Why this comes up so often here

A lot of Lee County is roofed in concrete and clay tile that went on decades ago. Manufacturers retire profiles, change color lines and close plants, and tile outlasts all three. So a roof can be perfectly serviceable while the tile on it has not been sold new in years.

Even when the profile is still made, the color often is not a match any more. Concrete tile is pigmented and fades in the sun, so a brand-new tile of the right profile and the right original color can still stand out on a roof that has been weathering for fifteen years. Clay holds its color far better, but clay profiles get discontinued too.

None of that is a reason to replace a roof on its own. It does decide how a repair gets done, and sometimes what it costs.

Step one: find out exactly what you have

Before anyone goes looking for tile, you need to know what to look for. Four things:

The stamp. Many concrete and clay tiles carry the manufacturer's name, the profile and sometimes a date on the underside. One tile lifted in a discreet spot usually answers it.

The profile. Flat, low-profile S, high-profile barrel, or something in between. Tiles have to interlock with their neighbors, so the shape matters more than the color.

The size. Length, width and exposure. Two tiles that look alike from the driveway can be a fraction of an inch different, and that is enough to stop them sitting in the same course.

The color, photographed properly. In daylight, next to a tape measure, from the top and the underside. The underside shows the original color the top has faded from.

Option one: borrow from your own roof

Often the best visual match available, because the tile has aged on the same roof in the same sun. Good tile is lifted from a slope nobody looks at, usually the back of the house or over the garage, and used to repair the slopes everyone sees. The gap on the hidden slope is then filled with the closest new or reclaimed tile.

It is not free, since every tile is handled twice, but it is often cheaper than a hunt for an exact match, and the front of the house ends up looking like nothing happened.

Option two: reclaimed and salvaged tile

Tile comes off roofs all the time in good condition, during re-roofs, demolitions and lift-and-relay jobs, and some of it is resold. Reclaimed or salvaged tile of the right profile can close the gap when the original is long gone.

Things worth checking before relying on it: that it really is the same profile and size rather than a near miss; that it is sound, without spalling, through-cracks or chipped interlocks; that there is enough of it from one batch, since tile from different roofs weathers differently; and that the quantity allows for breakage during installation, because some always breaks.

Option three: the closest current profile

When nothing matching can be found, a currently made tile with a compatible profile can be used where it will not be seen, or across a whole slope so the difference reads as deliberate rather than patched. On a back slope this is often a perfectly sensible answer.

Option four: custom or recolored tile

Some manufacturers and specialist suppliers will make or color-match tile to order. It works, it takes time, and it costs more per tile than anything off the shelf. It tends to make sense on larger repairs, on clay roofs, or on houses where the roof is a big part of what the house looks like.

Some owners instead recoat a slope or a whole roof so new and old tile read as one color. That needs a product made for the tile it is going on, and in most communities around here, HOA approval first.

When matching stops being worth it

If a repair grows large enough that matching costs approach the cost of redoing the slope, or if the underlayment beneath the tile is near the end of its life anyway, the better answer may be a lift-and-relay or a replacement rather than an expensive hunt for tile. The underlayment is the part of a Florida tile roof that wears out, so it is worth knowing its condition before money goes into matching. How lift-and-relay compares with replacement.

Florida's 25 percent rule can also come into it on a big repair. The rule, and the exception for newer roofs.

If the damage is part of an insurance claim

Florida law speaks to this. Under s. 626.9744(2), Florida Statutes, when replaced items do not match in quality, color or size, the insurer has to make reasonable repairs or replacement of items in adjoining areas. The same subsection lets the insurer weigh the cost, the degree of uniformity achievable, and the remaining life of the undamaged part, and the policy itself can say otherwise. In practice, how far that goes on a roof is often disputed.

What helps most is documentation: the tile's manufacturer and profile, evidence that it is discontinued, and photographs of the damaged and undamaged slopes. A roofing contractor is not permitted to negotiate the claim for you, but can document it properly. What a roofer may and may not do on a claim.

If you live in an HOA community

Most communities in Estero, Bonita Springs and south Fort Myers have an approved list of tile profiles and colors. When an approved tile is discontinued, many associations have a substitution process, and some keep their own stock. Ask before buying anything, and get the approval in writing before the work starts.

Do this before you need it. If you ever have tile work done, keep the spare tile that comes off, stored flat and out of the sun. Write down the manufacturer and profile from the stamp and keep it with your house papers. A small stack of matching tile in the garage is worth far more than it looks on the day a storm takes a few off.

If you are not sure what tile you have or whether it can be matched, a free inspection identifies it, photographs it, and says which of these options fits your roof before anyone prices a repair.

How tile repairs are handled

Matching discontinued roof tile in Fort Myers: reclaimed, salvaged and custom options