or a replacement before you move in.

If you’re buying with insurance pressure on the roof, it’s worth getting the written price and the photos in the same format an insurer would want. Our insurance claim paperwork page describes the kind of report we write for an older roof: dated photos of every slope, the age and material, the condition and what we’d recommend. The same report works for a buyer, a lender or an insurer.

When to call us

If you’re under contract on an older house for roofing in Tallahassee, Quincy or Crawfordville, call as soon as the home inspection report comes back. Tell us when your inspection period ends, and we’ll aim to get on the roof and get a written report and price back to you before it does. All we need is access to the roof and the attic, which your agent can arrange with the seller’s agent.

Questions about this guide

• Isn't the general home inspection enough?

  For most houses it's a good start. A home inspector covers the whole house in a few hours, so the roof gets a share of that time, often from the ground or a ladder. If the report says the roof is near the end of its life or flags a leak, a roofer's look gives you a repair or replacement price you can take back to the seller.

• Can the seller just tell me the roof's age?

  They can tell you what they believe, and it's worth asking. The permit record is better evidence, because it shows when a roof permit was issued for the address and whether it passed final inspection.

• Will an old roof stop me getting insurance?

  It can make it harder, and it can change the price. Many insurers ask for an inspection on an older house before they'll write the policy, and the roof is a big part of it. Get an insurance quote early, before your inspection period runs out, so a problem shows up while you can still negotiate.