Roofing in Winter Garden, Florida

Winter Garden's median home was built in 2004, ten years after Orange County's 1994 median. 26% of homes went up in 2010 or later and 15.4% predate 1980, against 26.1% countywide. That leaves the middle group, built between 1980 and 2009, holding most of the city's houses, and NRCA says most new roofs are designed to give about 20 years of service.

Owners hold 65.7% of occupied homes, and 68.9% of housing units are detached houses, so most roof decisions here belong to the person who lives under the roof. Mobile homes are 4.2% of the city's housing, more than the county's 3.1% share, and some of their insurance rules differ (see the questions below).

For a house at the 2004 median that still has its original roof, the insurance clock is already running. Florida's 15-year rule means the insurer must let you have the roof inspected before it requires a replacement, and Citizens asks for a 4-point inspection on applications for homes more than 20 years old.

Inside city limits, the City of Winter Garden Building Department issues roof permits. Next door, Horizon West is unincorporated; the county calls it the fastest growing community in unincorporated Orange County, about 20,704 gross acres, and its permits go to the Orange County Division of Building Safety through the Fast Track portal. Your parcel's side of the city line decides which counter takes the application, so confirm it first.

Either way, a re-roof skips plan review but not inspection. The inspector comes for the sheathing at dry-in, and again for the finished roofing, which covers dry-in, insulation, the roof covering and flashing.