Hundreds of squares of tile behind these gates
Hammock Dunes is where our family has laid more tile than almost anywhere else: hundreds of squares of it, a square being 100 square feet of roof. The work has not slowed down. Of the ten roofs First Coast Roofing has permitted in Flagler County since 2023, five were in Hammock Dunes.
The largest recent one is the house in the photo above, a 7,100 square foot Westlake concrete tile roof the crew tore off and rebuilt from the deck up. Westlake is an American-made concrete tile, and on a roof that size the quality lives in what you cannot see once the tile is down: the underlayment, the fastening, the flashing at every wall and chimney, and the metal at the eaves.
Across the bridge, through the gate
Hammock Dunes sits on the barrier island, across the Intracoastal from the city. The Hammock Dunes Bridge, finished in 1988 and owned by the Dunes Community Development District, is the toll crossing that brings most traffic over from Palm Coast Parkway, and our trucks with it. Then comes the main gate, and in Granada Estates and Island Estates a second gate inside the first.
We plan the day around both. Deliveries are cleared with the gatehouse, the tile truck and the lift are booked for the same window, and the homeowner knows who is arriving and when. A tile tear-off is heavy work, so before anything comes off the roof we decide where the dumpster sits and how the driveway pavers will be protected.
Because the community is outside Palm Coast city limits, re-roof permits go through Flagler County Central Permitting. We pull the permit and handle the inspections.
What the salt does over 25 years
The first homes here went up around 1990 and 1993, and the median home in the community, out of roughly 630, was built about 2001. That puts a large share of the original tile roofs somewhere between 25 and 35 years old.
In the crew’s experience, the tile is rarely what gives out at that age. Concrete tile shrugs off the sun. What fails is the underlayment beneath it, which dries out, cracks, and stops shedding the water that gets past the tile in a sideways rain. The other weak point is exposed metal. Salt air off the ocean works on flashing, valley metal, fasteners and the sealant around vents, and a stain on an upstairs ceiling is often a flashing detail that let go years before any tile did.
That is why we judge a tile roof from the ridge, lifting tiles where the story needs telling, not from the driveway. The inspection is free and comes with photos, so you see what we saw.
Design review and the tile you choose
Hammock Dunes is laid out in twelve villages and sections, and the Hammock Dunes Design Review Committee reviews exterior changes, roofs included. Spanish-Mediterranean homes with tile roofs prevail, so most owners replace tile with tile, and the committee will tell you which profiles and colors it approves for your house. We bring the product details and samples the submission needs and set the start date after the approval comes back. If you are weighing a different material, ask the committee first; we will quote the options either way.
Repair, tune-up, or a new roof
Not every older tile roof needs to come off. When the tile is sound and the underlayment still has years in it, a targeted repair or our yearly Roof Tune-Up (penetrations resealed, cracked tile replaced, flashing re-seated, valleys cleared) is the honest answer. When the underlayment is finished, the right job is to lift the tile, replace what is underneath, and relay the roof, reusing sound tile where the committee and the profile allow. Our tile roofing page explains how we approach both.
Close to home
Our family has lived in Palm Coast since 1989, and Mark and Nicholas, the second and third generations of roofers in the family, are on these jobs themselves. We work the rest of the Hammock too, including the tall homes of Ocean Hammock. Call (386) 864-9600 or send us a note, and we will call back within one business day to set a time at the gate.
