Tile roofing is a complex form of craftsmanship that most people may not know about.  Tile roofing requires special skills, knowledge and craftsmanship to install a 100 year roof. Here is a fun fact: Did you know tile roofing has been around for centuries? However, the early settlers from Europe are responsible for tile roofing in America.

We begin introducing you to our services by providing a dedicated page for the image above that shows a beautiful New Ludowici Tile Roof for a beautiful home in the Lakeshore Historic District.

This next example of our work is a home that is rich in history and we encourage you to see the entire story along with the project video for this New Ludowici French Style Tile Roof.

This next project we completed is an Evanston Ludowici Tile Roof in Spanish Style.

For this next project, we offer both a finished view as well as a great overview into how we do our work.  There is a bit of history that is only to be appreciated if you visit this new Evanston Flat Slab Tile Roof.

With the popularity of architecture in the mid 1800s, especially in the Chicago area, there became various types to tile roofing available. They can be grouped into four main types :

1. One piece barrel that are known also as Spanish or S Tile
2. Two piece barrel that are known also as Mission or Pan & Cover Tile
3. Flat shingles that are flat and have small exposures in various styles of finish, such as rough, smooth and warped
4. Interlocking shingles that have side interlocks and offered in various sizes and textures

Most tile roofs are made from clay and fired in a kiln to strengthen them. There were tile production plants around large clay deposits at the turn of the century. A small number of tile roofs are made from concrete and have color added to the mix. All tile roofs have unique, enduring beauty along with historic value. The roof often defines the character of the building on which it rests.

The picture above shows a job we completed with a Ludowici glazed green Spanish style tile roof. We completely removed the tiles and underlayments and replaced with the highest quality underlayments available. The next step was to lay out the entire roof surface with chalk lines running vertically and horizontally prior to any tile being installed. All flashings were replaced using custom copper flashings, and of course we soldered all seams. Tile was then attached using copper roofing nails. This is a true 100 year roof once again and a thing of beauty for all to enjoy!

In this picture is a Ludowici, Brittany shingle tile job we did in Dixon, IL.  Ryan Restorations was called upon to perform tile roof maintenance for this customer. This included replacing various broken tiles through the roof. We used a hidden attachment technique for replacement tiles.  We also stock a large variety of historic replacement tiles so we had plenty matching tiles to do the job. During our travels across the roof, we discovered lots of improper previous repair attempts.

Here is one more a New Tile Roof in Evanston for a Lake Shore Mansion in the historic district.   We encourage you to check out some of the intricate details of this project.

Contact Us for your tile roof consultation.