Tile relay or full re-roof: which does your roof need?

The two jobs

A lift and relay removes your tile, replaces the underlayment, battens and flashings underneath, and puts the same tile back. A re-roof tears everything off to the deck and installs a new roof system including new tile (or shingle, or membrane). The relay keeps the one material you already own and that has decades left; the re-roof buys it again. The relay costs well under the re-roof for the same house. The question is only which one the roof needs, and that is a question about the tile and the deck, not about the leak.

Signs it is a relay

• Field tile is mostly intact. A few cracked or slipped pieces, usually from foot traffic, are normal and get replaced from salvage.
• Leaks are in more than one place, or they move after repairs: the underlayment has gone, not a single detail.
• The roof is 15 to 30 years old on original felt.
• Granules and black flakes wash into the gutters: felt breaking up.
• The deck, seen from the attic, is stained in places but solid.

Signs it is a re-roof

• Tile is cracked or broken across whole slopes, not in spots. Common after severe hail or on older lightweight and clay tile that spalls.
• The tile profile is discontinued and there is no salvage match, so replacements for the broken pieces cannot be found.
• The deck is soft over large areas, not a few sheets: long-term leaks or a bad original deck.
• The roof was already relaid once on cheap felt and is failing again, and the tile has been handled twice.
• It is a shingle roof at end of life, or a flat section with splits and ponding; those are replaced, not relaid.

What the inspection actually checks

On the roof: tile condition across every plane (percentage cracked, not just "some"), tile profile and whether it is still made, valley metal, every flashing and boot, ridge and hip condition, and, where tile can be lifted at the eave and a valley, the underlayment itself. In the attic where accessible: deck staining, daylight, soft spots. The report states a conclusion, relay or re-roof, with the photos that led to it. If it is close, we say it is close and tell you what would tip it.

Questions to ask whoever quoted you a replacement

1. What percentage of the tile is broken, and can I see the photos?
2. Why can the tile not be reused?
3. Did you lift tile and look at the underlayment, or quote from the ground?
4. Did you look at the deck from the attic?
5. What would a relay cost on this roof, in writing, for comparison?

A contractor who quoted a replacement on sound tile will struggle with question two. A contractor who has not been on the roof will struggle with three and four. Either way, a second inspection with photos and a square count is free and takes an hour.