The following is a very brief introduction to tile types, styles and pieces. For more detail about historic tile, the reference book, "Historic and Obsolete Roofing Tile," by Vincent Hobson and Melvin Mann is available at www.rooftilebook.com.

There are four basic types of permanent roofing products that we collect. First and most coveted is the clay roofing tile. It is also a much more difficult tile to salvage due to the installation criteria associated with it.

Image map of tile types.

Another product is the concrete roofing tile. There are scores of variations of this type of product and just as many manufacturers. There are usually more concrete roofing tiles available at any one time than with clay.

Also reclaimed are transite slates. These are the mineral fiber asbestos containing shingles which are manufactured in several different styles. The most common are the hexoganal, or diamond shape and the 24” or 30” panel shingle, made to simulate a staggered pattern roofing material. We also collect slate, however, since our expertise is in clay and concrete tiles, this material is very limited within our inventory.

We do, however, associate ourselves with numerous companies which do reclaim and sell salvaged quarried slate roofing material.