Roofs we work on · Tile Roofs
The Tile Is Usually Fine. The Layer Underneath Is Not.
On a tile roof the tile is a rain screen and the underlayment is the waterproofing. Tile outlives underlayment comfortably, so most tile roof work here is really underlayment work.
Tell us the age of the roof and whether anything is actually leaking. Those two answers decide what conversation we are having.
2005
A whole region re-roofed in eighteen months, and it is finishing together
No leak
Most people here are replacing a roof that works. We will say so
Our crews
We inspect, we photograph, and our own people do the work
Licensed
A licensed Florida general contractor
Paying to fix the part that was not broken
Owners see cracked or slipped tiles and assume the tiles are the problem. They are usually a symptom. Water that reaches the inside of the house passed the tile, which it is expected to do, and then passed the underlayment, which it is not. Replacing tiles without addressing what is beneath them is the most common wasted spend on this kind of roof, and it is a very easy sale to make because the fix is visible and the real problem is not.
What actually determines a tile roof job
- The condition and age of the underlayment, not of the tile.
- Whether the tiles can be lifted and reused without excessive breakage.
- Whether a matching tile is still available if some cannot be reused.
- Fastening and the condition of battens where they are used.
- Flashings at walls, valleys and every penetration.
Why this misunderstanding is so persistent
Tile is durable and highly visible, and underlayment is neither. A homeowner looking at a tile roof sees material that plainly has decades left in it, and reasonably concludes the roof does too. The waterproofing layer beneath is doing the actual work and ages on a much shorter timescale.
It is also the part that a quick estimate cannot see. Anyone quoting a tile roof from the ground is quoting the rain screen and saying nothing about the thing that is keeping water out of your house.
How we handle it
- 01Establish underlayment condition before pricing anything.
- 02Assess honestly what proportion of tile will survive being lifted.
- 03Check tile availability before assuming a partial approach works.
- 04Rebuild flashings rather than reseating tiles over old ones.
The salvage question decides the economics on almost every tile job. If most of the tile lifts cleanly and can go back down, a re-lay is a materially cheaper route than full replacement. If the tile is brittle and breakage will run high, or the profile is no longer made, that route closes and it is better to know before the roof is opened rather than during.
Said plainly
Where we stop
We cannot guarantee a salvage rate before tiles are lifted. We will give you an honest estimate based on what we find on the roof and be clear that it is an estimate, because a contractor who promises an exact figure for that has not been on many tile roofs.
FAQ
Common questions
- My tiles look fine but the ceiling is staining. How?
- That is the normal pattern rather than a puzzle. Tile is a rain screen and it is expected to let some water past. Once the underlayment beneath has failed, that water has nothing stopping it, and the tile above it can look perfect throughout.
- Can my existing tiles be reused?
- Often a good proportion of them, and the honest answer is that nobody knows the rate until tiles start coming up. Older and more brittle tile breaks more. We give an estimate and say plainly that it is one.
- Is a tile roof worth keeping?
- Usually yes where the tile is sound and still available, because relaying over new underlayment costs meaningfully less than a full replacement. Where the profile is discontinued and breakage runs high, the arithmetic changes.
Treasure Coast specifics
The 2005 Cohort
Frances and Jeanne put most of this coast under new roofs across 2005 and 2006. Those roofs did not age independently, and they are not going to finish independently either.
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A Roof That Does Not Leak
The usual trigger for a roof replacement on this coast is not water in the house. It is a letter about the age of the roof, which is a genuinely uncomfortable position to be put in.
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Where Roofs Fail
Uplift starts at perimeters and corners. Water gets in at penetrations and flashings. The large open field of the roof, which is what a quote is usually priced by, is the part least likely to be the problem.
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The Two Inspections
These are two different documents produced by different people for different reasons, and owners conflate them constantly. Knowing which one you have, and which one you need, saves a surprising amount of confusion.
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How We Work Here
We are based in Fort Lauderdale and work up the Treasure Coast in scheduled blocks. On a coast where a replacement wave draws companies in from everywhere, being clear about who we are matters more than usual.
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More roofs we work on
Shingle Roofs
Asphalt shingle is what most of this coast was re-roofed with after 2004, which means a very large number of shingle roofs here started their service lives inside the same eighteen months.
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Metal Roofs
Metal genuinely lasts on this coast when it is specified and detailed properly. What decides that is rarely the panel. It is the fastener system, the coating and what happens at every edge and penetration.
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Flat & Low Slope
Flat and low slope sections on this coast are very often over an addition, a Florida room or a carport enclosure. They fail differently from the main roof and they usually fail first.
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Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.