# Forum Home Renovation Roofing  Leaking concrete tile roof

## Charleville

I have just just been crawling through my ceiling chasing a leak in my 27 year old concrete tiled roof. 
What I find is that there are no broken tiles but that there are drops forming on lots of the tile clips as shown below ...   Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch  
My guess is that over time, dirt has accumulated above the tile clips under the overlapping tiles and is creating little dams that collect little bits of water which trickle down the clips. 
In most cases, the drops seem to just run down the tile clip and into the hardwood battens and dissipate to dry off when the weather suits such but a handful drop water below. 
In most cases this is a non-event because I have aluminium batts on the ceiling joists on which the droplets collect but not in such quantity that they pool and run off but in one or two cases, they have done damage to the Gyprock ceiling. 
To solve my immediate problem, I have bent one tile clip a little so that the offending water droplet seeps down into the roof batten.  
What is the longer term solution to stop water dribbling down the tile clips, please? 
Is it that the roof needs to be water blasted from above to dislodge accumulated muck under the tile overlaps? 
All advice gratefully received.  
.

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## nww1969

I can't really help as I've never seen tie clips like that before.
But if your going to water blast up under the lip to clean the join your going 
to get large  amounts of water inside the roof.
Neighbour had his cleaned recently and the water blaster guys very heavy handed 
and caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to the ceilings.  
From my experience the joins do get full of dirt and most likely this could be your problem.
It would be a big job having to clean each join by lifting,or expensive if you were to silicon
every join from the top. 
My recent roof restoration has the paint creep into all joins making it even more watertight 
than the original roof. 
Hope you find an easier remedy.

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## Charleville

Hmmm.  Thanks for that info, nww1969. 
Maybe, I need to sit on the roof patiently with an air gun and give each tile a little blast of air pressure under its sides.  That will be fun!  :Biggrin:  
Those clips are used in high wind installations.  When  I had the house built, I specified an intermediate cyclone rating on the roof.  The only thing that ever worries me about the forces of nature is what high winds can do.  The builders thought that I was being overly cautious and maybe I was but I sleep well in all storms. 
The price of that caution may be that after 27 years, the clips act as a path to some water drops.

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## manchild

They called ramlat clips.Unfortunately your diagnosis is correct accumulated dirt will build up where the clip sits on the watercourses.Also the ones they arent straight are more suspectible .I done a fair few over the years here is what we usually do :Cry: rwal in the roofspace and look for white spots on top of gyprock right above there will be a leaking clip.If yopu have insulation do the same while it has been rainig for quite awhile.Get a roof pressure cleaned by professionals and tell them to go over the overlaps with a lance cutting into them.Find one that knows his business otherwise they will flood your roof.If you have a tree/schrub around the roof with very fine leaves ,cut them well back preferably take them out completely.If that all works ,get the roof sealed after cleaning ,most of the "dirt"is actually came from a detoriating tile itself.8/10 times this is occuring with the ramlat /monier 100's combination.
George

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## manchild

Just seen your login and that you are in brisbane ,are you a member of a certain fishing site as well?Im running all around Brisbane all the time ,if you want i can have a look at it and tell you what to do.As a private person of course.
George
ps:Whatever you do dont silicon the joints

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## Charleville

> Just seen your login and that you are in brisbane ,are you a member of a certain fishing site as well?Im running all around Brisbane all the time ,if you want i can have a look at it and tell you what to do.

  
Thanks for the offer and the advice, George.  Yup - I have the same non-de-plume on the fishing website. 
Everything that you said applies in the case of my roof.   As you can see, there is no shortage of trees around my roof ...   Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch  
Also, as the roof is now 27 years old, naturally the glazed surface has deteriorated quite a bit and indeed there needs to be a fair bit of repointing done. 
Thanks for your kind offer of a visit.  I won't take up you invitation just at the moment but in the light of all of the above, maybe the time has come to get the  roof totally worked over and I would probably do that mid-year when the rain has gone. 
If you are in the trade and wish to make recommendations on who might make a good job of restoring my roof, I would be delighted to receive a PM either on this site or the fishing site. Many thanks in anticipation. 
In the mean-time,  I have come to the conclusion that my poor old knees don't like kneeling on ceiling joists anymore and that maybe it is time to lay some plywood over the joists so that I can move around the ceiling in "comfort".  It is sure a dirty filthy, uncomfortable job getting up into the ceiling.  I never quite know how the rats get in there but they do and I have used lots of Ratsak over the years up there. 
Also, I note that Monier have a 50 year guarantee on the waterproofness of their tiles.  It is such a shame that the whole system is let down by the clips. 
.

