Tile roofs · Los Angeles County
Tile roof repair and relays in Los Angeles
On most LA tile roofs the felt under the tile fails long before the tile does. So the job is either a repair of a few tiles and the flashing, or a relay that puts your own tiles back over new underlayment.
Clay barrel tile on a 1920s Spanish house, flat concrete tile on a later tract: tile roofs fail in a way that fools people. From the street the tile can look fine for decades. What keeps the water out is the felt underneath, and the free roof check tells you whether yours needs a repair or a relay.
Repair or relay
A tile repair is for a few slipped or cracked tiles, a ridge or hip that has opened up, or the flashing where the tile meets a chimney or a wall. Loose tiles go back where they belong, and broken ones are replaced with the closest tiles we can find. If the flashing is the problem, that gets fixed too.
A tile relay is for a roof that leaks in more than one place while most of the tile is sound. It replaces the felt and keeps your tiles.
Signs the felt has failed
- Leaks in more than one room, and no broken tile over any of them
- Stains that turn up somewhere new each winter
- Dark, brittle felt showing at the eaves or under a slipped tile
- Water marks on the attic boards below tile that looks fine
- A house that has never had a relay and is still on its original felt
How a tile relay goes
- A look under the tile. On the roof check we lift a tile or two to see the felt underneath. What we find there decides whether you need a repair or a relay.
- The tiles come off. They're stacked on the roof or in the yard, and the old felt is stripped back to the boards.
- New underlayment and flashing. They go down over the boards before any tile goes back.
- Your tiles are relaid. Any broken ones are replaced with the closest tiles we can find.
If your job needs a permit, we pull it, and the fee goes to the city.
Why tile jobs differ in price
- A repair or a full relay
- Clay or concrete, and the shape of the tile
- How many tiles are broken, and whether that shape is still made
- Boards under the felt that got wet and have to be replaced
- How steep and how high the roof is
What stays and what's new
- Your own tiles, back on the roof
- New underlayment and flashing under them
- 10 years on our workmanship
Tile roof questions
Can you seal the cracked tile and leave it?
We can, but one cracked tile rarely explains a leak. The felt underneath is what keeps the water out, so that's what we check first.
Do you relay concrete tile as well as clay?
Yes. Clay or concrete, a relay is the same job, and worn-out felt is the reason for it either way.
Is it time for a whole new tile roof?
Only if the tiles themselves are breaking down. When most of them are sound, a relay keeps them on the house. When they aren't, see roof replacement.
The first-rain visit
A roof repair isn't finished until it has rained on it.
Dry months
Rain coming?
Book the free roof check while the schedule is open. We ring you within a few hours to pick a day, and your quote in writing follows within 48 hours of the check.
Wet months
Water in?
Call now and a roofer comes out the same day to stop it. Put a bucket under the drip while you wait.