San Dimas, 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 San Dimas contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in San Dimas 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.
- Whether battens are being replaced at the same time
- The condition and age of the underlayment beneath
- Fastener specification, especially near salt air
- What percentage of tile breakage they expect and how it is priced
- Whether the tile can be salvaged and relaid
Broken or slipped tiles are a maintenance item, not an emergency, provided the underlayment beneath is still sound.
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.
Walking a tile roof breaks tile. That is not carelessness, it is physics, and any honest contractor will tell you a small percentage will be lost and replaced.
Locally
The second problem is the marine layer keeping the north slope damp. Damp that arrives every morning and leaves by lunchtime is worse for a roof than rain, because nothing ever fully dries between one and the next.
About tile and slate here
How long should a roof last here?
An architectural asphalt roof is rated for twenty-five to thirty years and, in this climate, tends to land at the lower end of that. Tile and metal go much further, provided what is underneath them is maintained.
Are the contractors licensed and insured?
Contractors have to give us their state licence number and proof of liability and workers compensation cover before they can receive requests. You should still ask to see current certificates yourself before work starts — a licence can lapse between checks.
What warranty should I expect?
Two separate things. The manufacturer covers the material for its rated life, but only if it was installed to their specification. The contractor covers workmanship, commonly five to ten years, and only for as long as they are trading.
What time of year is best to re-roof in San Dimas?
Practically, the long dry run from May to October. Crews are busiest right after the weather turns — November through March — so booking outside that stretch usually buys you a better date and a keener number.
Start with a free estimate
No cost. We email you once when a provider near you can take it on.