A tile roof in Rancho Cucamonga, CA was leaking, and the problem was the valleys. The tile had been run so far into them that it dammed the water. When we opened them up, the felt underneath was gone. New underlayment went in under the valley metal, and it was done the same day.
A valley is where two slopes of the roof meet, and all the water off both of them runs down it. On this roof, the tile on both sides had been run so far into the valleys that the pieces were crowding into each other. That turns a valley into a dam. The water couldn't run down the channel the way it's supposed to, so it went around the valley. Once water gets out of the valley, it finds a way in. I wrote more about this in why roof valleys leak: the crowding problem.
When we pulled the tile back and opened the valley up, the felt underlayment that's normally under there was completely gone. Nothing left between the valley and the wood. That's the layer that's supposed to keep out the water that gets past the tile. Without it, nothing was stopping it.
The valley opened up to the wood. The felt that should be under there is gone.
New Spyder PSU went down in the valleys first, a self-adhered (peel and stick) underlayment installed right to the deck. At the edges it's tucked under the original underlayment on both sides, so the old layer laps over the new one and water runs on top of it, not under it. On this one we reused the valley metal and put it back in on top of the new underlayment. The metal is the channel the water runs down, with a raised rib in the middle so water coming off one slope doesn't wash across to the other. Then the tile went back on.
New Spyder PSU down the valley, tile stacked on both sides.
The valley metal back in over the new underlayment, rib down the middle.
This was a same day job. The valleys were opened up, rebuilt and closed back up before we left. Not every leak needs a new roof. When the problem is the valleys, fixing the valleys is the job.
A crowded valley is a dam. Give the water room.
You don't need to get on the roof. From a window, or from the top of a ladder at the edge, look down a valley. If you can see a clean strip of metal running the length of it, good. If the tile looks like it's closing in from both sides, or the valley is packed with leaves and dirt, that's worth a look before the next big rain. Don't walk a tile roof to check. That's what we're for.
And not every tile roof leak starts in a valley. Here's one in Upland that didn't. More on what we fix is on our roof repairs page.
Free in-home estimate, in writing. We'll find where the water is getting in and tell you straight whether it's a repair or a bigger job. We do asphalt shingle roofs, tile replacement with new tile, tile lift and relay, and flat roofs across the Inland Empire.
(909) 819-8394