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## Bloss

Some good info given so i won't repeat - but the glazing of the tiles is aesthetic not for waterproofing. The concrete tiles harden and become less porous as they age and the slope of the roof, the pointing and the under-tile design at the lower lip and on the sides is what sheds the water and stops water movement by capillary action. As you say those clips simply provide a path for water that would otherwise flow down the channel onto the tile below and away.

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## Charleville

Thanks Bloss.   :Smilie:   
.

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## Brushy

I've just gone surfing on exactly this issue and found this site.  I've a 37 year old house with those style of clips and about 10-20 leaks.  Had a commercial roof fixing firm come and look and was told the solution is a) all tiles have to be lifted and a new style of clip fitted or b) new roof.  The latter suggested as the ridge cap is very tightly bonded and probably the first course of tiles will get broken and replacements almost impossible to source.    
Was told the new style clip has edge cut back so it doesn't trap rubbish.  Asked if clips could be replaced from within ceiling cavity but told "no" (even for the easy access areas) 
I asked about pressure cleaning, company said it just drives rubbish from first water channel into second.  Told do not consider painting as this only makes things worse ie blocks water channels. 
The cost of lifting the tiles and replacing the clips is $$$$,  a replacement roof about twice that.  If these are the only two options to fix the leaks, I'd rather replace the tiles with iron! 
I've no experience with tiled roofs so very much value people's  opinions.  Thanks!

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## Redhead

Hi all, I believe I have the same clip issue and tried to action it a couple of years ago. One contractor quoted 4500 to replace all the clips and a company that does restorations quoted me the same to restore it as well as replace the clips and therefore with a ten year warranty. Prices may have increased slightly now. Does anyone have any advice on these solutions? Our roof is prob around 20 years old.

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## Redhead

Hi all, I believe I have the same clip issue and tried to action it a couple of years ago. One contractor quoted 4500 to replace all the clips and a company that does restorations quoted me the same to restore it as well as replace the clips and therefore with a ten year warranty. Prices may have increased slightly now. Does anyone have any advice on these solutions? Our roof is prob around 20 years old.

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## totoblue

If you can get to the back of the tiles with the leaking clips, why not just remove the clip from that tile from the back.  Cut it off if needed with a Dremel. 
My amateur guess is that removing a few clips won't make much difference but if concerned you could wire down the tiles.  My 50 year old terracotta roof is wired down.  If your tiles have no attachment points for wires, then you could glue something on the back with Liquid Nails or similar, and attach the wire to that. 
My father-in-law's solution is to put a plastic ice cream container under each drip.  The theory is that the water evaporates before it overflows.  Might not apply in Brisbane. 
I don't know why we build houses with tiled roofs.  Eventually the pointing falls out and needs to be redone, the tiles slump, particularly near valleys and tiles do eventually break down (even terracotta).  I think stainless steel clip-lock roofing (i.e. with no screws) would be the best.  I have zincalume clip-lock on my carport and it seems very good to me.  Stainless steel is actually not that much dearer than ordinary steel although I don't know the pricing of stainless steel roofing.  Gutters should be stainless steel as well (although I have some plastic guttering which is doing fine after 15 years).

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## Redhead

Yeah unfortunately we already have plastic containers that were put there as a solution almost ten years ago. When we found a spot rotted through the gyprock two years ago I then tried to get it fixed but my partner owns half of it with his mum and for some reason he won't ask his mum for half the money despite us already paying all rates and everything else so nothing happened. Now after two years the water damaged areas have doubled. Because the clip problem is roof wide the damage is sporadic and not in the valleys. I'd just hate to see us pay double further down the track to get the roof fixed and the ceiling redone. There are 12 affected areas throughout the house ranging from water marks to fully rotted through and a new one comes up after every major storm. We are selling the house in three years time when his mum will retire and I worry that this problem will get worse before then. I figure a restoration can only add value to the house?

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## totoblue

If the property is worth more than land value, then water leaks will definitely make it worth less.  As to who pays, you could offset repair costs from future sale proceeds - just treat it as a cost-of-sale in advance. 
Have you contacted the clip or tile manufacturers?  They may have some solution.  You can't be the only person affected.

