1,200+ reviews · 4.8★ on Google Licensed & insured · CSLB #1030917
Serving Fresno, Clovis, Visalia, Sacramento and Bakersfield.
Free for homeowners. $299 for real estate transaction inspections.
- $14–20kTypical 2,000–2,500
sq ft home - ~1 weekStart to finish
on a standard roof - 50 yrsWhat concrete tile
is good for - 20–25What the felt
underneath gets
- Your tile comes off, gets stacked, and goes back on
- You see what’s under there on video before we quote it
Find out which job you need
Two minutes, three questions. We’ll route you to the nearest crew and come look under the tile.
Free · No obligation · We route you to the nearest crew
The quote in your hand
Tile roof underlayment replacement, not a tear-off
Concrete tile lasts about fifty years. Some of it will outlive the house.
The felt underneath gets twenty to twenty-five in Valley heat, and then it’s finished — brittle, cracked, no longer shedding the water that gets past the tile. Water always gets past the tile. That’s not a defect, that’s how a tile roof works. The tile is the armor. The underlayment is the waterproofing.
So a roof with perfectly good tile and dead felt looks exactly like a roof that needs replacing. It leaks like one. And on the 80s and 90s tract homes across Fresno, Clovis and Visalia, it gets quoted like one.
A lift-and-relay is the other answer. Same tile, new everything underneath.
Ask whoever quoted you which job they priced. If they haven’t been under the tile, they don’t know yet — and if you’re already holding a replacement contract, get a second inspection before you sign it.
What actually happens
How a lift-and-relay works
About a week on a standard 2,000–2,500 sq ft home. Longer if the roof is cut up with a lot of planes, valleys and penetrations.
The tile comes off and gets stacked
By hand, in bundles, on the roof. It doesn’t go in a trailer — it’s going back on. This is the part that makes the job cheaper than a replacement, and it’s also the part that takes the time.
Everything underneath comes out
Old felt, old battens, the debris that’s been packing into the valleys for twenty years. With the deck exposed we can see what’s actually going on under there — soft sheathing, rot, anything that’s been quietly getting worse. You see it on video before it becomes a number.
New underlayment goes down
We use SwiftGuard. The reason is specific: it seals around every nail that goes through it, so each fastener gets a gasket instead of a hole. On a tile roof that matters more than almost anything else, because the underlayment is the waterproofing and every batten screw is a penetration through it.
Flashings, valleys and the details
New metal in the valleys, flashings redone rather than reused, and any corrections the roof needs — a cricket behind the chimney, drainage that’s been dumping against a wall. This is the one time in twenty-five years that everything is accessible. Skipping it now means paying to open the roof again later.
Your tile goes back on
Same tile, new fasteners, elevated battens where the design calls for them. When it’s done it looks like your roof, because it is your roof.
The honest part
About thirty percent of your tile won’t survive the trip
Tile breaks. Handling twenty-five-year-old concrete tile off a roof, stacking it, and putting it back means a share of it cracks along the way — and some of it was already cracked before we got there.
Roughly thirty percent gets replaced on a typical job. On a roof that’s heavily cut up — lots of hips, valleys and planes — it runs higher, because more pieces have to be cut and handled. We count it and estimate it per project rather than pretending it won’t happen and hitting you with it on day three.
That’s also why the profile of your tile matters. If it’s still made, replacements are easy. If it’s discontinued, we’ll only recommend a relay when we can source a close enough match, the roof is somewhere that a slight difference won’t stand out, and you want to keep your tile — usually because a full replacement isn’t where the budget is. If none of that lines up, the honest recommendation is replacing the tile properly instead of ending up with a patchwork roof.
Straight numbers
What a lift-and-relay costs
The gap between these two lines is the entire reason this page exists.
| Tile roof, 2,000–2,500 sq ft home | Typical total |
|---|---|
| Lift and relay — your tile reused | $14,000–$20,000 |
| Full tear-off with new tile | $25,000–$40,000 |
What moves the number: how many roof planes and valleys there are, how much tile needs replacing, and what we find on the deck once it’s exposed. Larger buildings scale from there — a recent relay across three apartment units came in around $25,000. Every price is written and flat-rate before work begins.
Do it once
Fix the reason it died, or buy the same twenty-two years again
Here’s the part most quotes leave out. That underlayment didn’t fail from rain. It cooked — sun on top, and an attic underneath running 140 degrees in July because there are exhaust vents up high and nothing pulling air in down low.
Strip the roof, lay new felt, put the tile back, never look at the soffits, and you’ve rebuilt the exact conditions that killed the last one. Twenty years on you’re standing in the driveway holding the same quote.
So ventilation is part of a relay, not an add-on. Intake low, exhaust high, to code. It’s the difference between a twenty-year underlayment and one that goes the distance, and it’s the single most common thing missing from a competing quote.
Verified reviews
What homeowners say
4.8 stars across 1,000+ verified Google reviews across four California markets, 1,200+ counting Yelp, Facebook and the BBB. Read every roofing review we’ve earned →
“Found out our slopes/valleys were compromised along with 25 other roofing tiles that were cracked or completely broken… They lifted tiles and found the compromised areas that were going to soon cause major problems and water damage.”
“We had three different roofing companies visit… Two visited both the attic and the roof and one just looked at the roof. Eduardo visited the roof and attic and discovered issues that the other two did not.”
“After having repeat issues with the previous roofing contractor, we reached out to Grandmark… the diagnosis and solution were better. Miguel also went above and beyond to solve an unrelated problem with the gutter.”
Straight answers
Frequently asked questions
How do I know whether I need a relay or a full replacement?
Somebody has to get under the tile. From the ground — and even from on top — a roof with good tile and failed underlayment looks identical to a roof at the end of its life. We lift tile in a few representative spots, record what’s under there, and show you. Sound tile and dead felt is a relay. A soft deck, broken framing, or tile that’s breaking up itself is a different conversation.
How long does it take?
About a week on a standard 2,000–2,500 sq ft home. It takes longer than a tear-off because the tile is handled twice — off and stacked, then back down again — and roofs with a lot of planes, hips and valleys add time.
How much of my tile will break?
Around thirty percent gets replaced on a typical job, and more on a heavily cut-up roof. Some of it is breakage during handling and some was already cracked before we arrived. We estimate it per project rather than discovering it partway through.
My tile isn’t made any more. Can you still do it?
Sometimes. It depends on whether we can source a close enough match, whether the roof is somewhere a slight difference would show, and whether keeping your tile is what you actually want. If we can’t match it well, we’ll tell you — a patchwork roof is not a good outcome, and replacing the tile properly is the better answer.
What underlayment do you use, and why?
SwiftGuard. It seals around every nail driven through it, so each fastener gets a gasket rather than a hole. On a tile roof the underlayment is doing the actual waterproofing and every batten fastener is a penetration through it, so self-sealing at the fastener is worth more than a cheaper roll that saves a few hundred dollars once.
Will the roof look different afterwards?
It’s your tile, so no — with the exception of replacement pieces where tile broke. On a current profile those blend in. On a discontinued one they may be slightly off, which is exactly why we raise it before you commit rather than after.
Find out which job you actually need.
We lift tile, record what’s under it, and show you before anyone talks about price. Sometimes that means a relay. Sometimes it means you didn’t need either.