On This Page
- What Is A Tile Roof Re-Felt?
- Why This Agoura Hills Roof Kept Leaking
- What We Found Under The Tile
- Why Does Agoura Hills Need A Fire-Rated Underlayment Under Tile?
- Reusing The Original Tile, And Where The New Tile Went
- Re-Felt Or Full Tile Replacement?
- Have A Tile Roof That Keeps Leaking?
- More Project Photos
The Problem
Ongoing leaks. Years of small spot repairs hadn't stopped them, so the homeowner chose to reset the whole roof on new underlayment.
What We Did
Took the tile off and saved it, replaced damaged deck plywood, installed a fire-rated cap sheet, then relaid the original tile, with new tile mixed in on the back and side slopes only.
This two-story Agoura Hills home had a concrete tile roof that kept leaking, even after years of small repairs. So the homeowner decided to fix the cause instead: a tile roof underlayment replacement, which roofers call a re-felt. We lifted the tile, repaired the deck, put down a fire-rated cap sheet and relaid the original tile.
What Is A Tile Roof Re-Felt?
A tile roof re-felt is when the roof tiles are removed and saved, the worn underlayment beneath them is replaced, and the same tiles are reinstalled. Concrete tile lasts a very long time. The underlayment under it doesn't. On most leaking tile roofs, that hidden layer is the part that has failed.
Tile sheds most of the rain. Whatever gets past it lands on the underlayment: wind-driven rain, water working in around vents and ridges, drips through a cracked piece. That layer is what keeps it out of the house. Once it dries out and cracks, patching one spot at a time tends to chase the leak around the roof rather than stop it.
Why This Agoura Hills Roof Kept Leaking
The owners had been fixing leaks as they showed up for years. That's a reasonable call on a roof that's mostly sound. Here, the repairs kept coming back.
A roof this size has plenty of places for water to find a way in: two stories of slopes, hip ridges, valleys, vents, a chimney and low roofs over the bay windows. When the underlayment is past its life everywhere, fixing one spot just sends the next drip somewhere else. The owners asked us to reset the whole roof on new underlayment instead of patching another spot.
What We Found Under The Tile
With the tile stacked on the ridges and the old felt torn off, the deck was open to inspect. Most of the plywood was in good shape. A couple of sheets weren't. We cut out the damaged wood and replaced those sheets before anything new went down, because a new underlayment over soft decking just moves the problem.
Why we check the deck every time
You can't see the deck from the ground or from inside the attic once tile and felt are on it. A re-felt is the one chance to fix it without tearing off the roof later.
Why Does Agoura Hills Need A Fire-Rated Underlayment Under Tile?
Agoura Hills sits in wildfire country. The city's 2026 Community Wildfire Protection Plan puts 77.7% of the city in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. The same plan notes that nearly all homes in town were built before California's 2008 wildfire building code (Chapter 7A).
Tile roofs have a weak spot in a fire zone: the air gap between the tile and the deck. Embers can blow into that space. Fire-zone rules handle it by fire-stopping the gap or putting a heavy cap sheet over the deck. LA County Public Works' 2026 plan-review checklist for fire hazard zones, for example, calls for "one layer of 72-pound cap sheet complying with ASTM D3909" over the roof deck.
For this job we used Malarkey 350 Paragon CHROMA Cap, the cap sheet Agoura Hills requires under tile in its high fire hazard areas. Malarkey lists it as ASTM E108 Class A and meeting California's requirements for a fire-rated underlayment for tile roofs. Requirements change with code cycles and vary by address, so check with the city's Building & Safety division (or your roofer) before a tile project.
Reusing The Original Tile, And Where The New Tile Went
Concrete tile weathers to a color you can't buy off a pallet. If you mix brand-new tile into a street-facing slope, it shows for years.
Some tile always breaks when it comes off a roof, so we bought new tile to make up the difference. Then we were careful about where it went. The original tile went back on the slopes you see from the street. The new pieces went on the back and side of the house, where nobody notices the shade difference. Same roof from the curb, brand-new waterproofing underneath.
Re-Felt Or Full Tile Replacement?
| Tile re-felt | New tile roof | |
|---|---|---|
| What gets replaced | Underlayment, flashings as needed, damaged deck | Tile and everything under it |
| Look from the street | Unchanged: same tile, same weathering | New color and profile |
| Best fit | Tile in good shape, underlayment worn out | Tile badly cracked, discontinued, or you want a new look |
| Breakage | New tile mixed in where it won't show | Not an issue |
If your tile is still solid and the leaks keep moving around, a re-felt is usually the better choice. If a lot of the tile is cracked or the profile is no longer made, replacing it can make more sense. We'll tell you which one we'd pick for your roof, and why.
Have A Tile Roof That Keeps Leaking?
We re-felt and repair clay and concrete tile roofs across the San Fernando Valley, including Agoura Hills and nearby cities like Calabasas and Woodland Hills. If a patch hasn't held, see our roof and leak repair service or book a free estimate. We'll get up on the roof and tell you whether a repair or a re-felt makes sense.
More Project Photos
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During The Job 3
After 8
