---
title: "Top Benefits of Tile Roofing | NEMA Roofing"
description: "The benefits of tile roofing: long life, fire resistance, less attic heat, no rot and a wide style range, plus the weight, cost and upkeep trade-offs to weigh."
url: "https://nemaroofing.com/tile-roofing/top-benefits-of-choosing-tile-roofing/"
updated: "2026-09-29"
---

**The main benefits of tile roofing are a very long service life, a covering that cannot burn, rot or feed insects, a ventilated air space that slows heat moving into the attic, and a wide range of shapes and colors.** Each comes with a condition: the right deck and underlayment for fire rating, the right color for heat, and framing that can carry the weight. For advice on whether tile suits your house, call NEMA Roofing at [866-631-3366](tel:866-631-3366).

## Benefit 1: It outlasts most roof coverings

The National Association of Home Builders places clay and concrete tile roofs in the longest-lived group of roofs, at over 50 years, with slate and copper. The part that ages sooner is the underlayment below the tiles, which is renewed while the tiles are reused. The details are in [how long tile roofs last](https://nemaroofing.com/tile-roofing/how-long-do-tile-roofs-last/).

## Benefit 2: Fire resistance, with conditions

Clay and concrete tiles are noncombustible. Laid over a noncombustible deck, tile is treated by the California Building Code as a Class A roof, the top fire rating. Most houses have wood decks, though, and there the rating depends on what goes under the tile. Where a lot lies in a fire hazard area, the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code requires one of two things under profiled tile on a wood deck: a heavy mineral-surfaced cap sheet, or an underlayment tested as part of a Class A assembly. It also requires bird stops at the eaves and mortared hip and ridge caps, both to keep embers out of the gaps.

The industry’s own trade group, the Tile Roofing Industry Alliance, is careful to add that a tile roof does not make a home fireproof. It removes one of the ways a house catches fire; vents, eaves and the ground around the house matter too.

## Benefit 3: Less heat reaching the attic

Tile laid on battens, and curved profiles such as barrel tile, leave an air space between the tile and the deck. The trade group credits that space, with the mass of the tile, for reducing heat transfer into the attic and lowering summer cooling needs. Color does the rest: tile is made in light colors, including white, and rated cool-roof tile is available. Where the 2025 energy code sets cool-roof values for a reroof, as it does in climate zone 9 around Woodland Hills and Tarzana, the tile must carry a Cool Roof Rating Council listing that meets them.

## Benefit 4: No rot, no insects, stable color

Fired clay and cement do not rot and give termites nothing to eat. Glazed or matte clay is described by the industry group as essentially maintenance-free; concrete needs little more. The same group says the color itself can last indefinitely. A white bloom that sometimes appears on concrete tile is efflorescence, which is temporary and harmless.

## Benefit 5: More styles than the Spanish look

Barrel (S) tile suits Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean houses, but clay and concrete tile also come in flat and shake-textured profiles and in colors from earth tones to blues and purples. That range lets tile match a historic street or a contemporary house. In areas with design review, check the board’s rules before choosing a profile or color.

## What you trade for those benefits

| Trade-off | What it means for you |
| --- | --- |
| Weight | Switching from a light roof can require framing plans; unincorporated Riverside County will not process that reroof permit by mail. |
| First cost | Higher than asphalt shingles for material and labor; ask for written quotes on both. |
| Pitch | The building code sets 2.5 in 12 as the minimum pitch for tile, with double underlayment up to 4 in 12. |
| Foot traffic | A careless step cracks a tile; solar and other trades need to know how to work on tile. |
| Underlayment | It wears out before the tiles, so plan for a lift-and-reset job during the roof’s life. |

For the money side of the decision, read [whether tile roofing is a good investment](https://nemaroofing.com/tile-roofing/why-tile-roofing-is-a-smart-investment/); for a direct comparison, see [tile vs shingle roofs](https://nemaroofing.com/tile-roofing/tile-roof-vs-shingle-roof-which-is-better/).

## Choosing tile with NEMA Roofing

From Santa Barbara, Oxnard, Woodland Hills, Tarzana and Downey, our five locations, NEMA Roofing installs and repairs tile roofs in every city of Los Angeles, [Ventura](https://nemaroofing.com/service-areas/ventura-county/), Santa Barbara, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. What an installation includes is set out on the [tile roofing service](https://nemaroofing.com/our-services/tile-roofing/) page. Call [866-631-3366](tel:866-631-3366) to talk through tile for your home.