A Friendswood roof starts with a county line
Roofing in Friendswood, TX comes with a question most homeowners never think about: which county is your house in? Friendswood lies partly in Galveston County and partly in Harris County, and the city's own re-roof permit form treats the two sides differently.
On the Galveston County side, the job falls inside the Texas Department of Insurance's windstorm catastrophe area, because Galveston County is one of the 14 first-tier coastal counties. There the city's form says the roofer submits a WPI-8 windstorm certificate and the city does no inspection of its own. On the Harris County side, Friendswood is not one of the Harris County cities in the catastrophe area, so there is no WPI-8, and the city does a final inspection instead. Two houses a few streets apart can end up with different paperwork for the same new roof.
Houston Expert Roofers does no roofing. It runs a no-cost referral number: a recorded assistant takes the call day or night, asks about the roof and your part of Friendswood, and hands you to an independent, locally owned roofing company that takes calls here. That company inspects, writes its own estimate and does the work.
Galveston County side or Harris County side
This is how the two halves of Friendswood compare on a re-roof, based on the city's re-roof application, its residential permit requirements and the state's catastrophe area rules.
| Question | Galveston County side | Harris County side |
|---|---|---|
| City re-roof permit before work starts | Yes | Yes |
| Who checks the finished roof | A state windstorm inspection; the city's form asks for the WPI-8 and does no city inspection | A City of Friendswood final inspection |
| In the TDI catastrophe area | Yes, as part of Galveston County | No; Friendswood is not one of the named Harris County cities |
| Texas Windstorm Insurance Association eligibility | Possible, and it depends on the windstorm certificate | Not available, since TWIA insures only inside the designated area |
| Paperwork to keep | Permit, WPI-8, contract, shingle warranty registration | Permit with final inspection, contract, shingle warranty registration |
Not sure which side you are on? Your property tax statement names the county, and your address will appear on either the Galveston Central Appraisal District site or the Harris Central Appraisal District site. Check before you sign, so the contract names the right inspection.
Roofing jobs Friendswood homeowners call about
Trees, aging roofs and coastal storms are behind most of these calls. These pages explain each job and what a careful roofer does first.
Roof Repair in Houston
Lifted shingles, cracked pipe boots, worn flashing and soft spots in the deck. When a targeted repair makes sense and what a written repair quote should list.
Roof Replacement in Houston
Tear-off, decking, underlayment, flashing and ventilation. The signs a roof is finished, the permit question in your city, and the line items a quote must show.
Roof Leak Repair
Why the drip is rarely under the hole, where Houston roofs usually let water in, and the safe things to do indoors while you wait for the roofer.
Storm Damage Roof Repair
Wind, falling limbs and tropical rain. What the derecho and Hurricane Beryl did to Houston roofs, and the order of things after a storm.
Roof Flashing Repair
Where flashing goes on a roof, why chimneys, walls, skylights and valleys leak first, and what a proper flashing repair involves.
What the city's re-roof application asks for
Friendswood's residential re-roof and siding permit application is short, and reading it tells you what the roofer should already know about your job. It asks for the square footage of roofing being replaced and the total cost or valuation of the work. Its inspection section is where the county line shows up: a WPI-8 on the Galveston County side, a city final inspection on the Harris County side.
The city's residential building requirements say permit applications must be approved and permits issued before any work is started, and submittals go through the online permit portal. A roofer that plans to tear off on Monday and "sort out the permit later" is not following that rule.
One practical use of all this: the city publishes monthly reports of the permits it issues, and re-roof permits are among the entries. If you are buying a Friendswood house with a "new roof", that report is a quick way to see whether the work was permitted.
Coastal windstorm rules. In the Texas Department of Insurance's designated catastrophe area (Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston and the other first-tier coastal counties, plus, in Harris County, Morgan's Point and the parts of La Porte, Pasadena, Seabrook and Shoreacres inside city limits and east of State Highway 146), most roof work must meet the windstorm building code and be inspected while it is under way (TDI exempts repairs to less than 100 square feet of roof covering that do not touch the decking). When it passes, TDI issues a certificate of compliance (form WPI-8), which the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association uses to decide whether it can insure the home. Ask the roofer, in writing, who schedules the inspection and when you will get the WPI-8.
Trees, shade and storms over Friendswood roofs
Where a Friendswood roof sits under tall pines or spreading oaks, the shade is pleasant in August but it changes how the roof ages. Needles and leaves pile up in the valleys, where two roof slopes meet, and hold water against the shingles. Shaded slopes stay damp longer after rain. Limbs that hang over the roof scrape shingles in the wind and can come down in a storm.
