Tile and foam roofs: what we do and don’t treat

Short version: we treat asphalt shingle roofs and nothing else. Not tile, not foam, not metal.

That matters here, because Phoenix-area homes have a real mix of roof types. Nobody publishes a reliable count of how many Valley roofs are tile, foam or shingle, so we won’t guess at one. We just check your roof type first. If it turns out you don’t have shingles, this page tells you why we can’t help and who can.

Why rejuvenation is a shingle-only job

A rejuvenator works on asphalt. Asphalt shingles dry out as the asphalt oxidizes and its lighter oils bake off, and a treatment is meant to soak into that asphalt. The maker of the product we use is specific about this. SoyLei Innovations says on its product page that “APEX-1132™ is for asphalt-shingle roof maintenance.” It says nothing about tile, foam or metal.

Tile is concrete or clay. Foam is sprayed polyurethane with a protective coat on top. Metal is metal. None of them has asphalt in it to treat, so spraying them would sell you nothing useful. If you want the full picture of what roof rejuvenation is for, start there.

Concrete and clay tile roofs

The tiles you see from the street are only part of a tile roof. Underneath them sits underlayment, and around the edges, walls and openings there is flashing. Those hidden layers are what a tile roofer will want to look at on an older tile roof.

We don’t spray tile, and we don’t work on the layers under it. If you are worried about a tile roof, call a roofer who works on tile and ask them to check what’s under the tiles, not just the tiles themselves.

Foam roofs

If you have a flat roof, or a low, flat section over a patio or carport, it may be spray foam. A foam roof is maintained by recoating it, and that is work for a foam roofing contractor. We don’t recoat foam, and our treatment is not a coating of any kind.

Homes with more than one kind of roof

Plenty of houses don’t fit in one box. You might have tile on the main house, foam over the back patio and shingles on an addition or a garage. If part of your roof is asphalt shingle, that part may still be a candidate.

In that case we treat the shingle sections only. We cover the tile or foam next to them before we spray, and we show you on the photos exactly which slopes we would treat and which we would leave alone. Whether the shingle part qualifies comes down to its condition, which our page on whether your roof is a candidate covers.

How to tell what you have

• Asphalt shingles are flat, overlapping strips with a gritty, sandpaper-like surface. Look for grit in the gutters.
• Tile is thick and heavy, either curved like an S or flat, usually in clay or concrete shades. You can often see the shadow line of each tile from the street.
• Foam sits on flat or nearly flat roofs and has a smooth or slightly bumpy surface, often coated in a light color.
• Metal comes in long panels with raised seams, or in shapes stamped to look like tile or shingles.

Who to call instead

For tile or foam, you want a roofer who does that kind of roof every day. Before you hire anyone, look them up on the Arizona Registrar of Contractors contractor search. It’s public, and it lets you check the business name you were given against the state’s records.

A few habits help with any roofer. Ask for photos of what they found. Get the scope of work in writing. On bigger jobs, get more than one opinion. We have nothing to sell you for a tile or foam roof, so that advice comes with no strings attached.

Our short answer to can you treat tile or foam roofs covers the same ground in a few lines, if you want to send it to someone.

Not sure what’s on your roof?

If you think some of your roof is shingle, or you just can’t tell from the ground, book a free roof evaluation. We’ll tell you what you have, and if none of it is shingle, we’ll say so and point you to the right trade.

Common questions