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Tamko Home Additions & ADU: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
A Tamko-backed home addition or ADU in Fort Lauderdale typically runs $45,000 – $130,000 installed, depending on square footage, foundation work, and whether you’re building up or out. We stock Tamko-compatible materials and install them with a written price before any work starts. Most owners call us when they notice water intrusion at the roofline, soft spots in the sheathing, or failed flashing around a new addition that’s only a few years old.
What usually brings a Tamko-specific issue to our phone lines: the underlayment or flashing where the addition ties into the original roofline. Fort Lauderdale’s wet season doesn’t forgive a bad tie-in. You’ll see staining on ceiling drywall first, then peeling paint at the seam, then the musty smell that means moisture is sitting where it shouldn’t. By the time you smell it, the sheathing underneath has been wet for weeks.
Which Tamko Models This Applies To
Tamko is best known in Florida for their roofing and waterproofing product lines, not for framing or structural systems. So when we talk about a “Tamko home addition” in Fort Lauderdale, we’re talking about additions and ADUs where Tamko envelope products were used – shingles, underlayment, waterproofing membranes, and flashing systems. The part that fails is rarely the shingle itself. It’s what got installed under it where the new structure meets the old.
The compatibility gotcha most homeowners don’t know: Tamko’s self-adhered underlayments (like their TW Series and MetalWorks lines) have specific temperature and surface-prep requirements that don’t play well with humid, pre-dawn installs. We’ve seen Fort Lauderdale additions where the membrane never fully bonded because the sheathing had morning dew on it. Five years later, the shingles look fine and the decking underneath is gone.
When you call us about a Tamko-related failure, the first thing we do is check what series was used. If it’s a MetalWorks panel system on a low-slope ADU roof, the fix is different than a failed shingle run on a gable addition. The label on the original packaging is long gone, so we identify the product by thickness, granule type, and selvedge. If we can’t positively identify it, we tell you that – and we explain what compatible replacement does the same job better.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Tamko Home Additions & ADU Is Failing
- Staining at the addition’s interior ceiling seam. This is the classic Fort Lauderdale tie-in failure. Water wicks through the seam between the original structure and the addition, and the first visible sign is a faint brown line where the two ceilings meet. The flashing wasn’t lapped correctly, or the underlayment has debonded.
- Shingle granules collecting in your gutters near the addition. Granule loss on a roof less than eight years old tells us the shingles baked too fast. Florida UV and heat will do that. But when the loss is concentrated near an addition’s valley or ridge, the issue is almost always a ventilation problem, not a shingle defect.
- Bubbling or blistered underlayment at the roof edge. You won’t see this from the ground. But if you’re on a ladder (carefully), look at the exposed underlayment at the rake edge. Bubbles mean moisture got trapped at install. That’s an installation issue, not a Tamko material issue – and it’s repairable if caught early.
- Soft subfloor in the ADU’s bathroom or kitchen corner. A roof leak doesn’t always show on the ceiling. In a two-story addition or an ADU with attic space, water travels down the wall cavity and pools at the floor plate. If the baseboard in one corner feels soft or the tile is starting to crack along one specific line, water’s been running down there for a while.
- Musty smell after heavy rain that fades when it’s dry. Intermittent odor like that means water is entering and then drying out. In Fort Lauderdale, “drying out” often means the sun is baking the moisture back up through the membrane, which accelerates delamination. The smell is the first sign; the delamination is already happening.
See the difference
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a Tamko-related home addition or ADU repair in Fort Lauderdale, installed pricing falls into three bands:
- Tie-in and flashing repair: $1,200 – $4,500 depending on linear feet of the seam and how much sheathing needs replacement.
- Full addition roof replacement with Tamko-compatible materials: $8,000 – $20,000, which matches our roof replacement pricing. This includes tear-off, new underlayment, new shingles, and new flashing at every penetration.
- Full home addition or ADU build from foundation: $45,000 – $130,000. This is the range for the entire structure – framing, envelope, interior finishes, and the Tamko envelope system done correctly from day one.
What drives the spread: the condition of the framing underneath, the complexity of the tie between the old roof and the new, and whether we’re dealing with a low-slope membrane or a standard shingle pitch. Every job gets a written line-item quote before any tool is picked up. The number you approve is the number you pay. Our work on the repair carries the same 365-Day Done Right Promise as a full remodel – if it’s not done right, we make it right, in writing.
DIY or Call Us?
Here’s the honest split. You can safely check your gutters for granules, look for interior staining after a heavy rain, and note where the smell is coming from. You can take photos and send them to us. You cannot safely get on a two-story Fort Lauderdale roof and start pulling up shingles to see what’s underneath. We can’t stop you, but we have to say it: a wet roof is a fall risk, and loose shingles on a 6/12 pitch will betray you faster than you expect.
The bigger issue is that a Tamko tie-in failure is rarely fixed by replacing one or two shingles. The problem is under the surface – debonded membrane, failed flashing, rotted sheathing. If you patch the surface and don’t fix the system, you’ll be back here next wet season with a bigger repair. We answer our own phone at (754) 354-7423. Call and describe what you’re seeing. We’ll tell you whether it sounds like a simple fix or something that needs eyes on it. Estimates are free.
FAQs
In Fort Lauderdale’s heat and humidity, a properly installed Tamko shingle roof on an addition should give you 15 to 20 years, with underlayment doing the real waterproofing work for that entire span. The failure most owners see at year five or six isn’t material lifespan – it’s installation error at the tie-in. If the underlayment was put down wrong, the shingles will outlive the system underneath them.
Yes, in most cases a tie-in or flashing failure can be isolated and repaired without re-roofing the entire addition. We’ll open up the affected area, replace the rotted sheathing, re-lap the underlayment correctly, and install new flashing. If the damage has spread more than a few feet in each direction, a partial re-roof of that elevation makes more sense financially. We’ll show you photos of what we found before you approve anything.
Most Tamko tie-in and flashing repairs on a Fort Lauderdale addition take one to two working days, weather permitting. If we’re replacing a full addition roof, plan for three to five days depending on the pitch and how many penetrations need re-flashing. You get a live arrival time and photo updates before and after – that’s The Relay Visibility Guarantee, and it’s not optional on any of our jobs.
We stock common Tamko-compatible underlayment rolls, flashing profiles, and shingle colors that cover most Fort Lauderdale additions built in the last fifteen years. If your exact color or series isn’t on the truck, we can typically have it from our supplier the same week. We also work with KraftMaid for cabinetry, Cambria and Silestone for counters – so if the repair exposes an interior finish that needs matching, we’re not guessing.
No. The written price you approve before we start is the price you pay. If we open up a wall or a roof deck and find damage that wasn’t visible from the outside, we stop, take photos, and bring you a written change order before we continue. You make the call with real information – not a surprise invoice at the end.
Call (754) 354-7423 for a free estimate on your Tamko home addition or ADU repair in Fort Lauderdale. We answer the phone, show up on time, and put the price in writing before the first shingle comes off.
Written by Luca Romano, Owner & Lead Contractor, Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale at Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
