A useful roof record is a dated, plain-language note about what you could actually see from outside your house, plus a list of the papers you already have. It is not an inspection, an appraisal or a claim file. It is a way to hold your own facts steady so that a later conversation — with a roofer, a building official or your insurer — starts from something written down rather than from memory. The private browser-local roof file gives you a dated template for that record, kept on your own device.
What “from the ground” really means
Ground-level documentation is a deliberately narrow method. You stand on your lawn, driveway or street, look up, and write down what is visible. You do not climb, you do not open electrical systems, and you do not put weight on anything you have not assessed. This limit is not timidity; it follows from the source material. Florida's Division of Emergency Management roof guidance describes work on roof-to-wall connections that is normally hidden by drywall, cladding, soffit panels and roof sheathing, and it talks about access through removing soffit panels or removing sheathing at the eaves during re-roofing (apps.floridadisaster.org). Those are construction activities, not observation activities.
Likewise, the division's worksheet on wood posts supporting roofs asks for testing softness of a post bottom near the fasteners with an ice pick, small sharp screwdriver or nail (apps.floridadisaster.org). That is a physical probe. A ground-level record cannot substitute for it, and this guide never asks you to perform it.
What is left is still worth doing. From the ground you can honestly note: shingle or tile edges that look lifted or missing, visible staining on soffit or fascia, sagging along a ridge line as it appears from a distance, debris that stayed on the roof after a storm, a tarp, a tree limb overhanging, water marks on a ceiling inside your home, or gutters holding granules. Record what you see, where you stood, and the date — not what you think it means.
FEMA's first instruction is not about roofs at all
FEMA repeatedly advises homeowners to check with the local building official before beginning any repairs or rebuilding, because building codes, permits, inspection requirements and zoning ordinances may be involved, and it states that building officials emphasise that only licensed professionals are qualified to perform structural repair or structural mitigation work (fema.gov, fema.gov). The same material lists roof failures as a common cause of major damage from high winds, with mitigation measures described as designing wind-resistant roofs, reinforcing gable roof ends, securing sheathing properly and installing shingles properly.
Those are categories of measure, described generally. They are not a diagnosis of your roof. A record does not convert into a recommendation just because you wrote it down.
Why a written scope beats a remembered one
FEMA's mitigation material is aimed at homeowners after severe storms and tornadoes (it carries Arkansas and Oklahoma contact details in the versions supplied here), so treat it as general guidance rather than a Florida rulebook (fema.gov). Its practical lesson for documentation is simple: keep the description of the work separate from the price.
Hypothetical example: a proposal lists “tear-off, re-deck as needed, install underlayment, install field shingles, ridge vent, permit.” The words carry information; a lump sum does not. A record that captures the scope language, in your own shorthand, gives you something to compare against a second document. It does not tell you which is better value, and this site will not pretend to.
The guide to reading a scope before the price sets out how to note those items in a consistent order. Florida's own Wind Retrofit Worksheet shows the vocabulary a mitigation application uses — roof code compliance, secondary water resistance, roof-wall connection, roof-deck attachment (floridadisaster.org). Those terms are worth recognising when they appear in a proposal, even though a homeowner record cannot verify any of them.
What the state guidance covers, and where it stops
The Division of Emergency Management's roof section is organised by roof covering type — shingle, tile, metal, membrane and built-up — and by roof framing, gable end overhangs, gable end bracing and roof and attic water intrusion (floridadisaster.org). The same page notes that of the framing issues it lists, additional rafter ties are about the only item realistically handled without assessment and design by a structural engineer, and that other listed issues warrant review by an experienced structural engineer who can prepare a retrofit plan. That sentence is the source's own characterisation of a specific retrofit; it is not an invitation for a homeowner to do roof work.
Hypothetical example of staying honest in a record: instead of writing “roof structure inadequate,” write “from the street, the ridge appears to dip slightly toward the rear; no access attempted; date noted.” The first sentence is a conclusion you are not qualified to reach. The second is an observation someone else can test.
Existing records belong in the same file
Before any conversation, gather what already exists: prior permit paperwork, a re-roof receipt, an insurance declarations page, a home inspection report, photographs from years past. The state's Wind Retrofit Worksheet asks applicants for year built, source of that information, building size and construction type (floridadisaster.org) — a useful reminder that “existing records” is a category with real content, not a formality. The updated worksheet also warns that wind retrofit projects under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program are intended to protect the building envelope and contents, do not provide near-absolute protection, and may leave vulnerabilities due to age, design and location (floridadisaster.org). That is program language about grant-funded work; it is not a statement about your insurance coverage or any claim outcome.
Verify the licence, not the brochure
Florida roofing contractor licences can be checked through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's online Verify a Licensee service at myfloridalicense.com. The licensee detail pages show licence type, licence number, status, licensure date and expiration (example record). The supplied examples are roofing contractors in Gainesville, Milton and Lake Wales; they illustrate the fields the lookup displays and say nothing about any Tampa business. This publication names no local company, price, warranty term, review or inspection result, because the source material contains none.
Using the roof file
The roof file asks for a record date, a general location description (a neighbourhood or cross-street is enough; a full address is not required), your ground-level observations, existing records, your questions and up to three proposal scope notes. Text entries are capped and treated as plain text. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is looked up and nothing leaves the browser. When you generate the file you get a plain-text record you can download; changing any field invalidates the previous export, so the file you save always matches what you last wrote. Your questions from there can go into the conversation preparation guide, which is about what to ask rather than what to conclude.
Limits to keep in view
A dated record cannot tell you whether a roof needs replacing, whether a repair is covered, whether work requires a permit, or whether a contractor is competent. It cannot verify a licence status that may change. It cannot see what is hidden behind soffit, sheathing or drywall. It records, in your words, on a known date, what was visible from where you stood — and that modest thing is the whole point.
