Compton, CA
The tile is fine. The roof might not be.
The most common tile job is not a replacement at all. It is a lift-and-relay: the same tile comes off, new underlayment goes down, the tile goes back.
Describe the tile and slate job
Three questions, then the address. Up to three Compton contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in Compton is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
Before you let anybody on the roof
The things worth pinning down on a tile and slate job. A contractor who has not raised them has not looked properly.
- What percentage of tile breakage they expect and how it is priced
- The condition and age of the underlayment beneath
- Whether the tile can be salvaged and relaid
- Whether battens are being replaced at the same time
- Fastener specification, especially near salt air
Underlayment life under tile is typically twenty to thirty years. The tile above it is rated for fifty or more. Plan for one relay in the life of the roof.
Matching discontinued tile is the real constraint. Salvaging what is there is usually cheaper and always closer.
Slate wants copper or stainless fasteners and a crew who has done it before. Steel nails on a slate roof is a hundred-year covering held down by a thirty-year fixing.
Locally
Behind it: the marine layer keeping the north slope damp. It is why two identical houses on the same street can be ten years apart on the same roof, depending on which way they face.
About tile and slate here
Why three quotes and not one?
One quote is a number with no context. Three gives you a range, and the conversation about why they differ is where you learn what you are actually buying.
Can I stay in the house while it is done?
Yes, though it is loud, and things will fall off shelves in the garage. Move cars out of the driveway and take anything fragile off the walls of the top floor.
What should I do to prepare?
Move the cars out, take pictures off the top-floor walls, cover anything stored in the attic, and put pets somewhere else for the loud days. Expect nails in the driveway however careful the crew is — ask whether they run a magnet at the end.
Why does ventilation keep coming up?
Because a badly ventilated attic cooks the roof from underneath and takes years off it. Intake at the eaves and exhaust at the ridge, in balance. It is cheap during a re-roof and awkward afterwards.
Find out what it costs
No cost. We email you once when a provider near you can take it on.