Roofing in Quartz Hill, CA

Quartz Hill sits between Lancaster and Palmdale on the map, but it belongs to neither. It is unincorporated Los Angeles County, so a reroof permit here comes from LA County Public Works, through its Antelope Valley Building and Safety office on Avenue K6 in Lancaster, not from either city's counter.

That matters for tile. The county's reroofing manual says clay or concrete tile has to be completely removed before a house is reroofed with any material. There is no laying shingles over old tile, and no keeping half the old tile on the back slope. When a Quartz Hill tile roof is done, it is done to the deck.

Shingle roofs get a little more room. The county allows a new roof over an old one only when the inspection finds no more than one layer of wood shingles, asphalt shingles, metal, mineral-surfaced rolled roofing or built-up roofing. Two layers already up there means everything comes off. How many layers you have changes the tear-off, so it is worth knowing before anyone prices the job.

Tile is common in Quartz Hill, and on an older tile roof most leaks are not the tile at all. They come from the underlayment under it, worn out after years of desert sun. If your ceiling has a stain and the tile looks fine from the yard, that is usually where the water is getting in.