South Gate, CA
The tile is fine. The roof might not be.
Slate and clay are the two coverings that routinely outlive the people who chose them. They are also the two that the wrong crew can ruin in an afternoon.
Describe the tile and slate job
Three questions, then the address. Up to three South Gate contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in South Gate is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
Before you let anybody on the roof
The things worth pinning down on a tile and slate job. A contractor who has not raised them has not looked properly.
- What percentage of tile breakage they expect and how it is priced
- The condition and age of the underlayment beneath
- Fastener specification, especially near salt air
- Whether the tile can be salvaged and relaid
- Whether battens are being replaced at the same time
Slate wants copper or stainless fasteners and a crew who has done it before. Steel nails on a slate roof is a hundred-year covering held down by a thirty-year fixing.
Matching discontinued tile is the real constraint. Salvaging what is there is usually cheaper and always closer.
Underlayment life under tile is typically twenty to thirty years. The tile above it is rated for fifty or more. Plan for one relay in the life of the roof.
Locally
The second problem is shaded slopes that never really dry out. The north side of a house here ages years faster than the south side, and almost every roof gets replaced because of it.
About tile and slate here
Do I have to hire anyone?
Not at all. Plenty of people use this to find out what a job costs and then do nothing for a year. That is a perfectly reasonable outcome.
What should I do to prepare?
Move the cars out, take pictures off the top-floor walls, cover anything stored in the attic, and put pets somewhere else for the loud days. Expect nails in the driveway however careful the crew is — ask whether they run a magnet at the end.
Are gutters included in a re-roof?
Usually not, unless the quote says so. If they are near the end of their life, replacing them during the re-roof is meaningfully cheaper than doing it later, because the crew and the staging are already there.
Should I take the cheapest quote?
Only if it is the same roof. Most large gaps between quotes are scope gaps. Ask the cheapest contractor which of the other quotes items they have left out, and why.
What is it going to cost?
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.