Remove Tiles on RooF?

[CA_Tom]

The asphalt shingles go all the way to the rain gutters.

To the left and right as well as down?
If the asphalt shingles don't go to the left and right, what keeps the water on those shingles from spreading out as it runs downhilll? (spreading out, AND going under those clay tiles and onto the plywood.

To put it another way, if you took a garden hose and put it at any point on that roof, dropping to the roof from 2-3' high (causing some minor splashing), would all the water make it to the gutters (and not under the tiles?)
If the answer is no, then it's not acceptable IMO.

[SoCalsolar]

This is a legit method of installation

This is a legit method of installation and should have been done the first time they installed. I wondered about that low price of your installation, if I am remembering correctly. This is an 11kW I believe? It is easy to tell the difference between a clay roof tile and concrete tile. Anyone with any type of experience should be able to do so. The easiest way is Clay tiles are smooth concrete tiles look porous and not smooth. The comp under method is proper for installation on a clay roof if you want to avoid leaks. Because concrete is porous it is not water proof by itself it is great for shedding water but your water tight barrier on your home is the paper under your tile or comp shingles. This paper ought to be replaced on a south facing roof about every twenty years or so. The comp under on a clay roof it should be used every time due to breakage of the tiles. Most clay tile roofs are so brittle it is very risky to install to install on them without improving the underlayment as Ward now knows. Using this method on a concrete roof is ok a bit over kill in my estimation. Ward is in CA we don't have that much weather here. Many people last week found out that there roof leaks to because of shoddy installations. It was the first significant rain we have had in about two years. This method may not be suited in other areas ot the country with different weather. The proper roofing type varies by region usually dependent on the weather. The comp under works well and extends outward from the array a number of feet ideally from the peak to the ridge to the gutter. Placing the tiles around the panels allows them to continue to shed water. The issue I think Ward ought to be investigating is where the water made entry to his home. This should be visible from your attic. Is it from a penetration made from your solar or some other spot?

[J.P.M.]

This is a legit method of installation and should have been done the first time they installed. I wondered about that low price of your installation, if I am remembering correctly. This is an 11kW I believe? It is easy to tell the difference between a clay roof tile and concrete tile. Anyone with any type of experience should be able to do so. The easiest way is Clay tiles are smooth concrete tiles look porous and not smooth. The comp under method is proper for installation on a clay roof if you want to avoid leaks. Because concrete is porous it is not water proof by itself it is great for shedding water but your water tight barrier on your home is the paper under your tile or comp shingles. This paper ought to be replaced on a south facing roof about every twenty years or so. The comp under on a clay roof it should be used every time due to breakage of the tiles. Most clay tile roofs are so brittle it is very risky to install to install on them without improving the underlayment as Ward now knows. Using this method on a concrete roof is ok a bit over kill in my estimation. Ward is in CA we don't have that much weather here. Many people last week found out that there roof leaks to because of shoddy installations. It was the first significant rain we have had in about two years. This method may not be suited in other areas ot the country with different weather. The proper roofing type varies by region usually dependent on the weather. The comp under works well and extends outward from the array a number of feet ideally from the peak to the ridge to the gutter. Placing the tiles around the panels allows them to continue to shed water. The issue I think Ward ought to be investigating is where the water made entry to his home. This should be visible from your attic. Is it from a penetration made from your solar or some other spot?

Are you a solar vendor ?

[SoCalsolar]

been in and around

I have been in and around the business little over 5 years and I have lots of friends in the business.

[J.P.M.]

I have been in and around the business little over 5 years and I have lots of friends in the business.

So it might be safe to say you and those friends have skin in the game ?

[SoCalsolar]

It means I

It means I have experience with the solar market in Southern California and enjoy seeing people go solar in the way which suits them best. For most people this means not going solar but for those who do take the plunge it's nice to not have roof leaks because some installer cut a corner that shouldn't be cut. I'm not dogmatic about solar but there are best practices and minimum standards as there are in any industry.

[Ward L]

Spot On

SoCalsolar is pretty much right on the mark. The clay tile is a good weather barrier, but the tar paper or felt underneath is the real WATER barrier. In response to an earlier question about the water running off to the side of the asphalt shingles, they put flashing up to keep the water on the composition shingles. Modern day clay tile roofs have felt or tar paper down underneath the tiles to prevent leaks. If we are voting, I vote if you have a real clay tile roof (of the very easy to break when walked on variety) and considering solar panels, plan on removing the clay tiles under the panels and install composition shingles. That is my vote and I'm sticking to it.....

[Ward L]

Hopefully complete with no leaks

They started on December 4th to fix my leaking clay tile roof under the solar panels. They removed all the tiles under and around the panels. They removed all the solar panels. They put down a new composition roof in the area of the solar panels. They installed a new rail support system for composition shingles and connected up the panels. They finished today, Dec 29th. I missed out on 25 days of solar generation which is not really a big deal. There were parts, rain and wind delays. While I wish it never happened, I think the installer did a great job of taking care of the roof leak. My SCE bill was projected to be $56 and I wonder how that will change now that my system is online again. I now have a composition shingle pathway I can get up to my solar panels to do maintenance or clean them. It was a good time to take them out of service in December which is probably the lowest power generation month I have. For my two cents, if you have REAL clay tiles, plan to remove them under and around your new solar panels. Happy New Year!

[Volusiano]

Glad to hear you got it all fixed up! Did you have to pay for the new shingles or did they do all that for free as part of the repair?

I get it that real clay tiles are more prone to breaking when walked on, so replacing them with shingles in the area where the panels are may help may it easier to walk around and install the panels without worrying about breaking the clay tiles. But that's the ONLY value I see in switching out tiles for shingles. And that's to make it easier for the installer to walk around and do their jobs without worrying about breaking the tiles, but at your expense because you're the one who's paying to switch out the tiles for the shingles.

There's no value in switching to shingles from the perspective of making the installation more leak-proof.

Proper flashing of the underlayment and/or of the tiles around the posts, like as seen in this video , is the solution to fix the leak. Not switching out tiles for shingles.

If in the process of switching to shingles, they redo the flashing properly to fix the leak, then that's fine. But they can also redo the flashing properly with the tiles just the same to fix the leak.