Tile to Shingle,
Done Honestly
Some homeowners are simply done with tile. Done with cracked pieces after every trade walks the roof, done with the weight, done with the look. Converting a tile roof to a shingle system is a legitimate move, and we do it properly: the entire tile roof comes off, down to the wood, and a complete Owens Corning TruDefinition Duration COOL shingle system gets built on your deck from scratch. Not a patch job on old battens. A new roof.
One thing to know up front, because it is the question we get most: this conversion only runs in one direction, and there is an engineering reason for that. Keep reading.
What the conversion includes
- Complete removal and disposal of the existing tile roof, including tile, battens as needed, and old underlayment
- Full deck inspection, with any damaged wood repaired or replaced
- WeatherLock ice and water barrier in the sensitive areas
- ProArmor synthetic underlayment across the entire deck
- Starter strip at the roof perimeter
- Owens Corning TruDefinition Duration COOL shingles, your choice of color
- VentSure ridge ventilation or low-profile O'Hagin vents, depending on your roof
- DecoRidge hip and ridge caps
- New metal drip edge and new flashings, painted to match
- City permit pulled with receipt, drone documentation, magnet-swept cleanup
Why convert? The honest cases.
The weight comes off your structure: concrete tile runs around 900 pounds per square, a shingle system runs a fraction of that. Foot traffic stops being a hazard, so solar installers, chimney sweeps, and future maintenance stop costing you cracked tiles. The look modernizes, and Duration COOL shingles reflect more of the Inland Empire sun than the dark tile they often replace. And when a tile roof needs a full replacement anyway, converting to shingle typically costs meaningfully less than new tile.
And the honest counterpoint, because we give it to every conversion customer: if your tile itself is still healthy and only the underlayment underneath has aged out, you may not need a conversion or a replacement at all. A lift and relay keeps your tile and rebuilds the waterproofing under it for less. We will tell you which one your roof actually needs after we walk it, not before.
Why we will not convert shingle to tile
Plenty of companies will happily sell you the reverse conversion. We will not, and here is the structural reason. A roof framed for shingles was engineered for shingle weight. Concrete tile is several times heavier, and those rafters were never designed to carry it. The industry workaround is lightweight tile, and we do not install lightweight tile either, because in our experience it is brittle: it cracks underfoot during future maintenance, chips in handling, and does not earn its discount over the decades a tile roof is supposed to live.
So our rule is simple and we hold it even when it costs us a job: roof conversions run downhill in weight, never uphill. Tile to shingle, yes. Shingle to tile, no. If a contractor offers to put tile on your shingle-framed roof without an engineer involved, ask them to show you the structural calcs. Then call us for a second opinion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Modern architectural shingles have real depth and shadow lines, and Duration COOL comes in colors that sit comfortably next to tile neighborhoods. We can show you completed conversions and color options before you decide anything.
Yes. It is a full reroof and we pull the city permit on every one, with the receipt in your hand. Cool roof requirements are covered by the Duration COOL shingle line.
We haul away and dispose of everything: tile, battens as needed, and the old underlayment. Tile disposal is heavy work and it is built into the job, not a surprise line afterward.
Typically yes, meaningfully so, because new standard weight tile is a premium product. We will put both numbers in writing after walking your roof so you can compare real figures, not guesses.