Click here to view the embedded video.

SCRIPT

Hi this is Ken, Roof Life of Oregon, we’re on top of a tile roof today and we’re going to talk about broken tiles. Commonly you cannot see them from the street. You need to be on top of a roof to notice or identify any broken tiles. I have an example of one that has been broken it has been repaired, it’s like a temporary style repair, it’s not permanent, but at least its been addressed. If you see this right here, when you see a field tile, a lot of times the water is coming over this, and if this is not repaired or replaced water has the opportunity to get underneath the tile and onto the paper, so it could find its way into the home, this is a bigger issue. More common, we do see a lot of cracked or chipped tile and they’re more subtle as the corner on this one has been chipped. That could be a bigger issue if water has the opportunity to get into the tile and freeze. It will continue to break and separate this tile and eventually need to be replaced. The main idea is to keep the water on top of the tile flowing down the roof into the gutter or away from the home. Simply having us out once every three years to do an evaluation we can repair and keep the roof working well.

Click here to view the embedded video.

SCRIPT

To fix this, if you don’t stay up with the roof, all these tiles would have to come off, and then you’d have to replace the paper, and then put the tile back together. It’s pretty important that you keep up with these roofs. This is a little example of a tile roof. This is a magnificent house, it’s absolutely stunning. It’s a cedar and stone that has mufti levels of roofing. This is a Monier shake tile, it was made to look like a shake look, only have the longevity of cement. You still have to check them even though they’re a lifetime tile.

If you have a tile roof and would like to make sure it’s staying in tip top shape, call on Roof Life of Oregon to perform one of our free roof maintenance inspection’s.

Click here to view the embedded video.

SCRIPT

What we do if this were a visible area, is we pull an old tile from the back of the house where no one can see it, put it up in the front where everybody can see it so it blends in, and we use the new ones in the non-visible area. There’s another tile up here that looks like it was hit by a branch that you can’t see from below, but you can see it’s been hit pretty hard, and it’s just feeding water down inside. Here’s the moisture, these shakes sit on a slate, and my finger is touching it. The moisture would stop here and rot out this paper.

If you have a tile roof and would like to make sure it’s staying in tip top shape, call on Roof Life of Oregon to perform one of our free roof maintenance inspection’s.

Click here to view the embedded video.

SCRIPT

Lots of times we get on tile roofs and what we’re doing is of course looking for growth that grows between the tiles and on the butt ends. Between the tiles is here and the butt ends are here. We’re also looking for broken tile. Here’s one that’s sitting here like this when we got up here. As you can see, when I pull it apart you can see the top of the tile below it. This would actually be feeding water into the home. When you look down in there, you probably can’t see it, but there is very heavy felt down there. About three to five years of water constantly dripping on that felt paper is going to wear that felt paper out. This is inside the home so you’ll have water getting inside here and everything else below it will rot out. It’s a pretty important place to come up here and find these tiles that are broken. This whole tile can come out and be replaced with a new tile.

If you have a tile roof and would like to make sure it’s staying in tip top shape, call on Roof Life of Oregon to perform one of our free roof maintenance inspection’s.

Patrick talks about the importance of keeping your Cedar, Composition, and Tile roofs clear of excess tree debris.

Click here to view the embedded video.

He tells us about Compressor Blowing your roof. Why we do this and how we do it! He also tells us the different levels of tree debris and how they need to be maintained.

Click here to view the embedded video.

He talks about Heavy debris on Portland Roofs and the difference between a backpack blow and a compressor blow. Shake, Composition, and Tile roofs require blowing for health and longevity.

Click here to view the embedded video.

He talks about composition shingle and what happens when tree debris is left on them. He also talks about why it is important to monitor the tree debris level on your roof.

If it has been a while since you have looked at your roof, let Roof Life come and check it out for you.

Call us for a Free Inspection!

Sincerely, Patrick D. Morin

Tile roofs are used for their longevity and looks, but if not cared for properly can leak and cause headaches like any other roofing material we maintain in the Portland Area. Patrick talks a little bit about how we take care of tile roofs at Roof Life of Oregon.

If your tile, shake, or composition roof hasn’t been checked in the last 5 years, call Roof Life of Oregon and have us scamper up on your roof to make sure your roof is at it’s best!

To read the scripted video, see below.

Lots of times we get on tile roofs and what we’re doing is we’re looking for of course growth that grows between the tiles and on the butt ends. Between the tiles is here and the butt ends are here. We are also looking for broken tile; here is one that’s sitting like this when we got up here and as you can see as I just pull it apart, there is the top of the tile below it and this would actually be feeding water into the home. Now, if you look down in there, I don’t think you can see it, but there is very heavy felt down there, but about 3-5 years of water constantly dripping on that felt paper is going to wear that felt paper out and this is inside the home so you’ll have water getting into here and then everywhere down below here will just rot out, so it’s a pretty important place to be able to come up here and find these tiles that are broken. This whole tile can come out and actually be replaced with a new tile and what we do if this were a visible are is we pull an old tile from the back of the house where no one can see it, put it up here on the front where everybody can see it and it blends in and then we use the new ones in non visible areas on the roof. So I’m going to back up a little bit and go up here. I’ve got Mark with me today, those are his big feet. Mark would you show what happens on this tile up here there’s another one up here….maybe a branch hit or something and from the ground you can’t see it, but you can see that it’s been hit pretty hard, and it’s just feeding water down inside. Here is the moisture, these shakes sit on a slat, and my finger is touching it.  We’re doing a little training today with Mark. So the moisture stops here, would rot out this paper, and basically to fix this if you don’t stay up with the roofs all these tiles would have to come off, you’d have to replace the paper and then put the tile back together, so pretty important that you keep up with these roofs and this is just a little example of a tile roof. This is a magnificent house, it is absolutely stunning. It’s a cedar and stone it has multiple layers of roofing. It is a Monier Shake Tile and it was made to look like a shake and have the longevity of cement. You still have to check them, even though they are a lifetime tile.

Of course, the first issue is appearance. Compare a moss-ridden tile roof to a clean, well-maintained tile roof….you make the call. Most of the reasons for a tile roof are for the beauty and longevity with no hassles to the homeowner. Let’s face it, the appearance of your home says a lot about you, and since your roof makes up 1/3 to 1/2 of your home’s appearance, having a good looking, well working roof is a top priority in Portland, Oregon. The only time function takes over 1st place is when a client is concerned about a leak.

All roofs are designed and engineered to traffic water vertically (down the roof). When moss is allowed to grow and tree debris is allowed to accumulate the growth and debris diverts the water horizontally.

Leaks caused by high winds, or a puncture from a falling tree limb is just another day in your roof’s life in Portland. But 95% of all other leak calls that seem to develop out of nowhere are generally caused by the buildup of moss and/or tree debris.

Another leak issue with tile roofs is that as moss and debris sloughs off, it falls into the valleys (drain areas that carry a lot of water off your roof). Unfortunately, most tile roofs installed in the Portland area used a closed valley system because some people think it looks better than an open valley. After fixing hundreds of tile roofs and their valley failures, I think that the problems caused by using a closed valley far outweigh how it looks. As the moss matures, it dies and falls into the valleys and other flashings. As the decaying matter builds up under the closed valleys of your tile roof, a lot of water is fed into the attic and ceilings of your home. This is when you call us and say, “I don’t know what happened it just started leaking.”

The best advice I can give you to extend the life of your roof, is to maintain your roof no matter its type or age, and you will receive in return a roof that will keep you as dry as possible and will do it for a long time.

Do you have a roof question? Leave it in the comments and we’ll include it in a future blog post.