Tile Lift and Relay,
Also Called a Tile Reset
First the vocabulary, because it trips people up when they are searching. A tile lift and relay, a tile reset, a tile re-set and a tile underlayment replacement are the same job. Different companies use different words for it. If you are looking for any of those, this is the page.
The tile is the armor. The underlayment under it is the waterproofing. Concrete tile can go 50 years or more; the felt under most of the tile roofs we open in the Inland Empire is done at 20 to 30. So every tile home is going to need at least one underlayment job in its life, and when the tile itself is still sound, that job is a lift and relay: your tile comes up, the old felt comes off, new underlayment goes down, and your own tile goes back on. Same look from the street, completely different roof underneath, and no new tile to buy.
How You Know It Is Time
Three things I look for, and any one of them is enough to have the conversation. Leaks showing up in more than one spot, because one leak can be a broken tile or a bad flashing but two or three in different areas is almost always the underlayment. Tile from the 80s or 90s that has never been lifted, because the felt under it is past its life whether it has leaked yet or not. And tiles sliding out of their courses, which usually means the roof was spot nailed when it was built and the underlayment has been carrying the load alone for years.
The honest counterpart: if your tile is cracked, chipped or discontinued so it cannot be matched, a relay is not the right job and we will tell you so. That is a tile replacement with new tile, and it costs more. We quote the cheaper job when it is the right one.
What a GAX Lift and Relay Includes
- Your tile lifted, stacked on the roof and protected, not thrown in a pile
- Old underlayment stripped to the deck, deck inspected in daylight, soft boards replaced
- New underlayment: Owens Corning Titanium PSU30 peel and stick, or Titanium UDL50 synthetic, chosen for the scope and named in your contract
- New flashings at walls, chimneys and pipes; new valley metal where the old one is done
- Battens where the manufacturer calls for them, and every tile fastened, not every other row
- Ridge and hip pieces reset and re-mortared
- Permit pulled, city inspection, final walkthrough with you, cleanup, workmanship warranty in writing
How Long It Takes and What It Disrupts
Most lift and relays run three to seven days depending on the size and pitch of the roof. It is loud for those days and your driveway has tile stacks and a truck in it. Then it is over, and the roof under your tile is new. In my experience the thing homeowners notice afterward is what they stop noticing: the drip in the hallway when it rains sideways, the stain that used to grow every winter.
Every layer of this is written out, in order, in tile roof installation, layer by layer, and the longer version of when a relay is the right call is in what is a tile lift and relay.
Yes. Lift and relay, tile reset, tile re-set and tile underlayment replacement all describe the same job: your tile comes up, new underlayment goes down, your tile goes back.
Usually not, if your tile is sound. We reuse your existing tile whenever it is in good shape, which saves you the cost of new tile and keeps the matched look of your home. If the tile is cracked, chipped or discontinued, that is a tile replacement, and we will say so.
Yes. In every city we work, a lift and relay over the repair threshold is a reroof permit. We pull it, the city inspects, and the record is yours.
Titanium PSU30 peel and stick or Titanium UDL50 synthetic, depending on the scope. It is named in your contract, so you never have to guess what went under your tile.