ATTENTION HOMEOWNER: Efttective October 1st, 2007, Florida Building Code's "Single-Family Hurricane Mitigation Retrofit Requirements" went into effect. The Florida Building Commission issued ammendments to these requirements which went into effect April 6th, 2008. Read the explanation to these new requirements below:

If your home (building alone - not including land) is insured for less than $300,000 OR if your home is uninsured but the taxable value is less than $300,000:

Requirements when re-roofing:

• Decking (plywood or plank) must have a fastener (8d ringshank nail) every 6'' on each touching truss.
• If your home is within a High Velocity Hurricane Zone or "HVHZ" (Wind-Borne Debris Regions exceeding 140MPH - see the chart), you MUST use a waterproofing barrier ("peel & stick") applied directly to the decking. This waterproofing barrier can be applied as a minimum 4'' strip installed on all plywood seams, or as your complete underlayment.
• If your home is not located within the HVHZ, you may use a standard #30 ASTM rated felt fastened every 6'' on the overlap and 12'' staggered in the field.

If your home (building alone - not including land) is insured for $300,000 or more OR if your home is uninsured but the taxable value is MORE than $300,000:

Requirements when re-roofing:

• Decking (plywood or plank) must have a fastener (8d ringshank nail) every 6'' on each touching truss.
• If your home is within a High Velocity Hurricane Zone or "HVHZ" (Wind-Borne Debris Regions exceeding 140MPH - see the chart), you MUST use a waterproofing barrier ("peel & stick") applied directly to the decking. This waterproofing barrier can be applied as a minimum 4'' strip installed on all plywood seams, or as your complete underlayment.
• If your home is not located within the HVHZ, you may use a standard #30 ASTM rated felt fastened every 6'' on the overlap and 12'' staggered in the field.
• Your hurricane strapping (roof-to-wall connections) and gable-end bracing may be inspected by a certified engineer at an additional cost beyond your re-roof contract. If these structural components are not meeting code requirements, you may elect to have them corrected. THE CATCH: If the cost of inspection & corrections that need to be done exceed 15% of the roofing contract, you are not required to do any of these corrections - 99% of the time this is the case.

• Read the code as it is written and passed by the Florida Building Commission
• Read the explanation of the code from the Florida Roofing, Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors Association.