Depending on where you live in the country, you may not see that many tile roofs anymore, but if you’re one of the homeowners who has one you’ll probably need to make repairs at some point, and you want to be able to do it on your own or at least know when it needs done so you can call someone who can fix it properly. In order to repair a tile roof you’ll need to be able to access the broken tiles. The way to do that is to use a metal bar or something similar to lift the tile that is above the broken one and the tile that is just above and to the right of the broken one.
Then you’ll also need to lift the tile that is just to the left of the broken one, because it overlaps the broken tile. From that point, you can remove the damaged tile. Unless you’re working on the bottom two rows of tiles or a very steep roof, most tiles won’t be nailed down. Instead, they will have a nub at the back that sits on the small boards that run along the roof. The back of the tile will need to be lifted up in order to remove it. If it is nailed down, be sure to use caution when exerting pressure on any surrounding tiles in order to pry the nail loose.
Once you put the new tile in place, you’ll want to take the bars that are holding up the surrounding tiles loose very gently. Take the one on the side loose before the one on the top, and then make sure that everything is lying back down the way it was before you started the repair. Having tiles sticking up can lead to water leaks at a later date, and that’s one of the things you’re trying to avoid by repairing the tile in the first place!
Make sure that you’re also very careful about walking around on your roof. It can become damaged quite easily and you can break or crack more tiles by stepping on them, so you’ll want to be careful how you walk and do the repair from a ladder if possible so that you don’t have to walk on your tiles. If your tiles have faded and you want the new one to match, take an older one from a less conspicuous area, replace it with the new one, and use the older one to replace the more conspicuous, broken tile.