Tile roof - advise needed

[carboyz101]

Hi, I'm busy having solar panels installed on a tile roof.  I had a look at the installation and am concerned about the gaps in the tiles where the brackets have been attached to the rafters.  Is this normal and should I need to ask for this to be rectified?

I've taken some pictures of one bracket, but all of the brackets have a similar gap.

   

wide view of same bracket:

Please advise.

 

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by carboyz101
rotated image

[hoohloc]

mine are like that, but then again I did the installation myself. If I had paid someone to do the installation, I would demand that they fix the gap properly. Grind the tile as @Branisays 

But to be honest, nothing will happen if left like that. The re no leak on my roof so, no need to worry about tiles that are slightly lifted 

Edited June 15, 2021 by hoohloc

[Coulomb]

17 hours ago, hoohloc said:

nothing will happen if left like that.

Not with "normal" rain. But with driving rain that happens to come from the wrong direction, rain will enter through the gap, and won't if the job was done properly.

It's just extreme cost cutting. Not a good sign.

Edit: it will be a huge job to fix it now. Much more than doing it properly in the first place.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Coulomb

[carboyz101]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I can't take the chance with our heavy Joburg storms.  Luckily the installer is still waiting for the inverter and hasn't completed the job yet. 

Also found this video showing the process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQz0EqHq38o

 

   

Edited June 16, 2021 by carboyz101

[hoohloc]

43 minutes ago, carboyz101 said:

Thanks for the feedback guys, I can't take the chance with our heavy Joburg storms.  Luckily the installer is still waiting for the inverter and hasn't completed the job yet. 

Also found this video showing the process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQz0EqHq38o

 

   

I'm in JHB, had lots of rain and winds since my installation and trust me, my house has no leaks at all. To get water leak through those gaps, you will have to physically spray water there with hose pipe or something. Normal/crosswind rain will not enter, it has not so far. Ten months later and counting 

[hoohloc]

3 minutes ago, hoohloc said:

I'm in JHB, had lots of rain and winds since my installation and trust me, my house has no leaks at all. To get water leak through those gaps, you will have to physically spray water there with hose pipe or something. Normal/crosswind rain will not enter, it has not so far. Ten months later and counting 

Nice, video though. Interesting to know how to do the installation properly but I wouldn't loose sleep over the gaps. In your case, you have paid the installer, let him fix it properly 

[hoohloc]

1 hour ago, Coulomb said:

Not with "normal" rain. But with driving rain that happens to come from the wrong direction, rain will enter through the gap, and won't if the job was done properly.

It's just extreme cost cutting. Not a good sign.

Edit: it will be a huge job to fix it now. Much more than doing it properly in the first place.

I literally went into my roof when we had those heavy windy rains in JHB that up routed trees around our area in the Northern Suburbs. Inspected all my roof hooks mounting and there was not a single drop of rain coming through 

[hoohloc]

42 minutes ago, Brani said:

I do spray water almost directly at it, when I clean the panels and it’s from the bottom up. 
The gap is not a big deal but it looks ugly and unprofessional. I would certainly demand it to be fixed.

Will also plan to fix mine too, now that I know how its done. Thank you for the info, we learn every day 

[hoohloc]

26 minutes ago, Brani said:

Lifting the tiles, especially if the panels are on top of it is not easy. Good luck!

Planning to re-arrange them because I need to add more. Need to create space for 12 more 

[carboyz101]

I'm going to see what the installer says when he comes to complete the job.  This roof is directly over my front door and when standing on the porch it just looks wrong.  I would hate to see that everyday, I rather have it sorted out now then later.

 

[dreadlk]

I am in the process of putting in a 24 panel system on a brand new Spanish tile clay roof and the hooks have already been installed.

I did extensive research on tile mounting and found out a few things.   Do not grind down the tile on the bottom, it would make no difference unless you can lower the hook down further which is probably not likely.  In any case it is recommended that you only grind of a channel in the top tile and just enough that the tile rest a bit lower.  You will must have a gap at the bottom as the bottom tile cannot move and it will be cracked if the wind pushes the panels downward and hits into a tile that is resting on the batten.  The top tile can move so long as the nail or screw holding it at the rear is not tightened too much.  So the hook touching the top tile is not a big issue.

 

Bottom line is that there is always going to be some Gaps on the tiles that have the hooks under them.  You can minimize that with some grinding of the top tile but do not try to grind out too much or the tile will crack when the hook moves with the wind.

 

BTW the tiles on the roof do not stop all of the water when it rains.  There is always water getting blown under every tile and many roofs have several cracked tiles.  What makes a tile roof water resistant is the membrane or Felt that is under the tiles.  Even a roof with perfect tiles will leak if the membrane underneath it has a tear in it.  So don't worry to much about water getting blown under the tile.  If your membrane is good it will just run off the side of the roof.

Edited June 22, 2021 by dreadlk