Can You Match Old Roof Tiles?

Start by working out what is on the roof. Look at the shape of the tile's face, the way its edges lock into the next one, and its overall size. Interlocking concrete tiles have a rib or channel down one side that meshes with the neighbour. Plain tiles are the small rectangular ones, with a gentle curve from head to tail, and clay pantiles have a deep S-shaped wave. A maker's name or number is often moulded into the underside, and that is the quickest route to an exact match.

Measure as well. Tiles that look alike can differ by a few millimetres in width or length, and a tile that is slightly too long will not sit in the gauge of the battens, the horizontal timbers each course hangs from. Colour comes last. A roofer can only judge colour once the profile and size are settled, because two tiles of one pattern made decades apart can still sit oddly together. If you have a spare tile in the loft, garage or garden shed, keep hold of it. It gives the merchant something to hold against stock and saves a great deal of guesswork.

Plenty of concrete and clay patterns remain in production, so a current tile is the first thing to try. Reclaimed tiles come next. These are lifted from demolished or re-covered roofs and sold through salvage yards and specialist merchants. Because they have already weathered, they tend to blend into an old roof far better than a brand-new tile of the same shape.

Reclaimed stock has limits. A tile that has been bedded in mortar, cracked by frost or worn thin may not last another few decades, so each one needs checking for hairline cracks and for nibs, the small projections that hook over the battens. Our answer on broken tile nibs shows why a tile with a snapped nib will not hold.

BS 5534, the slating and tiling code, concedes that parts of it may be unsuitable when an old roof laid with traditional or reclaimed materials is re-tiled. In practice the fixing method for old tiles is a judgement made on the roof itself, and the written price should tell you how the tiles will be held, whether by clip, nail or both.

A tile that has sat on a roof for decades has lost its factory sheen. Moss and lichen have taken hold, the face has dulled, and rain has streaked the colour. A new tile of the same make looks sharper and brighter beside it. That gap usually narrows as the new tile weathers, although the speed depends on the tile, which way the slope faces and the shade from nearby trees.

A few tricks help the repair blend in. Spread new tiles through a slope rather than grouping them in one block, so the eye reads them as occasional replacements. Put any reclaimed tiles on the side of the house people see from the road. If a patch is large, ask the roofer to mix replacements in with sound old tiles taken from elsewhere.

Be wary of painting or staining new tiles to match. Coatings can peel, hide cracks and trap damp, and you are entitled to an explanation of what a product does to the tile before it goes anywhere near your roof. Time is the better dye.

Sometimes no current or reclaimed tile fits. Then the answer is usually to move tiles around rather than force a poor match. Sound tiles are borrowed from a hidden face of the building, a garage rear for example, and used on the visible side, while the closest new tiles go where nobody will notice. That keeps the front looking even and avoids a patchwork.

If a large area has failed, the better move can be re-covering a whole slope, or the whole roof, in a new tile. A different tile has to suit the pitch, because each profile has a lowest safe pitch printed on its data sheet. A heavier tile puts extra weight on the rafters too, so Planning Portal advises getting a surveyor's or engineer's view first if the new covering weighs more than the old. Our answer on changing roof tiles and weight explains the point, and our pitched roofing page covers full re-covers.

Whichever route suits your roof, the first step is the same. We look at your own tiles, send you photos, and then hand you one price in writing that covers the whole job. Our answer on replacing single tiles covers the smaller job.