Roofing in Brevard County

Anyone sizing up roofing companies in Brevard County, Florida, should start with the houses. The Census Bureau's 2020-2024 survey puts the median build year at 1988, give or take two years. Nearly a third of the county's 299,305 housing units, 32.1%, went up before 1980, and only 10.9% date from 2010 or later. The National Roofing Contractors Association says most new roofs are designed for about 20 years of service, so a typical Brevard house has likely outlived its first roof.

Build dates also tell you which rules a roof went on under. Florida swapped its local codes for one statewide code on March 1, 2002, after Hurricane Andrew. The 2007 edition, in force from March 1, 2009, matters most at re-roof time: under Fla. Stat. 553.844(5), a roof built to it or a later edition can have a section redone with only the new work meeting today's code.

Detached single-family houses make up 65.9% of the housing units and mobile homes 7.2%. Owners occupy 76.7% of occupied homes, and the median resident is 46.7 years old. Before Matthew, mandatory evacuations covered mobile homes countywide, and inland the damage came mostly from falling trees on older buildings and mobile homes near woods.

The office that issues your permit depends on which side of a city line you live on. Fifteen cities and towns, from Titusville and Cocoa to Palm Bay and Malabar, run their own building departments or permit portals. Outside city limits, Brevard County Planning & Development handles building permits, and that covers the census-designated communities of Merritt Island, Port St. John, Viera East and Viera West. Research found no permit page for Palm Shores, so check with the town before work begins.

Two state rules hold everywhere. A re-roof skips plan review by the building official but is inspected twice: sheathing or dry-in while the deck is exposed, then the roofing itself, covering dry-in, insulation, the covering and flashing.

NOAA's 1991-2020 normals give Melbourne International 50.79 inches of rain a year, Titusville 55.20 and Palm Bay 55.55, with 38% to 41% of it falling in June, July and August. Gutters answer to the burst rather than the total: Atlas 14 sets the 10-year, 5-minute rate at Melbourne at 10.6 inches an hour, and a 10-year storm can leave 7.48 inches of rain in 24 hours.

Heat varies more than rain. Palm Bay logs 101.7 days a year at 90°F or hotter, about twice the 50.2 days at the Melbourne Beach station on A1A, with Titusville at 76.7 and the Melbourne airport at 62.8. In Florida Solar Energy Center tests, the attic under dark shingles ran 40°F above the outdoor air at the summer peak.

NWS Melbourne calls central Florida the lightning capital of the United States, and water makes up 34.8% of the county's total area.

Every place below has its own page. Where the county record already says something specific about a town:

• Matthew's wind readings: Satellite Beach, Merritt Island, Cocoa Beach and Melbourne International.
• Irma's tornadoes: Indialantic, Melbourne Beach, Rockledge, Patrick AFB, North Merritt Island, Turkey Creek in Palm Bay, and Mims. Milton's: Cocoa Beach.
• Rain and heat stations: Titusville, Palm Bay, the Melbourne airport and Melbourne Beach.
• Extra re-roof forms: Rockledge and Indian Harbour Beach. HB 803 notes: West Melbourne and Melbourne Village.
• Historic or coastal review: Titusville, Melbourne and Melbourne Beach.
• County-issued permits: Merritt Island, Port St. John, Viera East and Viera West. Palm Shores: ask the town.