Tile roofing is a good investment when you will own the home long enough to use its long service life and the framing can carry the weight without costly strengthening; it is a weak one for a short stay or a house that needs structural work first. Its return comes mainly from decades of service. The energy and insurance benefits often credited to tile are real, but other rated roofs earn them too. For written quotes that let you compare, call NEMA Roofing at 866-631-3366.
How to work out whether tile pays off on your house
A roof is an investment only against the years you will use it. Work it through with numbers from your own quotes:
- Get two written quotes with the same scope: tile and the alternative you would otherwise choose, each with tear-off, deck repair, underlayment, flashing, permit and disposal spelled out.
- Estimate the service life of each. The NAHB life-expectancy study gives clay and concrete tile roofs more than 50 years and asphalt shingles about 20.
- Add tile’s mid-life cost. The underlayment under tile wears out before the tiles do, and the remedy is a re-underlay: tiles off, new underlayment down, the same tiles back on. Ask for that job to be priced too.
- Add structural work if you are switching from a lighter roof and the framing needs review or strengthening.
- Divide each total by the years of service, then compare that cost per year with how long you expect to stay.
The tile makers’ trade association, the Tile Roofing Industry Alliance, argues that per year of use tile is the same or less than several other roofing materials. Your own quotes are the way to test that for your house.
Where the long-term value comes from
- Service life. One tile roof can cover the house for as long as two or more shingle roofs, which also means fewer tear-offs and fewer permits.
- Tiles that are reused. At the mid-life reset the same tiles go back on, so the most expensive part of the roof is bought once.
- Small repairs stay small. A cracked tile is replaced on its own, without disturbing a large area.
- Color that lasts. According to the industry group, tile color can last indefinitely, though it may soften over many years outdoors.
The value depends on those tiles staying intact, so the roof needs light but regular care; the tile roof maintenance guide lists what to do each year.
Does a tile roof lower your insurance?
It can, but not because it is tile. Under California’s Safer from Wildfires regulation, a Class A fire-rated roof is one of the steps that qualifies for an insurance discount. The Department of Insurance says most roofs qualify, including asphalt shingles, concrete, brick or masonry tiles and metal; wood shake shingles do not. Replacing a wood shake roof with tile earns that credit, but so would a Class A shingle roof. A reroof is also a good moment to take other steps on the same list, such as fine metal mesh over vents and enclosed eaves.
Does tile save on energy bills?
Only when the color and rating are right. Energy Commission guidance lists cool-rated products across many materials, shingles as well as tile, so any savings come from a high-reflectance product, not from tile as such. In climate zones with cool-roof rules for reroofing, zone 9 around Woodland Hills and Tarzana among them, pick a tile color listed by the Cool Roof Rating Council. For how reflectance works, see our guide to cool roofing materials.
What about resale value?
There is no reliable local figure for how much a tile roof adds to a sale price, and any page that gives one should say where it came from. What does hold: a buyer’s inspector will ask how old the roof and its underlayment are. A tile roof with a recent reset, a signed-off permit and the paperwork in a folder leaves the buyer’s inspector fewer open questions.
When tile is not the smart money
- You expect to sell within a few years, before the longer life pays back the higher first cost.
- The house was framed for a light roof and the structural work would take a large share of the budget.
- Parts of the roof are flatter than the 2.5 in 12 pitch the California Building Code sets as the minimum for tile.
- A design review board controls roof materials: in Montecito, for example, the Board of Architectural Review considers building materials and colors, and reroofing is not on its exemption list, so check with the board before changing material.
If one of these applies, compare the options side by side in tile vs shingle roofs, and see how long tile roofs last for the lifespan detail.
Get tile priced against the alternatives
NEMA Roofing’s five locations, in Downey, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, Oxnard and Santa Barbara, mean a crew is close to your home anywhere in Santa Barbara, Ventura County, Los Angeles, Riverside or San Bernardino counties. Our tile roofing service quotes new tile roofs, resets and repairs in writing. Call 866-631-3366 to set up an estimate.
