Tile Roofs
Tile roofs are beautiful and known for their durability and long lifespan. They come in a variety of colors and styles to match any home, but also come at a higher cost.
There are two main types of tile roofs: clay and concrete. Clay tiles are made of natural materials and are therefore more colorfast, meaning they won’t fade over time. They also have an average lifespan of 100 years. Concrete tiles are man-made and therefore more affordable, but they only have a lifespan of around 50 years.
No matter which type of tile roof you choose, you can be sure that it will protect your home and last for many years to come.
Clay vs. Concrete Tile
The choice between the two is usually settled by three things: weight, color permanence and budget.
- Color. Clay gets its color from the clay body itself, so it does not fade. Concrete tile is pigmented, and on a south-facing plane in full sun the color will soften over a couple of decades.
- Weight. Concrete tile is generally heavier than clay, which matters more than most homeowners expect, see the framing section below.
- Cost. Concrete costs less up front and delivers roughly half the service life. Over a hundred-year horizon clay is the cheaper roof; over a twenty-year ownership window it is not.
- Profile. Both come in barrel, S-tile and flat profiles. Flat concrete tile reads closer to slate; barrel clay reads Mediterranean.
Your Framing Has to Carry It
This is the part that stops most tile projects, and it is worth knowing before you fall in love with a sample. A tile roof weighs several times what an asphalt shingle roof weighs, the difference is measured in tons across a typical house, not pounds.
If the home was framed for tile, you are fine. If it was framed for shingles, converting to tile may require structural reinforcement, and that has to be assessed by someone qualified to assess it rather than assumed. We will tell you honestly when a conversion needs an engineer before it needs a roofer. Going the other direction, tile to architectural shingles or metal, is never a structural problem.
The Underlayment Is the Waterproofing, Not the Tile
The single most misunderstood thing about tile roofing: the tile is a rain shield and a UV shield, but it is not the waterproof layer. Water gets past tile routinely. What keeps it out of your house is the underlayment underneath.
That has a practical consequence. Clay tile can last a century, but the underlayment under it will not. On most tile roofs the first real service event is not the tile failing: it is the underlayment reaching the end of its life while the tile is still perfectly good. The work is a lift-and-relay: the tile comes off, gets stacked and inspected, new underlayment goes down, and the sound tile goes back on with replacements only where needed.
It is also why we specify a high-temperature or self-adhered underlayment on tile rather than the cheapest permitted option. The tile will outlive two or three underlayments; every dollar of quality down there buys years before the next lift.
Where Tile Makes Sense in Our Markets
- Jacksonville, Florida: the strongest tile market we work in. Tile is common, well understood by local inspectors, and suits both the climate and the architecture. See our Jacksonville roofing page.
- Coastal South Carolina and Georgia: Myrtle Beach, Charleston and Savannah. Tile appears on Mediterranean and Spanish Colonial homes and on higher-end coastal construction. Salt air does not degrade tile the way it degrades exposed metal fasteners, which is a genuine coastal advantage.
- Denver, Parker and Oklahoma City: hail is the problem. Concrete and clay tile can crack under severe hail, and a cracked tile is a slow leak that hides under an intact-looking roof. In hail country we usually steer homeowners toward metal or a Class 4 impact-rated shingle instead.
- Freeze-thaw climates: Springfield and the Front Range. Tile has to be rated for freeze-thaw cycling, and an unrated tile will spall. This is a specification question, not a preference.
Living With a Tile Roof
- Do not walk on it casually. Tile breaks under a misplaced step, and most of the cracked tiles we find were broken by a satellite installer, a gutter cleaner or an HVAC tech, not by weather.
- Replace broken tiles promptly. One cracked tile is a repair. A season of water reaching the underlayment through it is not.
- Keep valleys and gutters clear. Debris that dams water forces it sideways under the tile course.
- Watch the penetrations. Flashings, vents and pipe boots are the failure points on a tile roof, exactly as they are on every other roof.
- Have it inspected after severe weather. Cracked tile is very hard to see from the ground. Book a roof inspection rather than guessing, and start at storm restoration if a named storm or hailstorm has come through.
What Tile Costs, and Why Estimates Vary So Much
Tile is the second-most expensive roof we install, behind natural slate. The material is part of it, but most of the spread between two estimates on the same house comes from labor and detail work:
- Cutting and fitting at hips, valleys and rakes, which is slow, skilled work
- The underlayment specified underneath, which is where corners get cut invisibly
- Whether the existing structure needs reinforcement
- Flashing and penetration detailing, which is more involved on tile than on shingles
- Access and staging, since tile is heavy to get onto a roof safely
When you compare quotes, compare the underlayment line and the flashing line, not just the tile. Financing is available if the up-front number is the obstacle, see finance your roof.
Compare this material to our other Roofing Types, or explore our full Residential Roofing service line. If you are ready for a real assessment of your own roof, book a free roof inspection or read what a full roof replacement involves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Clay tile averages around 100 years and concrete tile around 50. The underlayment beneath it lasts far less than either, so expect a lift-and-relay at some point in the roof’s life where the tile is removed, new underlayment is installed, and the sound tile goes back on.
Clay holds its color permanently because the color is in the material, and it lasts roughly twice as long. Concrete costs less up front and comes in more profiles. If you plan to own the home for decades, clay is usually the better value; if not, concrete makes more sense.
Only if the framing can carry the weight. A tile roof weighs several times what an asphalt shingle roof weighs, and a conversion often requires structural reinforcement. That needs to be assessed by a qualified professional before the roof is priced, and we will say so rather than quote around it.
Tile itself is not the waterproof layer: water gets past tile routinely, and the underlayment underneath is what keeps it out of the house. So a tile roof that leaks usually has a failed underlayment, a bad flashing detail, or cracked tiles letting sustained water through to a layer that was never meant to be exposed.
Not safely, and not without breaking tiles. Most of the cracked tile we find was broken by someone servicing something else on the roof rather than by weather. If something needs doing up there, have someone who knows how to load a tile roof do it.
Generally no. In Denver, Parker and Oklahoma City, severe hail can crack both concrete and clay tile, and a cracked tile leaks slowly underneath a roof that still looks intact from the street. In those markets we usually recommend metal or a Class 4 impact-rated shingle.