Storms have shaped Friendswood from the start. Quaker families founded it as a farming colony in 1895, and the city's history notes that their two-story Academy, which served as church, school and meeting place, was built from timber felled by the 1900 Galveston storm. The town incorporated in 1960 and grew into a commuter suburb once NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center opened nearby. In August 2017 Hurricane Harvey flooded about 2,410 single-family homes in Friendswood as Clear Creek rose, Community Impact reported. That was flood water, which a standard homeowners policy treats separately from wind damage to a roof.
Two recent storms tested those trees. On May 16, 2024 a derecho, which the National Weather Service office in League City documented, drove winds over 100 mph through parts of the metro area. Then Hurricane Beryl came ashore on July 8, 2024 near Matagorda as a Category 1 storm, and Community Impact reported more than 2.2 million CenterPoint Energy customers without power across the region. If a limb hit your roof in either storm, or you have not had the roof looked at since, ask a roofer to check the valleys, the flashing and the decking under any spot that was struck.
Stay off the roof. Wet, storm-damaged roofs are slick and the decking may be weak, so leave the ladder in the garage. Keep well away from downed power lines and report them to Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP) or 911. Indoors, move belongings away from the leak, put a bucket or towels under the drip and keep people out of any room where the ceiling sags. Photograph the damage from the ground and inside the house, then call your insurer and a roofer.
Why Friendswood homeowners call the line
The right inspection for the right side
A roofer that works Friendswood often knows that one street needs a WPI-8 and another a city final. When you are put through, say which county you are in and ask how the company handles that side.
A limb on the roof after dark
Storms bring branches down at night as often as by day. The line answers every hour and transfers you, or passes your name, number, city and need along so the company can call back.
A second look before a big job
If someone knocked on the door after a storm and said the whole roof has to go, a call gives you a second roofer's view. Ask for photos of the damage and compare the two estimates line by line.
Free to call, paid to the roofer
The line never charges you. The roofing company quotes its own price, and its invoice goes to you, or is settled with insurance money if you have a claim. Companies may pay the line a referral fee.
Questions for a Friendswood roofer
About permits and inspections
- My house is on the Galveston County (or Harris County) side. Which inspection will this job get?
- Will you file the city re-roof permit before tear-off, and send me a copy?
- On the Galveston County side: who schedules the windstorm inspection, and when do I get the WPI-8?
- What square footage and job value are you putting on the application?
About the roof and the company
- Did you check the valleys and the decking under the trees, and can I see the photos?
- What is your price per sheet for rotten decking?
- Can you send your certificate of liability insurance?
- What does your workmanship warranty cover, in writing?
Texas has no state roofing license. No state agency licenses roofing contractors in Texas, and a 2025 bill to create one (HB 3344) did not reach a vote of the full House before the session ended. So check what you can: a certificate of liability insurance sent to you, a written contract with the full scope, a permit where your city requires one, local addresses you can drive past, and the shingle maker's warranty registration. Some cities also ask roofers to register. The line does not check any of this for you. How to check a roofer before you hire.
The deductible is yours to pay. The Texas Department of Insurance says it is illegal for a contractor to offer to waive, rebate or absorb your deductible, and a contract of $1,000 or more paid with insurance money must include a notice saying so. A roofer also may not act as your public adjuster on a property it works on. Treat any offer to "cover the deductible" as a reason to call someone else.
How a Friendswood call works
- Call the numberAn automated assistant answers (832) 662-4107 at any hour and asks which service you need, since the line also takes heating, cooling, pressure washing and water damage calls.
- Describe the roofA leak, missing shingles, hail, a limb on the roof or an old roof you want looked at, plus your part of greater Houston and how urgent it is.
- Get put throughYour call is transferred to an independent, locally owned roofing company, which hears a short summary before it picks up.
- Deal with the roofer directlyIt inspects, quotes and does the work, and you pay it (or your insurer does, as you arrange). If it misses the call, it gets your name, number, city and need to call you back.
About this line: Houston Expert Roofers is a free phone line, not a roofing contractor. It answers your call and connects you with an independent local roofing company, which inspects, quotes and does the work, and which you pay directly. Companies may pay a referral fee. The line never charges you. Read how the line works.
Near Friendswood, and worth reading
- Roofing in League City
- Roofing in Pearland
- Roofing in Webster
- Roofing in Alvin
- What to Do After Storm Damage to Your Roof
- Do Roofers Need a License in Texas?