Tile, slate & shake
Tile, Slate & Cedar Shake Roofing in Rosharon, TX
Tile roofs do not usually fail at the tile. They fail at the underlayment underneath, at around year twenty-five, while the roof still looks perfect from the street.
Concrete and clay tile shows up on the higher-end streets around Sienna, Shadow Creek Ranch and parts of Missouri City, and a fair amount of it is now hitting the age where the underlayment matters. The tile is fine. The tile will outlive everybody. The felt or membrane underneath it is what actually keeps the water out, and that has a service life of roughly twenty to thirty years in this climate.
Which produces the situation homeowners find baffling: a roof that looks immaculate from the kerb and leaks in three places. The fix is a lift-and-relay, where the tile is carefully removed and stacked, the underlayment is replaced, and the same tile goes back down with new fasteners and any broken pieces swapped out.
What we work on
- Concrete tile, flat, low-profile and barrel. The commonest tile roof around here and the most economical to relay.
- Clay and terracotta tile, lighter in colour, more brittle to handle, higher breakage rate on a lift-and-relay so the allowance for replacement tiles is bigger.
- Natural slate, rare in Brazoria County and beautiful when it turns up. Repairs are slate-by-slate work with copper hooks or nails, never sealant.
- Synthetic slate, DaVinci and similar composite products. A fraction of the weight, no structural upgrade needed, and it carries wind ratings that certify cleanly.
- Cedar shake and shingle, which is uncommon in this humidity because it holds moisture and grows things. Composite shake is what most people move to.
Can my house even carry a tile roof?
Concrete tile weighs roughly 900 to 1,100 pounds per square and clay is similar, against about 250 pounds for architectural shingle. A house framed for shingle usually cannot take tile without structural work, which is why a tile-to-tile relay is straightforward and a shingle-to-tile conversion needs an engineer's sign-off before anybody quotes it. Synthetic slate and composite shake exist precisely to solve this: the appearance without the tonnage.
| Work | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tile lift-and-relay, per square | $700 to $1,200 | Existing tile reused, new underlayment and fasteners |
| New concrete tile roof, per square | $1,000 to $1,800 | Structure must be rated for the weight |
| Clay or terracotta tile, per square | $1,300 to $2,400 | Higher breakage allowance on handling |
| Natural slate, per square | $1,800 to $3,500 | Rare locally. Repairs are hooked, never sealed |
| Synthetic slate (DaVinci and similar) | $900 to $1,500 | Shingle-house weight, certifiable wind ratings |
| Composite shake | $850 to $1,400 | Cedar appearance without the moisture problem |
| Broken tile replacement, per tile | $45 to $120 | Colour and profile matching is the hard part |
Installed prices collected July 2026 for the Rosharon, Sienna and Missouri City area. Tile pricing moves with profile and with how much of the original tile survives handling.
Why does a tile roof leak when no tiles are broken?
Because on a tile roof the tile is a rain screen, not a waterproof layer. Water gets under tile routinely, by design, and the underlayment beneath is what carries it back out to the eaves. When that membrane reaches the end of its life, or when it was fastened badly at the penetrations twenty-five years ago, the roof leaks with every tile intact. Anyone who responds to a tile leak by sealing tiles together has misunderstood the system and has also made the next repair harder.
Walking on tile
Tile roofs are damaged more often by people walking them than by weather. There is a correct place to put your weight on every profile and most trades do not know it, which is how a roof acquires eleven cracked tiles during a satellite dish installation. If somebody needs access to your tile roof for anything, that is a reasonable moment to ask who is paying for breakage.
Does tile certify for windstorm in Brazoria County?
Yes, with the same requirement as everything else: the tile system needs a current TDI product evaluation for the wind zone and it has to be installed to that evaluation, which for tile means specific fastening and often a foam adhesive pattern rather than gravity and battens. A lift-and-relay is an alteration, so the certification question applies to it too. See the WPI-8 page, and note that Sienna and the Fort Bend addresses sit outside the first-tier county line while Rosharon and Manvel sit inside it.
Is cedar shake a good idea on the Gulf Coast?
Not especially. Cedar wants to dry out between wettings and Rosharon humidity does not oblige, so shake roofs here grow moss and algae, cup, and need far more maintenance than they do in a drier climate. They also carry insurance implications in some markets. Composite shake gives the same appearance, weighs less, does not host anything biological and certifies properly, which is why almost everybody who likes the look ends up there.
Where we do this work
Tile and slate work concentrates around Sienna, Missouri City and Shadow Creek Ranch where the housing stock actually has it, and we travel for it.
Tile & Slate in Iowa Colony, Arcola tile & slate, Tile & Slate for Manvel properties, Tile & Slate in Fresno, Sienna tile & slate, Tile & Slate for Brookside Village properties, Tile & Slate in Pearland, Alvin tile & slate, Tile & Slate for Missouri City properties, Tile & Slate in Damon, Angleton tile & slate, Tile & Slate for Danbury properties, Tile & Slate in Liverpool.
Related: Roof Replacement & Tear-Off · Asphalt Shingle Roofing · Roof Repair & Leak Repair · Metal Roofing & Standing Seam
Tile roof leaking with every tile intact?
That is an underlayment problem and it has a proper fix. Free inspection, and we will tell you whether it is a repair or a relay.
Call (281) 845-8668- A roofer answers, not an answering service
- Written line-item scope before any work starts
- We never touch your deductible, and Texas law is why
Have a doubt
Tile, slate and shake questions
How much does a tile roof cost in Rosharon?
A concrete tile lift-and-relay costs $700 to $1,200 per square and a new concrete tile roof is $1,000 to $1,800 per square installed. Clay runs higher at $1,300 to $2,400 and natural slate higher again. Synthetic slate sits at $900 to $1,500 and needs no structural upgrade.
My tile roof leaks but no tiles are broken. Why?
Because the tile is a rain screen and the underlayment beneath it is the actual waterproof layer. Water is meant to get under tile; the membrane carries it back out. When that membrane reaches the end of its life, usually around twenty to thirty years here, the roof leaks with the tile perfectly intact.
Can I put tile on a house that has shingles now?
Only with an engineer's assessment first. Concrete tile weighs roughly four times what architectural shingle does, and a house framed for shingle generally cannot carry it without structural work. Synthetic slate or composite shake gets you the appearance at shingle weight, which is why most people around Sienna who want the look end up choosing one of those.
Can broken tiles be matched?
Usually close, occasionally exactly. Profile is the easy part and colour is the hard one, because tile weathers and manufacturers discontinue blends. On a relay we salvage everything reusable specifically so the replacements are a small proportion of the roof.