One missing tile looks harmless. What it's actually doing to your roof, why tiles slip in the first place, and when a run of them means something worse.
Every autumn, someone in Medway looks up and sees a gap in their roof line. It's usually one tile, and it's tempting to assume it doesn't matter until next year. Here's what that one tile is actually doing.
Why Tiles Slip
- Wind — the most common cause. A gust lifts the edge of an already-loose tile and takes it with it, which is why slipped tiles cluster after storms
- Nail failure — on older roofs the fixings corrode or the nail pulls free, especially where timber has moved
- Battens rotting underneath — the tile had nothing solid to hold to
- Thermal movement — tiles expand and contract with the seasons, working fixings loose over decades
What One Missing Tile Does
Tiles are not the waterproof layer — the felt or membrane underneath is. So a single missing tile rarely leaks straight away. What it does instead is stranger and more expensive: water gets into the gap and runs along the felt, exiting somewhere well away from the hole. That's why people find damp patches in rooms far from where the actual gap is.
Broken Versus Slipped
A slipped tile is usually intact and can simply be re-seated and re-fixed. A broken one has to be replaced. Both are usually a short job — but they're different jobs, and a roofer who tries to nail a cracked tile back into place is wasting your money.
When A Few Means More
One slipped tile is a repair. A run of them in the same area means the battens or the fixings have gone, and you'll be back out there next month. If the same tiles keep slipping, the cause is underneath and a proper repair addresses that.
Slipped or broken tiles are the cheapest roofing repair there is — from as low as £100. Worth doing promptly, before the water finds its way in. Call us or send a photo and we'll tell you what you're looking at.
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Costs and timings in this article are guides for Medway and Kent properties. Every roof is different — a survey is the only way to get an accurate figure.