Alpine Exteriors handles siding installation and repair, roof replacement and repair, and window replacement for homeowners across the Orlando metro. Most of our calls here fall into three buckets: a roof that took hail or wind damage during storm season and needs a full tear-off, siding that has warped or faded under the sun and needs replacing, or windows that are original to a 1990s or 2000s-era build and are no longer keeping the attic heat where it belongs. We work on single-family homes in established neighborhoods as well as newer construction out toward Lake Nona and Hunters Creek, and we do both cosmetic replacement and the underlying repair work — flashing, decking, and moisture barriers included — that a lot of quick-turnaround crews skip.
Central Florida's climate is hard on the outside of a house in ways that differ from the coast. We do not deal with salt air corrosion the way the coastal counties do, but we deal with something arguably more constant: heat load, UV exposure, and short, violent thunderstorms that show up almost every afternoon for half the year.
Orlando sits inland, which changes the maintenance math compared to coastal Florida. The biggest factor most homeowners underestimate is the daily convective thunderstorm pattern that runs from roughly May through September. These storms build fast in the afternoon heat, dump heavy rain in a short window, and frequently carry wind gusts and hail. Hail here tends to be smaller than what you'd see in the Midwest, but even pea- to marble-sized hail striking asphalt shingles thousands of times a season causes granule loss that shows up as premature roof aging, sometimes years before a homeowner notices a leak. If your roof is 12 to 15 years old and has been through several of these storm seasons, it's worth having someone look at the shingle mat, not just check for active drips.
The second factor is heat and UV, not wind. Central Florida attics regularly reach 130 to 150 degrees on summer afternoons, and roofing materials and siding are baking under strong UV exposure for a longer season than most of the country experiences. This accelerates the breakdown of lower-grade vinyl siding, which can warp or discolor faster here than the manufacturer's climate assumptions account for, and it's a major reason attic ventilation and radiant barrier decisions matter as much as the choice of roofing material itself. A roof or siding job that ignores ventilation is solving half the problem.
Third, because these storms are frequent rather than rare catastrophic events, wind-driven rain intrusion around windows and siding seams is a more common repair call here than storm-surge or structural wind damage. Flashing details around windows and doors, and proper lap and seam work on siding, matter more in a climate where a house gets rained on sideways forty or fifty times a year than in a climate where it happens twice.
We work throughout the Orlando metro, including Orlando proper (College Park, Baldwin Park, Delaney Park, and the areas around Conway), Winter Park, Kissimmee, Apopka, Oviedo, Lake Mary, and Windermere. Housing stock varies a lot across these areas, which affects what a job actually involves. Older homes in College Park and Winter Park's historic districts often have original wood soffits and fascia that need to be assessed alongside any siding or roofing work, and some fall under local design review that newer subdivisions don't. Newer communities in Lake Mary, Oviedo, and parts of Windermere tend to have HOA architectural guidelines that dictate approved siding colors, roof materials, or window trim, so we check HOA rules before quoting, not after. Kissimmee and Apopka have a broader mix of home ages and price points, and we see more mid-repair work there — fixing storm damage or patching aging systems — rather than full gut replacements.
Most of the city of Orlando and unincorporated areas around it fall under Orange County or City of Orlando permitting, depending on the exact address. Roof replacements almost always require a permit and a final inspection, and Florida's statewide building code requires specific wind-uplift ratings for both roofing and siding materials in this region, which is one reason we don't recommend the cheapest available shingle line for a full replacement — it may not meet code without additional fastening that adds cost anyway. Window replacements that change the rough opening size, rather than a like-for-like swap, also typically require a permit.
The wrinkle homeowners run into is that Winter Park, Oviedo, and Lake Mary sit partly or fully in Seminole County, not Orange County, and Kissimmee is in Osceola County, each with its own permitting office, fee schedule, and inspection scheduling system. A permit pulled correctly in Orange County does not transfer to a Seminole County job. We pull permits under our license for the jurisdiction the work is actually in, and we'd rather a homeowner ask "did you pull a permit for this" up front than find out later that a past repair was done without one, which can complicate insurance claims and home sales down the road.
Recent projects have included a full roof tear-off and replacement on a hail-damaged home near Conway, fiber cement siding replacement on an Apopka property where the original vinyl had warped from years of direct afternoon sun exposure, and a window replacement package in Oviedo aimed at cutting attic heat gain on the west-facing side of the house. We've also done smaller repair calls — patching flashing around chimneys and dormers after wind-driven rain found its way in during a summer storm — work that is less dramatic than a full replacement but often what actually stops a leak.
Yes, in almost all cases. Roof replacement requires a permit and final inspection under Florida building code, and the requirement applies whether you're in the City of Orlando, unincorporated Orange County, or a neighboring jurisdiction like Seminole or Osceola County. A licensed contractor should pull this for you as part of the job.
More often than most homeowners assume, though it's rarely dramatic. Central Florida's afternoon thunderstorm pattern produces small hail fairly regularly during summer months. It's usually not large enough to crack tile or cause obvious dents, but repeated exposure over years causes granule loss on asphalt shingles that shortens the roof's effective lifespan. An inspection after a rough storm season is a reasonable precaution, especially on a roof already past the ten-year mark.
Not automatically, but the grade matters more here than in milder climates. Lower-grade vinyl can warp or fade under Central Florida's sustained UV exposure faster than it would in a cooler region. Thicker, better-rated vinyl or fiber cement alternatives hold up more consistently, and proper installation with room for thermal expansion matters more here too.
Often, yes, particularly in newer communities in Lake Mary, Oviedo, and parts of Windermere. HOAs frequently restrict approved colors, materials, and sometimes specific manufacturers. We check HOA guidelines during the estimate process so you're not stuck with a completed job that fails architectural review.
If your roof took a beating this storm season, your siding is starting to show its age, or your windows are letting more heat into the attic than they should, Alpine Exteriors can take a look and give you a straight assessment, not just a sales pitch. We serve Orlando, Winter Park, Kissimmee, Apopka, Oviedo, Lake Mary, and Windermere, and estimates are free.