Decra tiles

Thirty-three of the estimated forty-six pieces of new roof tiles have been installed, which may sound like "mostly done," but the trickiest pieces that need cutting and bending have yet to be started. These shown are just the full pieces over the large section of the new roof.


As briefly mentioned earlier, these are metal tiles. It's a unique proprietary roofing system by Decra. Very few roofing supply outlets carry it. I found some at the Burlingame branch of ABC Supply. Mine is the terra cotta style. They require 2x2 battens spaced 14.5" apart. I also got their fascia pieces (seen in photo foreground, covering the front edge).

Advantages of these tiles are:
- match existing roof (for me)
- looks like rich clay tile from a distance
- installation over existing requires no tear-off (if you're re-roofing)
- durability and a 50-year warranty when properly installed

Disadvantages are:
- easy to damage under foot (must walk ONLY on lip at 2x2's)
- labor intensive to modify when remodeling
- very few roofers truly know the product (some will always boast)
- challenging to flash at roof penetrations new or existing
- experienced professionals hate it for the above reasons