What Actually Happens During a Roof Replacement

For something that costs as much as a car, a roof replacement is a bit of a mystery to most homeowners — trucks show up, there's a lot of noise, and a few days later you have a new roof. Knowing the actual sequence helps you spot whether it's being done right, and where corners get cut. Here's how a proper re-roof goes.

1. Permit. A legitimate re-roof starts with a permit pulled from your local building department. This isn't red tape — it's what triggers the inspections that protect you.

2. Tear-off. The old roof comes off, down to the bare decking. (Roofing over an old roof to save money is one of those corners — you want a tear-off.)

3. Decking inspection. With everything exposed, this is when rotten or damaged wood gets found and replaced. This is also the moment a vague estimate turns into a surprise bill, so it pays to have agreed on a per-sheet price up front.

4. Dry-in. The underlayment goes down — the layer that actually waterproofs your house. In Florida, this often means a sealed deck and a secondary water barrier, designed so your home stays protected even if the surface covering blows off in a storm. This is one of the most important steps, and it's done before any tile or shingle goes on.

5. Flashing and details. Metal at the walls, valleys, and penetrations — the spots where roofs actually leak. On a real job, this is new, not reused.

6. The roof covering. Now the tile, shingle, or metal goes on, attached the right way for the material and slope.

7. Cleanup and final inspection. A good crew leaves your yard clean (a magnetic sweep for stray nails is standard), and the building department's final inspection signs off that it was done to code.

If you know this sequence, you can ask better questions while the work is happening — "are you replacing that flashing?" "did the deck need any new sheets, and what's the count?" — and you'll know whether the roof going on your house is the real thing or a rushed version of it.