Broken roof tile replacement in Phoenix, matched to your roof

The back of most concrete tiles carries a stamp with the manufacturer and sometimes the plant and year. We pull a broken piece, read that stamp, and identify the profile: flat, low S, high S or barrel. Profile matters more than color, because a tile with a different curve will not interlock with its neighbors and will leave gaps that let in rain and nesting birds.

Color is the harder part. Many Valley neighborhoods were roofed with blends that have since been discontinued, and tiles fade differently depending on which way the slope faces. When a current product matches, we use it. When it does not, we look for salvage stock from other roofs, or we take tiles from a back slope or under a patio cover and put the new ones there, so the faces the street sees still match.

Concrete tiles interlock along the sides and overlap the course below. To get a broken one out, we gently lift the tiles above it with wedges, cut or pull the old fastener, and slide the broken piece free. Pieces that are cracked through usually come out in parts, so we work slowly to avoid damaging the felt underneath. Any tile we lift to reach the broken one gets checked for hairline cracks before it goes back down.

Before the new tile goes in, we look at what the broken one was protecting. Felt exposed to sun through a crack for a year or two can be badly degraded, and a quick patch at that point saves a leak later. The new tile is set into the interlock, fastened with a nail, screw or clip as the original system requires, and the courses above are lowered back into place. If the felt looks tired well beyond the broken area, we will point you to our underlayment replacement option rather than keep swapping tiles on a failing base.

One cracked tile rarely causes an immediate leak. The danger is time. Every storm drives water through the crack onto the same small patch of felt, and every summer bakes that patch harder. After a couple of monsoon seasons, the felt splits and water reaches the deck. By the time a stain shows on the ceiling, the plywood may be soft and the fix is bigger.

Broken tiles also invite pests. Pigeons and sparrows nest in the open space under a missing tile or a gap at the eave, and their debris blocks drainage. If birds are already a problem, our crews add bird stops during the visit. For leaks that are already showing inside, our tile leak repair service is the better starting point, since it covers the underlayment and flashing work that a simple tile swap does not.