Los Angeles County, California
Tile Roofs and Lift and Relay in Los Angeles
The tile can go back down. What decides the price is how much of it survives the trip off the roof, and whether anybody still makes the profile.
Free, and there is no obligation to go ahead.
- Free roof inspection
Someone comes out, gets on the roof, and tells you what they find.
- The price in writing
A written quote before anyone starts, with nothing to sign on the day.
- Licensed roofers
The roofer who turns up holds a current California license.
- Across Los Angeles County
From the Valley and the foothills to the Westside and the South Bay.
Most tile houses in Los Angeles need a lift and relay, where the same tiles come off, get stacked and go back down over new underlayment. The tile itself is rarely what has failed. What decides the price is how much of it survives coming off the roof.
Lift and relay$12,000 to $30,000
New tile throughout runs $25,000 to $60,000. Small tile repairs start at $400 to $900. Full breakdown on the costs page.
What a relay day looks like
Tile comes off by hand, course by course. Where one won't lift clean, the nails get cut with a slate ripper. Tiles get sorted coming off, field in one pile, hip, ridge and cut pieces in another. Cut pieces can't be replaced off a pallet.
Breakage is part of it. Eagle Roofing Products, a California tile maker, says prying up sound tile stresses the nail holes and leaves hairline cracks. A tile that looks sound in the stack can still split under the nail going back down.
Battens, fastening and the parts that don't show
- Underlayment.Tile Roofing Industry Alliance minimum is one layer of No. 30 felt to ASTM D226 Type II, and two layers on slopes from 2 1/2:12 to 4:12.
- Battens.TRI puts battens at nominal 1x2, no more than 24 inches on center, with a half-inch gap at the batten ends every 4 feet. Battens run solid across a slope dam water on the new felt, so the gaps are what to check on a quote. TRI doesn't call for decay-resistant stock in dry climates like Los Angeles.
- Fastening.On lug-hung tile at 5:12 and under, TRI tables require no fastener in the field. TRI still calls for fastening the perimeters, three courses and no less than 36 inches in from hips, ridges, eaves and gables.
Clay, concrete and what the roof weighs
Concrete has been the more common choice for decades, and costs less than clay. TRI puts standard-weight concrete tile at 9 1/2 to 12 pounds per square foot and lightweight concrete at 5 1/2 to 7.
Clay is older stock and longer-lived, put at about 100 years by the Park Service. Two-piece mission clay has a top and a pan for every course, so it comes off slower and goes back on slower than one-piece S.
A relay doesn't change the load, so framing rarely comes up. Going from composition shingle to tile adds a lot of weight, so an engineer has to look at the framing before anyone prices the job.
When your profile is no longer made
TRI publishes a list of dead North American tiles. Monier, Lifetile, Boral, Eagle Double Eagle, US Tile Mission S, Redland Clay Tile Barrel, plus makers gone entirely like Hanson and Westile. Those names turn up on older Southern California roofs.
TRI warns that discontinued tile isn't dimensionally compatible with current production, so mixing profiles is no fix. The standard move is to harvest tile off a slope nobody sees, put it on the slope that faces the street, and fill the hidden one with new tile. Salvage yards in Southern California carry obsolete profiles, so finding a match means calling around. New tile that matches the day it goes on still weathers to a different hue.
The permit is its own category
LADBS express permit item 23 reads "Remove existing roof tiles, apply new underlayment and reset roof tiles," and says cool roof compliance isn't required. No plan check. LADBS holds its ordinary re-roof items to 6 pounds per square foot, which tile is well over, so the relay gets its own line.
How to read a tile quote
- Underlayment spec.How many layers, to what standard. Felt sold as "30 pound" can weigh well under what ASTM D226 Type II calls for. Ask what standard it meets, not what it's called.
- Flashings.Chimney, sidewall and valley metal is the same age as the felt coming off. A relay that puts the old flashings back is half a job.
- Breakage.Where replacement tile comes from and who pays for it.
- Ridge.Mortar, closure trim or adhesive, and whether nailers are rebuilt.
Common questions
How long will the new underlayment last? Heat runs the clock. UV takes the volatiles out of the asphalt from above, and attic heat does the same from below. Felt in Woodland Hills does not last as long as the same felt in Santa Monica.
Do I get a new tile warranty? No. Eagle is clear that a lift and relay doesn't come with one.
One tile is cracked. Does that matter? Yes. TRI says a broken tile lets water and UV through to the underlayment, so replace it soon. Small repairs run $400 to $900.
Can I clean the gutters myself? Off a ladder, yes. TRI says only trained, insured people should walk a tile roof, and the reason is under your boot. A concrete tile spans batten to batten and breaks in the middle. Hips and valleys are the worst place to step, because the cut pieces there are ones no supplier can send you.
If the stains inside don't line up with anything you can see on the roof, look at the felt. Tell us what's going on and we'll get a roofer out to lift a few tiles. If it turns out to be one slipped tile and a bit of flashing, that's a roof repair, not a relay. Historic districts change the job again, covered on roofing in Pasadena.
The offer
$500 off a new roof, 10% off any repair
Start online and it is attached to your request, with nothing to remember.
- We get on the roof, and into the attic if that is where the answer is
- You get photographs of whatever we find
- The price in writing, with nothing to sign on the day
Where this comes up most
Where we work
Across Los Angeles County
Tell us what is going on
A description is enough to start. We will come out, look at the roof properly, and give you the price in writing.