Tile roofing
Tile roof underlayment and repair, Folsom & Sacramento County
Your tile is probably fine. The felt paper underneath it is what fails, and replacing that costs a fraction of a new roof. Ask for it by name before you accept a tear-off quote.
Two roofs, not one
A concrete tile roof is two systems stacked. The tile is the armour — it takes the sun, the hail and the foot traffic, and it lasts fifty years or more. Underneath it is a layer of felt underlayment, and that is what actually keeps water out of your house. It lasts twenty-five to thirty.
So on a house built in 1988, the tile has another two decades in it and the felt ran out around 2015. That is the single most common roofing situation in Folsom, Orangevale and the older parts of Citrus Heights, and it is routinely quoted as a full tear-off by people who should know better.
How to tell which one you have
Underlayment, most likely
Tile looks sound, ceiling is staining
Stains appear in winter and dry out in summer. Tile is intact with maybe a few cracked pieces. Attic shows dark streaking down the sheathing. The felt has gone brittle and torn at the fastener holes, which is exactly what thirty-year-old felt does.
Bigger job
Tile is broken across whole sections
Widespread cracking, slipped courses, or someone has walked it badly for years. Lightweight tile from certain eighties runs also gets brittle. Here you are buying tile as well as underlayment, and the sums change.
What lift and re-lay involves
Tile comes off by hand
Stacked on the roof in courses, in the order it came off, so the same pieces go back in the same places. Slower than a tear-off and the reason this is skilled work.
Strip and inspect
Old felt off, battens checked, sheathing inspected. This is the only time anyone will see your deck for twenty-five years, so we photograph it.
New underlayment
Two-ply or a synthetic, new flashing at every valley, wall and penetration. All the metal gets replaced — reusing thirty-year-old valley metal under new felt makes no sense.
Tile back down
Your original tile re-laid, with replacements blended in for anything cracked. We source matching profile where we can and tell you honestly when an exact match no longer exists.
Typical single-story tile roof runs five to eight working days — longer than a composition tear-off, because the tile is handled twice.
Tile questions
Can you match my tile if some is broken?
Usually. Profiles from the big Californian makers are still available or available used through salvage. Colour is the harder part — thirty years of sun means new tile of the same model will not match exactly. We put replacements on the least visible slopes and tell you before we start how noticeable it will be.
Should I switch to composition while the tile is off?
Some people do, mostly for cost. Be aware the framing on a tile house was designed for the weight and the look of the street usually is tile — it can affect resale in neighbourhoods where every other house has it. We will price both and let you decide.
Why does my tile roof leak only in heavy storms?
Because tile is not waterproof and was never meant to be. It sheds the bulk of the water; the felt handles what blows underneath. Light rain never reaches the felt. Three days of sideways rain does, and finds every tear in it.
Can I walk on it to clean my gutters?
Please do not. Concrete tile cracks under a heel in the wrong spot, and the cracks are not always obvious from the ground. That is how a small underlayment job turns into a tile-sourcing job.
Been told your tile roof needs replacing?
Get a second look before you sign. If the tile is sound we will tell you, and the job gets smaller.