Tiled Roof Repairs in Birmingham
Moseley Roofing & Building Services

The Tile Problems We Fix

Tile repairs are everyday work for us. Slipped tiles after a storm. Cracked tiles where something has struck the roof. Ridge and hip tiles that have come loose because the bedding mortar underneath has finally crumbled. Verge tiles working loose at the gable end, and leaks that trace back to the tile field rather than the flashing.

None of these is a big job if you catch it early. All of them become bigger jobs if you leave them, because a slipped tile exposes the underlay to the weather and the damage spreads inwards from there. For the full range of roofing work we take on, see our roofers in Birmingham page.

Why Tiles Slip and Crack

Tiles fail for boring reasons, which is good news, because boring problems have straightforward fixes. Rain and frost work together: water gets into a hairline crack, freezes, expands, and opens the crack a little wider each winter until the tile gives up.

Fixings fail too. The nails holding a tile were driven in decades ago, and steel rusts and fatigues with age until one stormy night the tile slides out. And tiles lean on each other: when one goes, the ones beside it lose their overlap, and the next big wind takes them as well.

That is why we replace the slipped tile and check its neighbours while we are up there. It is cheaper than a second visit.

What You Can Spot From the Ground

You do not need to climb anything to spot tile trouble. Walk to the end of the street and look back at your roof:

• Tiles in the garden or on the path after wind, even small fragments.
• A gap or an uneven line in the roofscape you can see from the street.
• Crumbling or missing mortar along the ridge and hip lines.
• A tile sitting proud or at a different angle to its neighbours.
• A damp patch on the ceiling that appears or grows after rain.

Any of these is worth a message. WhatsApp a photo to 07831 854918 and we will tell you what we are looking at.

Valleys, Flashing and Lead Soakers

Tiled roofs usually leak at the junctions, not in the middle of the field. Where two slopes meet at a valley, where the roof runs into a chimney or where it butts against a wall, the tiles are cut short and the joint is closed with lead: valley linings, soakers and step flashings.

Lead lasts a long time, then it splits or slips at the folds. We repair and renew leadwork at these junctions as part of our broader lead work service across Birmingham.

Matching Tiles on Older Birmingham Roofs

A lot of Birmingham's housing is old, and old roofs carry tiles that stopped being made years ago. A mismatched patch of modern tiles on a 1930s semi stands out from the street, and on some roofs the tile profile matters for how the water runs too.

When we quote a repair we will talk you through the options for your particular roof once we have seen what is on it. Send a photo of the tiles in advance and it helps us come prepared.

Repair the Tiles or Re-Roof?

We repair tiles as repairs, and many calls end that way. But there is a stage where the failures come faster than the fixes: nail fatigue spreading across the field, mortar going along the whole ridge, the underlay perished behind the tiles. Then each repair is throwing money at a roof that has reached the end.

If that is what we find, we will say so plainly and quote for the alternative. Our new roofs and re-roofing page covers what a full replacement involves, and our roof repairs in Birmingham page covers the problems that are not tile-specific.

The Free Inspection and Honest Quote

We look at the tiles, the ridges and the verges, and into the loft where it helps. Then we quote for what needs doing, and say clearly what can wait. The visit and the quote are free, and there is no obligation attached to either.

Tile repairs are usually small jobs once the ladder is up. The expensive part is leaving them.