Field guide

Tile Roof Field Guide in Photographs

Calm, captioned photographs of clay tile roof styles, common tile roof repairs and roofs in the middle of the work, for Ventura County homeowners.

Last reviewed November 10, 2026

Tile styles Repair examples Work in progress

It helps to know what you are looking at before anyone climbs a ladder. This field guide collects photographs of tile roof styles, of the details that usually need repair, and of roofs while the work is under way.

When something here looks like your roof, the price guide explains how that kind of work is priced, and the maintenance guide covers what you can watch for from the ground.

These are real, openly licensed photographs, used here as illustrations. None of them shows work by this site or by any particular roofer. Each caption says what the photograph shows, and where it was taken when the photographer recorded it. Photo credits

01 / Styles

Tile roof styles

Barrel, mission and flat clay, on houses from Spanish Revival to farmhouse stone.

Mission Revival building with clay tile roofs, San Fernando, California — 01Mission Revival building with clay tile roofsSan Fernando, California

Spanish Eclectic house with a clay tile roof, Knoxville, Tennessee — 02Spanish Eclectic house with a clay tile roofKnoxville, Tennessee

Mediterranean Revival house with a tile roof, Buffalo, New York — 03Mediterranean Revival house with a tile roofBuffalo, New York

Spanish Mission Revival house, John Sprunt Hill House, Durham, North Carolina — 04Spanish Mission Revival house, John Sprunt Hill HouseDurham, North Carolina

Stone cottage with an old clay tile roof, Gran Canaria, Spain — 05Stone cottage with an old clay tile roofGran Canaria, Spain

06Villa with red tile roofs and a garden

Weathered clay barrel tile in the Provence style, close up, Provence, France — 07Weathered clay barrel tile in the Provence style, close upProvence, France

Barrel tile courses on a stone church, Carabias, Spain — 08Barrel tile courses on a stone churchCarabias, Spain

Traditional stone house with clay tile, Avila, Spain — 09Traditional stone house with clay tileAvila, Spain

10Clay tile roofs and white chimneys below the mountains

Clay tile over a courtyard colonnade, San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico — 11Clay tile over a courtyard colonnadeSan Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico

Mission style house with clay tile, Alonzo Key House, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — 12Mission style house with clay tile, Alonzo Key HouseOklahoma City, Oklahoma

02 / Repairs

Repair examples

Shown in natural color, because the detail matters. Grouped the way a roofer would walk the roof.

Broken and missing tile

A cracked or missing piece lets sun and water reach the underlayment. Matching old clay is the slow part.

What you see
New clay tiles laid in beside weathered ones
Photographed in Avila, Spain
What you see
An old roof patched with many replacement tiles
Photographed in Hockenheim, Germany
What you see
A tile roof that has partly collapsed
Photographed in Madeira, Portugal
What you see
Old tiles and underlayment torn off during a re-roof
Photographed in Antalya, Turkey

Ridges and wall caps

The mortar or fixings along the top and the edges age faster than the tile itself.

What you see
Clay tile capping a wall, the mortar cracked and weathered
Photographed in Becedas, Spain

Chimneys, vents and skylights

Every opening in the roof is sealed with metal. This is where many leaks begin.

What you see
An old chimney on a clay tile roof, shortly before it was replaced
Photographed in Graz, Austria
What you see
A glass roof beside clay tile, one long flashed edge
Photographed in Sonoma Valley, California
What you see
A vent opening in a clay tile field
Location not recorded by the photographer

Valleys and junctions

Where two roofs meet, or tile meets another material, the water gathers.

What you see
A valley and wall junction on a clay tile roof
Photographed in Corsica, France
What you see
Clay tile ending over a metal roof, a junction that needs flashing
Photographed in Verona, Italy