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## Brushy

> Have you contacted the clip or tile manufacturers?  They may have some solution.  You can't be the only person affected.

  That's what I spent a lot of time trying to do.  In the end CSR/Monier were not the slightest bit interested in hearing about it.  Think I've still got the name and number of the guy if you want to give it a go.  
My problem is still on-going.  Being in a cyclone area I don't wish to remove the tile clips completely (20-30 now, who knows how many other leaks develop over the next 10 years).  Can see a situation where insurance company my not pay because of my removing clips. 
Have had some success with removing the clips and bending them (different angle) plus using pliers to snip a point on the end that goes into the water channel.  Slow work, and can only do it in areas where ceiling cavity big enough. 
I always hated tiles.  Only part about my house I didn't like when bought it.

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## Brushy

Timing is a bit of a coincidence but had a good chat with reliable roofing contractor.  Posting here for anyone else coming across thread. 
Only permanent solution to issue is to have tiles removed, sarking laid and the new style tile clips laid.  So not good news and much the same as told originally only price won't be $18k as this contractor not out for a kill (have reasons to trust him).   
I have some of the new tile clips.  Will try swapping them in easy access leaks.  Not convinced they won't cause the same issue in 30 years time but obviously the sarking will take care of that.  Now to win lotto.

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## Bloss

You could put in sarking from underneath for this purpose - start at top so each run is over the lower one and so on. Given the relatively low water volumes involved might be a reasonable DIY option until that lotto comes up. So long as you do not put a foot through the ceiling!

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## Redhead

Thanks guys, yeah I thought the manufacturer may not show much interest, I think we will just have to bite the bullet and do a restore and they'll replace the clips at the same time.

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## rusel

Hi
I am having a similar problem with a different course with a clay tiles
I started a new thread so as not to detract from this one but thought might be able to solve my problem Clay tile roof with many small leaks
All thoughts will be appreciated 
Russell

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## Glot

It seems a very common problem with that style of clip. Concrete tiles aroung 20 years old.  Best way is to remove all tiles and replace clips with different design. I just got a quote of $10 per square metre. Damp wood is also an invite to termites. You can seal all the tile edges and spray with a membrane but that is a dodgy way of fixing it.

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## Glot

Just had my tiles reclipped but both the roofing companies I spoke to first said they only need to do the middle few rows. The top 3 they dont touch and the same for the bottom 4 or 5 rows. I can understand the top but why dont the bottom rows leak? In hindsight, I could have easily done the reclipping from inside.

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## Brushy

You didn't get sarking laid at the same time? 
I've got a quote I can live with and that includes all the tiles being lifted, sarking being laid and new clips.  Not going through all this again and the sarking is the only way of ensuring that it doesn't. 
I don't trust tiling companies.  At least one here has the smell of money over this tile clip problem and the prices they're quoting are criminal.

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## Robbo Smart

Hi, It appears I'm not the only person in this situation, I bought a 30 year old home 5 months ago and have discovered a leaking roof. Before I bought the house I found a couple of leaks and asked for them to be fixed as I wouldnt buy a house with a leaky roof.  The owner got a guy to fix clips and sign off for the roof to be in "good working order" ha!! Now the roof is leaking again and no one wants to know about it, the insurance company is not interested, Monier are not interested because after 6 years they say they have no warranty and the clips (despite people telling me were faulty at the time) were at the time Australian standard.  I have no sarking and multiple clips leaking causing damage and no one to fall back on for blame, how can ou buy a house and not be told about these issues, I feel very dupped by the whole process and its going to cost be up to 18K to fix it, Not only am I broke and cant afford that kind of money after just buying the house, I'm also devo'd that no one is prepared to go into bat to help me sort it out.  Isnt that what you have insurance for??

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## Bloss

Did you get a building inspection down before you bought? What did it say? You need to seek professional legal advice and act on it - it'll cost you money, but probably less than the cost to fix. This is not 'what you have insurance for' - insurers insure known risks, not unknown risks or risks where someone else can be found to be at fault (as in whoever built the houses or the owner who sold it to you etc. What problem are the leaks causing - if the leaks are bad why were the consequences not visible inside after 6 years? Sagging ceilings stains etc? Contact Qld Fair Trading and see what they say: Fair Trading : Department of Justice and Attorney-General

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