2 year old company coming across our first concrete tile roof- friend of ours has a 42 yr old concrete tile roof and the garage section of roof is caving, sending the drywall from ceiling into the garage at about a 5 degree angle.
Second, there is no underlayment under tiles, which I understand was pretty common during installs at that time.
Third, owners have 7-8 leaks throughout home due to the wind driven rain and no underlayment.
Adjuster came out, took about 10 minutes denied claim in an area where hail hits every year. He just said he’s gone to court, done this and that, and roof maintenance is paramount.
I get that.
All this doesn’t necessitate a roof replacement but 4 different roofs on the same street have been replaced (concrete to laminate) over the past 4 years.
I’ve heard we could get the tiles tested and so forth. What does it take to get a concrete roof bought? I know the firm answer is “Storm Damage” but thanks in advance for any other solutions that have helped.
Nowhere in your post do you mention there is damage to the tiles from a covered hazard. Just because there was " hail in the area" doesn’t mean it damaged that roof. It takes rather large, hard hall to damage concrete tiles.
Pay some photos of the hall damaged tile and state the name of the insurance company, then someone may be able to help. Most insurance policies state they are not responsible for manufacturing or workmanship defects. This doesn’t matter (technically) if the tiles are damaged by a covered hazard such as hail. However, if there is no damage from a covered hazard, insurance isn’t responsible for a crap install.
It is going to have to be some pretty big hail to damage a concrete tile roof to the extent that it will leak. Underlayment or no underlayment. Concrete tiles damaged by hail will be shown by full pieces of tile being broken.
Installation of concrete tile over skip sheathing was the “way it was done” back in the old days and is still done throughout much of the world. Previously used construction techniques on old homes aren’t necessarily covered by insurance policies.
I’d wager that the product you are looking at is old Monier Monray or similiar low-profile barrel concrete tile. You may see that the bottom right corner of each tile’s cover lock is broken in a “chipped” manner. This condition is NOT hail related but goes back to the original installation and impropery laying of the tile. Review Monier (now Boral) technical bulletin #24.
Don’t be a mullet and try to claim this condition as hail damage. You’ll be laughed off the roof.
Ask the owners of the other 4 roofs how they got them approved. It could be they just decided to orchard new roofs out of pocket, perhaps their’s had the same poor workmanship. Perhaps they had a great insurance company like Chubb. Perhaps their’s got hit heavier by the hail.
The angle is if you can find a few tile that are truly storm damaged to the point they must be replaced. Then, repairability could possibly be argued. Some of those older concrete tile get so brittle you can’t walk on them to get to the repair area. Or if they’re interlocked, taking the damaged one out will tear up 2 to 4 around. And perhaps they simply don’t have any kind of valid claim.
Thanks. On a side note, I’ve seen that calculation formula recently you cited on another thread I’m on. Could you share that with me?
I’ve heard from a really good supplement guy (at the last company I wrote about in my email to you) about getting the first row of concrete tiles “tested” bc after 20 years something about the makeup of the tiles (and then I blanked).
The repairable portion is what we proposed as these tiles are no longer made. These tiles are pretty brittle and after that, it’s really all there is.
If there is no solid decking then the tile is installed on skip sheathing and highly likely not nailed but simply relying on the tile lug resting on the back side of each 1" x 4" purlin.
Replacing those types of concrete tiles is a walk in the park, assuming you can find them. Tearing up the surrounding tile while trying to replace a single broken tile is a non-starter.
