Maintenance is definitely more hands-on than with metal or tile.
Curious if anyone’s actually had tile crack or shift during a bad freeze? I’ve seen a few installs up north where the underlayment made all the difference, but I wonder if certain tile types hold up better than others. Anyone run into issues with ice dams on tile roofs, or is that mostly a shingle thing?
I’ve got concrete tile on my place in Minnesota, and honestly, the only time I’ve seen cracks was after a really weird freeze-thaw cycle. It wasn’t everywhere, just a couple spots near the edge. I think the underlayment is key—mine’s a synthetic one, and it’s held up well so far. As for ice dams, I still get them sometimes, but not as bad as my neighbor with asphalt shingles. Tile seems to shed snow better, but if your attic’s not insulated right, you’ll still get those annoying icicles...
I’ve had clay tile on my place in northern Wisconsin for about 15 years, and honestly, I’d agree with you that underlayment is a game changer. I went with a high-end synthetic too, and it’s saved me from a lot of headaches during those wild freeze-thaw swings. One thing I’d add—when you said,
—that’s spot on. I thought the fancy roof would solve everything, but after my first winter with huge icicles, I realized insulation and ventilation matter just as much as the roof itself. Tile handles snow loads better than I expected, but it’s not magic. Still, I’d take it over asphalt any day up here.“if your attic’s not insulated right, you’ll still get those annoying icicles...”
Had a customer in the U.P. who was convinced tile would crack under the snow, but after we put in proper underlayment and made sure the attic had enough airflow, he barely had any trouble. The first winter, though, he called me about icicles the size of baseball bats—turned out his old insulation was practically dust. Once we beefed that up, things got way better. Tile’s tough, but yeah, it’s not a magic fix if the rest of the house isn’t up to snuff.
I get the skepticism about tile up north. I looked into it last year when we re-roofed, since the upfront cost was a big deal for us. What I found was, like you said, the roof’s only as good as the insulation and ventilation underneath. We almost went with tile but ended up with metal because it was lighter and less hassle for our older framing. Still, my neighbor has tile and after fixing his attic insulation, he hasn’t had any winter issues either—no cracked tiles or leaks. If you’re on a budget, though, just make sure to factor in those extra upgrades...it adds up fast.
