What Is “Discontinued” Tile?

When homeowners hear that their roof tiles are “discontinued”, their initial reaction may be to panic. There is a lot of misinformation going around regarding tile roofs and discontinued tile in particular. The best way to address this initial reaction is to educate homeowners and to help them understand what it really means for them. But, for you do so that, you must first have a clear understanding.

We’re here to help you speak to homeowners about tile roofs — discontinued tile in particular.

What are “discontinued” roofing tiles?

A discontinued tile is a tile roofing product that is no longer in production. You can sometimes still find the tile at suppliers or sellers, but the manufacturer themselves won't be producing any new tiles. The impact of discontinued tiles will be higher in Florida, California, Texas, and other southern states because they can withstand high winds, heavy rainfall, and intense sun exposure.

Why are tiles discontinued?

Tiles can be discontinued for a number of reasons.

1. Roofing tile companies merge together.

In the past few decades, the tile roofing product industry underwent significant consolidation. The result of this consolidation is that now just a few large companies are left producing new tile products used for roofing. Generally, when large roofing tile companies acquired the smaller ones, they stop producing the smaller company’s tile products. These abandoned product lines would be considered “discontinued” tile.

2. Rules and regulations change

Housing and building codes are changing all the time — especially with changes in extreme weather. These changes could be around materials in actual tiles, changes to underlayment, regulation on installation practices, etc. If certain tiles don't meet new regulations, they may be discontinued.

3. Not profitable enough

Manufacturers only want to create tiles that will sell. If someone isn't going to be buying blue tiles, for example, then they won't make them any more. A homeowners tiles may be discontinued simply because no one was buying them.

FALSE: Discontinued tiles are bad

The biggest common misconception about discontinued roof tiles are that they are inherently bad. There isn't anything automatically wrong or bad about discontinued tile, especially if it's discontinued because of the sole discretion of the manufacturer.

What you need to know about discontinued roof tiles

Tile products especially are made to fit into each other. If a home needs to be repaired but has a discontinued tile, then new tile may not fit in properly.

This conversation with homeowners may be a bit challenging because they may need to get a whole roof replaced instead of having a repair job. Or, if it was just a color that was discontinued and not the exact type of tile, they may have a patchy roof.

If you're educating homeowners about discontinued tile, be sure to drive home that it doesn't mean their tile is broken or that something is "wrong" with it.

Learning more about roofing trends & educating homeowners

Educating homeowners is a great way to sell roofs. Being that helpful partner and focusing on that education piece builds trust and can lead to more jobs. Check out these blogs for more info you can share with your homeowners:

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