Tile Roof Repair Across South Florida

Tile roof repair is most of what we do, and the first thing worth understanding about it is that the tile is rarely the part that leaks. The tile is the wear surface. The waterproofing on a South Florida tile roof is the underlayment underneath it.

That single fact changes what a repair should look like. It is also why so many tile roofs get patched repeatedly without the leak ever stopping. If you are looking for tile roof repair near me in Broward or Miami-Dade, call (954) 203-4767 and we will tell you which of the two problems you actually have.

Signs Your Tile Roof Needs Attention

• Broken, slipped or missing tiles visible from the ground or from an upstairs window
• White or gray mortar crumbs collecting on the driveway, in planting beds or in the gutters
• Interior staining on a ceiling, particularly below a valley or near a chimney or skylight
• Tiles that rock or shift underfoot
• Debris packed into the valleys, or plant growth taking hold in them
• Daylight or water stains visible on the underside of the deck from inside the attic

What We Repair Most Often

Cracked and broken tiles

Almost always caused by foot traffic rather than weather. Air conditioning technicians, satellite installers, pressure washing crews and painters break more tile in South Florida than storms do.

Ridge and hip mortar

The ridge is the shortest-lived part of a tile roof. Mortar cracks with thermal movement, washes out in heavy rain, and leaves the tiles at the most wind-exposed line on the building sitting loose.

Valleys

More tile roof leaks start in a valley than anywhere else. Every valley funnels water from two roof planes, and the metal underneath is the only thing between that water and your deck.

Flashing at walls, chimneys and skylights

Anywhere the roof meets something vertical is a joint, and joints fail before fields do. Failed flashing produces leaks that appear during wind-driven rain and vanish in ordinary showers.

Roof tile replacement where tiles are beyond repair

A hairline crack in a sound tile can be bonded in place. A tile broken through its headlap or split along its full length needs replacing, and roof tile replacement on an aged roof brings the matching question with it.

Repair or Underlayment: The Question That Decides the Cost

Clay tile can serve seventy-five to a hundred years. Concrete tile lasts decades. The underlayment beneath either one has a practical life in this climate of roughly twenty to thirty years.

So when a South Florida homeowner is told their tile roof has failed, the tile is frequently still perfectly serviceable and the underlayment is not. That opens an option many homeowners are never offered: lifting the sound tiles, laying new underlayment, and setting the same tiles back down.

You keep the original tile, which on an older home is often irreplaceable, and you get a fresh waterproofing layer. It is skilled work and there is always some breakage, but it costs less than a full replacement and it is the honest answer more often than the industry admits.

Establishing which situation you are in requires lifting tile and looking. We do that before quoting rather than after.

Clay and Concrete Are Not the Same Job

Clay is more brittle, holds its color because the color is fired through the body of the tile, and on older homes was often bedded in mortar. Concrete is tougher underfoot but its color is a surface slurry that weathers, which creates a matching problem clay does not have.

A contractor who treats the two identically will break more clay than necessary and will hand you a visible patch on concrete.

What a Proper Repair Involves

• Lifting the courses above to release the damaged tile without breaking its neighbors
• Checking the underlayment while the roof is open, because that is the only chance to see it
• Re-setting with the same attachment method the roof was built with — mortar, foam adhesive or mechanical fastener
• Matching the replacement tile as closely as the profile and age allow
• Clearing broken pieces off the roof and out of the valleys rather than sweeping them downslope

The work we get called out to correct most often is a tile glued on top of the course below with roof cement, or a crack smeared with sealant and painted over. Both look acceptable for one season.

A Word on Pressure Washing

High pressure erodes the color coat on concrete tile and accelerates the fading that causes matching problems later. Combined with the foot traffic involved, it breaks tiles that were already weak. We use non-pressure cleaning on tile for that reason.

Where We Work

We handle tile roof repair throughout Broward and Miami-Dade., including Hollywood, Davie, Cooper City, Weston, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Dania Beach, Pembroke Park, Miami Lakes, Coral Gables, & Boca Raton.