The short version
Cost ranges on this site are anchored to real signed-contract data from licensed South Florida contractors, cross-checked against the 1.37 million building permits we've indexed from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. We don't use national averages, and we don't use "starting from" bait pricing.
Step 1: Your real property record
When you enter your address, we look it up in our county-property-appraiser snapshot — 2.1 million residential parcels across tri-county. We pull:
- Folio / parcel number (your home's unique ID)
- Year built (drives roof age + code-era assumptions)
- Living square footage (drives roof area + window count estimates)
- Assessed value (context, not pricing)
- Bedroom / bathroom counts (where the county publishes them)
- Homestead status
Step 2: Real permit history for your folio
We then look up every building permit filed at your folio across our scraping coverage. A recent roof permit means your roof is already replaced. A recent impact-window permit means you already have impact protection. The score on your property card reflects this real history, not a guess.
Step 3: Roof area calculation
Most homeowners think of their home in living square footage. Roofers think in squares (100 sqft of roof area). South Florida one-story homes have roof areas roughly 1.2× their living sqft, accounting for soffits, lanais, and pitch. So a 2,000 sqft home has about 24 squares of roof.
roofSquares = round(living_sqft / 100) + 3
Step 4: Per-square pricing
We use per-square market-rate pricing calibrated against actual signed-contract data from licensed South Florida roofers. For 2026 these ranges are:
- Architectural Shingle: $900–$1,500 per square
- Concrete Tile: $1,000–$1,500 per square
- Clay Tile: $1,300–$1,800 per square
- Standing Seam Metal: $1,500–$2,200 per square
- Flat (TPO/Modified Bitumen): $1,000–$1,800 per square
These numbers represent typical retail (homeowner-pays) cost for properly licensed, insured, code-compliant work in tri-county. Lower-end estimates correspond to standard installation on single-story low-pitch roofs. Upper-end estimates apply to steep pitches, multi-story access, or significant decking repair. Permit fees, tear-off, underlayment, and code-required wind mitigation are included.
Step 5: Impact-window pricing
For impact windows, we estimate opening count from sqft (roughly one opening per 110 sqft of living area) and price each opening at $2,000–$3,000 installed for typical NOA-approved aluminum-frame windows. Picture windows, large sliders, and French doors are priced separately when surveyed.
Step 6: Score
The 0–100 score on your property card weighs five factors:
- Pre-FBC: Homes built before 2002 (pre-Florida Building Code) lose 20 points — they typically lack hurricane code compliance.
- Window permits: No impact-window or shutter permits on record loses 15 points (post-2002 homes are not penalized — they were built to code).
- Recent roof: No roof permit in the last 15 years loses 15 points (newer-than-15-yr homes get a free pass — original roof is still serviceable).
- Code violations: Active code violations lose 10 points.
- High-wind zone: ZIPs in the 33000-33499 range (coastal South Florida) lose 5 points for elevated wind exposure.
What we don't include
- HOA approval fees (varies, typically $0–$200)
- Engineering letters for structural changes ($500–$1,500)
- Stucco bands or decorative finishes ($35–$50/linear foot)
- Solar / electrical / plumbing reroutes
- Custom colors or imported materials
Data freshness
Property records refresh quarterly from the county appraisers. Building permits are pulled from municipal portals on a rolling basis. Pricing ranges are reviewed against signed-contract data monthly and updated as market conditions shift (material costs, labor rates, code changes).
Every number on this site traces back to county records and signed-contract data — no national averages, no guesses.