Reading a tile roof quote
Two tile quotes on one house can be twenty thousand dollars apart and both be honest, because they are describing different jobs. Four lines account for most of the gap, and none of them is the brand of tile.
Line one: is the tile reset or replaced?
Concrete tile usually outlives the underlayment beneath it by a wide margin, so the common job here is to lift the tile, stack it, replace what is under it, and put the same tile back. That is cheaper than buying new tile and it is entirely legitimate, but a percentage of tile always breaks in handling and the quote should say who pays for the replacements and at what rate.
A full replacement with new tile costs more and buys a matched roof. Neither choice is wrong. A quote that does not state which one it is has left out the single largest difference between itself and its competitor.
Line two: which underlayment, and how long is it rated?
This is the layer that keeps the house dry and the one that decides when the roof is finished. The spread between a code-minimum product and a self-adhered high-temperature membrane is real money and real years, and in a cavity that runs hot most of the year it is where the difference shows up first.
Ask for the product name, not the category. Two quotes that both say "synthetic underlayment" can be a decade apart in service life.
Line three: fasteners and flashing metal
On a canal lot or anywhere within reach of the water, this line decides the outcome more than the covering does. Coated or stainless hardware costs more on the day. Standard hardware in salt-carrying air can bring a roof down at its metal while the tile above it still looks new.
Rebuilt flashing outlives the covering. Sealed flashing is a maintenance item in this sun. The quote should say which it is at every wall, curb and penetration.
Line four: the lanai and enclosure junction
The screen enclosure was installed by a different trade at a different time, and the seam where it meets the house belongs to neither. It is one of the most common entry points on these houses and it is routinely outside the scope of a roofing quote unless somebody asks.
Quick answers
- Is resetting the old tile a shortcut?
- No. It is standard practice here and often the sensible choice. The shortcut would be resetting tile over underlayment that was not replaced.
- Why does one quote include a per-sheet decking rate and the other does not?
- Because nobody knows how many sheets are soft until the roof is open. The quote without a rate has not priced the unknown; it has postponed it.
- How much tile breakage is normal on a reset?
- Some is unavoidable. What matters is that the quote names an allowance and a price beyond it, so the number cannot move freely once work starts.
Next step: Roof replacement
Prices and products change. Use these four lines to compare quotes with each other, not to predict what any particular job should cost.