Tile roof repair at Global Green Roofing fixes cracked, broken and slipped clay or concrete tiles and the leaks that show up under them in Los Angeles. Because water that gets past the tiles is stopped by the underlayment below them, we look under the tiles at the leak path, repair the underlayment or flashing that failed, and reset the area with matched tiles.
Tile Roof RepairSigns your tile roof needs repair
- Cracked, chipped or broken tiles, often after someone walked the roof for solar, a satellite dish, painting or HVAC work
- Slipped tiles that leave a gap in the pattern, or tiles lying in the gutter
- A ceiling stain or drip after rain, often below a valley, a chimney or a skylight
- Mortar at the ridge or hips that is cracked or falling out
- Visible underlayment, or black paper edges showing where tiles have moved
Why a tile roof leaks when most of the tiles look fine
Tiles are not a sealed surface. The Tile Roofing Industry Alliance notes that water migrates past tile "through improper flashing of the tile, wind-driven rain or ice damming", and the underlayment on the deck carries it down to the eaves. A leak means that layer has a hole, a tear or a gap at a joint, or that a flashing detail is sending water under it.
A broken tile makes this worse quickly: it lets sun reach the underlayment, which dries out and cracks, and it lets a direct stream of water hit that spot in every storm. That is why a single cracked tile deserves a repair visit rather than waiting for the stain.
How we find the leak under tile
Guessing from the ceiling stain does not work on tile, because water can run a long way along the underlayment and battens first. The repair visit follows the water instead:
- Map the stain and, where the attic is accessible, the water marks on the deck above it.
- Lift the tiles along that path, starting at the highest likely entry point: valleys, penetrations, wall and chimney flashing.
- Look at the underlayment directly: brittle, torn, nail holes, or rotted where water has sat.
- Photograph what failed before anything is replaced, so you see the cause.
What a tile roof repair involves
Replacing cracked and broken tiles
Broken tiles are removed without disturbing their neighbours and replaced with matching tiles, fastened to the batten or with clips as the original system was. Where the exact tile is no longer made, a close match or a salvaged tile from a less visible slope is used.
Resetting slipped tiles
A slipped tile usually means a failed nail or a rotted batten. The fastening is fixed, not just the tile pushed back, or it will slip again.
Local underlayment repair
Around a leak, the tiles are lifted, the damaged underlayment cut out and replaced, lapped under the old material uphill and over it downhill so water still runs the right way, and the tiles relaid.
Valley, flashing and penetration repairs
Rusted or undersized valley metal, open wall flashing and failed pipe or vent flashing are replaced, with the surrounding tiles lifted and reset around the new metal.
Ridge and hip repairs
Loose ridge and hip tiles are reset and re-secured, and failed mortar is replaced.
When a repair stops making sense
If the underlayment is brittle across whole slopes, a repair only moves the leak to the next weak spot. At that point the better job is a lift and relay: all the tiles come off, all the underlayment and flashing is renewed, and the sound tiles go back on. Our guide to tile roof underlayment replacement explains how to tell, and tile roofing covers the full re-roof. We show you photos of the underlayment either way, so the decision is yours to make on evidence.
Protecting a tile roof from the next repair
Tile breaks under the wrong step, and the Tile Roofing Industry Alliance notes that "most manufacturers specifically do not warrant breakage due to foot traffic." Before solar installers, painters, satellite or HVAC technicians go up, ask how they will walk it: TRI advises stepping only on the bottom 3 inches of each tile, where the tile below supports it, and staying off hips and valleys. Afterwards, check the roof for cracked tiles before the rains.
How tile roof repair works with us
Tell us what you see
A stain, broken tiles, or tiles in the gutter, and when it started.
Leak path inspection
Tiles lifted along the water path; underlayment and flashing checked and photographed.
Written repair scope
What failed, what the repair covers, or an honest note that the roof needs a lift and relay.
The repair
Matched tiles, repaired underlayment and flashing, and the area reset and checked.
Tile Roof Repair questions
Can you find tiles that match my roof?
Often, yes. Many profiles and colors are still made; for discontinued tiles a close match or a salvaged tile taken from a less visible part of the roof is used, and you are told which before the work.
Is it safe to walk on my tile roof?
Tile can take weight on the lower part of each tile, where it rests on the tile below, but it cracks when stepped on in the middle or at the top.
Can a cracked tile be sealed instead of replaced?
Not as a lasting fix. Tile manufacturers' own product approvals say "cracked or broken tiles must not be installed or allowed to remain on the roof", which is why the repair replaces the tile.
In fire hazard zones, California's fire code requires any repaired part of a roof covering to be at least Class A; our service areas pages show which cities have mapped High and Very High zones.
