Direct answer
A concrete or terracotta tile roof typically uses a hook or flashing that sits with the tile course and screws to rafters or battens as the design specifies. Tiles are lifted and reseated. The waterproofing detail matters more than the colour of the panel.
We will not invent a hook spacing or a “this tile type is always fine.” Older terracotta in inner Melbourne, concrete tiles in 1980s Sydney, and mixed repairs on an Adelaide bungalow are different days on a roof.
What goes wrong
- Cracked tiles left behind after a rushed lift.
- Hooks that bear on the tile instead of the structure.
- No photographs of the opened roof for your records.
- A workmanship warranty that expires before the first serious storm season.
- Valleys, hips, and existing leaks ignored because the array “only sits on the north plane.”
Ask how many tiles they expect to replace, and who pays if a leak appears on the ceiling below an array. A stain in a Paddington terrace after an easterly is not a module-brand problem.
What a quote should name
- Tile type (concrete, terracotta, and whether they are brittle or already slipping).
- Hook or flashing brand and model, not “tile kit.”
- What the hook fixes into (rafter versus batten — the designer of record decides).
- How many spare tiles are allowed for in the price.
- Who warrants waterproofing, and for how long.
- Scaffold or edge protection on a two-storey house.
See clamps and rails for why leftover hooks from a hardware aisle are not a system.
When the roof should come first
If the tiles are mossy, slipping, or the valleys are tired, a solar array is a way to postpone a reroof — poorly. A metal reroof plus a tin-roof mount can be the honest sequence. That is a building decision, not a ranking we will invent.
Heritage overlays in older suburbs can add a planning conversation. Ask council before you assume a dark all-black array is invisible.
Heritage note
The 2013 “Tile Roof Solar Mounting System” product page is rewritten here. We do not stock hooks. Classic product URLs 301 to the hub or this guide.
Siblings: tin / metal, flat. Use the installer checklist for who holds the flashing warranty.
Older suburbs, newer obstacles
Inner Melbourne terracotta, 1980s concrete tiles in Sydney’s west, and mixed repairs on an Adelaide bungalow all sit in the “tile” bucket. They do not share a hook. Brittle tiles crack when they are levered without enough spare. Already-slipping courses are a reroof conversation first.
Heritage overlays can add a planning step. Dark all-black arrays are not invisible on a federation roof. Ask council if the house is listed. That is not this website’s job to decide.
Records you should keep
Photos of the opened roof, the hook into timber, and the reseated course. A count of tiles replaced. The workmanship contact. If a stain appears after an easterly, you want those files, not a memory of a van logo.
See compare two quotes so a cheaper net price that skipped spare tiles is visible. See tin if you are deciding whether a metal reroof should come first.
Parent: hub. Related: packages.
Australian site notes
Spare tiles, photos of the opened course, and a workmanship contact are the difference between a method and a hope. If the valleys are tired, a metal reroof may be the honest sequence — that is a building decision, not a ranking.
Put the method in words on the quote. Then use the installer checklist and the mounting hub. We will not invent a load rating, a hook spacing, or a ballast density for your street. Last reviewed 25 September 2026, general information only.
Quote language you can copy
Count spare tiles. Photograph the opened course. Ask who pays if a stain appears after an easterly. Heritage overlays can add a planning step.
Then return to the hub and put the method in the installer table. General information only — not a span table.
Tile work is a roofing job that happens to hold PV. Last reviewed 25 September 2026.