Clay tile is the longest-lived roof covering you can buy in Los Angeles, and the part that fails first is never the clay. It is the underlayment beneath it. The tile is a rain screen: it sheds the bulk of the water and takes the sun, while a felt or synthetic membrane underneath does the actual waterproofing. Tiles last a century. The membrane lasts twenty to thirty years. That gap is the whole story of clay tile ownership.
What a re-felt means
When a clay roof leaks, the usual repair is not a new roof. The tiles come off in sections and get stacked on the roof or the driveway, the old felt is stripped, new underlayment goes down, and the same tiles go back. You pay for labour and membrane, not for material. Expect to lose five to ten percent of the tiles to breakage on the way off and back on, which is why matching replacements matter.
Finding tiles that match
Clay holds its colour because the colour is the clay, not a coating. That is the advantage over concrete, which chalks after fifteen summers. It also means a replacement tile from a different kiln run will read slightly different for a year or two before weather evens it out. If your roof is an older profile, buy spares when you find them. A pallet in the side yard is cheap insurance.
Weight and framing
Clay runs roughly 600 to 900 pounds per square - a square being 100 square feet. If the house was framed for tile it is fine. If someone is proposing to put tile on a roof that currently carries shingles, the framing needs looking at by someone qualified, and we will say so rather than load the rafters and hope.
Where it leaks
Valleys, headwalls and the flashing around chimneys, not the field. Debris collects in valleys, holds water above the metal, and the water finds the lap. Clear the valleys before the rains and you remove the most common clay-tile leak entirely.
Walking on it
Every trip on the roof costs tiles. Antenna installers, solar crews, painters and gutter cleaners crack more clay than weather does. If someone needs to be up there, ask that they walk the lower third of the tile where it is supported, or ask us to set walk boards.
Is it worth it in Los Angeles?
For a house with the right architecture and framing, yes. The sun here is what kills asphalt, and clay does not care about UV. If you plan to own the house a long time, a re-felt every few decades is cheaper than two shingle roofs. If you are selling in three years, it is a hard number to recover.
Call (818) 277-6626 if you want the underlayment age checked before the rains. The inspection is free and we will photograph what we find under a few tiles.
Need a roofer in Sunland?
Free inspection, honest scope, and an estimate that names the material and the flashing work. Call (818) 277-6626 or get a ballpark in about a minute.
