Repair

Ten Common Roof Problems and What They Cost to Fix

By Scottsdale Roof Repairs · October 18, 2026 · 8 min read

Every roofing market has its own list of common roof problems. Scottsdale's is dominated by what heat does to a roof and what monsoon wind does to a roof that heat has already weakened. Here are ten that come up most here — from failed felt and cracked tile to a failed pipe jack and foam blisters — with what each typically costs to fix. The ranges are typical for 2026, not quotes, and they match the cost page.

Ten common roof problems on Scottsdale homes

1. Failed tile underlayment

The big one. Original 30-pound felt under a 1990s or early-2000s tile roof, cooked to powder by 15 to 25 summers, letting monsoon rain through while the tile above it looks new. It shows up as a first-ever leak in July or August, usually on a roof with no history of problems.

Fix: a tile underlayment relay — lift the tile, new two-layer or synthetic underlayment, new flashings, relay. $8,000–$15,000 on most homes.

2. Valley leaks

Two roof planes meet, all the water goes there, and so does the palo verde litter and pigeon debris. The debris dams the water sideways over the edge of the valley metal, and the felt at the edge of the valley is often the first on the roof to fail because it sees the most water.

Fix: lift tile back three or four courses, clean, new underlayment lapped onto new or cleaned valley metal, relay. $500–$1,200 per valley.

3. Cracked tile from foot traffic

An AC technician, a satellite installer, a painter, a solar surveyor. Concrete tile breaks under a heel placed wrong and clay breaks under almost any heel. Every cracked tile is a fast track for water to the felt.

Fix: replace per tile from stock or salvage. $300–$600 per visit for up to a dozen tiles. Ask the AC company who walked the roof.

4. A failed pipe jack

The lead or rubber boot around each plumbing vent. Birds peck lead; UV crumbles neoprene. A failed pipe jack leaks in slow winter rain more than in wind, straight down the pipe into a bathroom ceiling.

Fix: new jack, tile reset around it. $300–$500 each. A 1990s roof that has never had them done usually needs several.

5. Chalked foam coating and foam blisters

The acrylic on a sprayed foam roof goes gray and powdery five to seven years after the last coat. It is not a leak yet, but the foam underneath is unprotected and starting to pit. Foam blisters — bubbles where moisture or trapped air has lifted the coating or the top of the foam — tend to follow, often near the parapet.

Fix: clean, cut and patch the blisters, two coats of elastomeric. $3,000–$7,000 for most flat-roofed homes, plus $300–$800 for spot repairs first. October is the month.

6. Wind-displaced eave and rake tile

Monsoon outflow gets under the perimeter tile, which on production roofs was often never fastened. Tiles slide, stack, or land in the pool. The felt they covered is now in direct sun.

Fix: reset and fasten with clips or screws, replace breakage. $300–$800. Doing the whole perimeter in June, before the wind, is the cheap version.

7. Stucco-to-roof flashing failures

Where a stucco wall meets a lower roof — chimneys, second-story walls above patio roofs, parapets. The stucco was often run down over the flashing and caulked. The caulk is gone, the stucco has cracked, and water runs behind the flashing.

Fix: cut a reglet into the stucco, new counterflashing, and a cricket behind chimneys. $600–$1,500.

8. Blocked scuppers and ponding on flat roofs

A flat or foam roof drains through scuppers in the parapet. Monsoon debris and haboob dust block them, water stands, and it finds the parapet crack or the seam it has been waiting for. The longer it stands, the faster the foam ages.

Fix: clear and flush, replace rusted scupper boxes, build up foam to restore slope. $300–$800.

9. Skylight leaks

Usually the curb flashing or the seal between dome and frame, sometimes a dome cracked by hail or simply by twenty years of sun. Skylights tend to leak in winter rain that sits on the unit.

Fix: reflash and reseal, $400–$900; a new dome or unit, more.

10. Cooked shingles

The minority roof, but South Scottsdale has a lot of them. Curling, granule loss at the downspouts, tabs that lift in every microburst. A 30-year shingle at year 18 in this sun.

Fix: patches at $300–$800 while it is still patchable; then a replacement at $9,000–$22,000, ideally to architectural cool-color shingles or, where the HOA allows and the budget stretches, to tile.

The prices in one table

What is not on the list

Ice dams, moss, rot from rain, hurricane damage, snow load. If a contractor in Scottsdale is talking about any of those, they learned the trade somewhere else. Also not on the list, because it is too occasional to rank: hail across a whole roof. When it happens it is a storm damage question for you and your insurer, not a maintenance item.

Reading the list

Items 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are repairs, and on a roof with sound felt they stay repairs. Item 1 is what turns any of them into a bigger decision: a valley leak on dead felt is a relay conversation, not a valley repair. Item 5 is maintenance that becomes item-1-sized if it is skipped twice. That is the whole logic of roof problems in Scottsdale, and repair vs. replacement walks through it. The repair page covers what each visit involves.

When you get a price for any of these, ask the roofer to name the cause, show you a photo of it, and put the per-tile or per-sheet rate on the estimate. Check a roofer's license with the Arizona ROC license lookup before work starts, and get any workmanship term in years, in writing, from the roofer who does the work.

Before you approve a repair: a short checklist

• Ask which of the ten problems was found, and look at a photo of it.
• Ask whether the felt was checked next to the repair, and what it looked like.
• Get the per-tile price for broken tile and the per-sheet rate for deck repair written on the estimate.
• Ask whether the old valley metal or pipe jack is being reused or replaced.
• Ask how long the repair is expected to hold on a roof of this age.

Comparing two prices for the same problem

Two quotes for one valley leak can sit at $500 and $1,200 and both be honest. The lower one may clean the valley and reset the tile. The higher one may lift three or four courses, lay new underlayment and lap it onto new valley metal. Those are different jobs with the same name. Line the quotes up by what each one replaces, not by the total, and ask the low bidder what is left out. On a roof past 15 years, also ask each roofer whether the money would be better spent on a relay.

Common questions

What is on my roof?

If you see overlapping curved or flat pieces about the size of a large book, it is tile — concrete if it is thick and matte, clay if it is thinner, smoother and terracotta-colored. A seamless white or tan surface on a flat roof behind a parapet is usually sprayed foam. Flat strips with granules are asphalt shingle, and gravel on a flat roof usually means an older built-up roof.

What type of roof is this, and which problems apply to it?

A pitched tile roof is the most common type in Scottsdale, and problems 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 are mostly tile problems. Problems 5 and 8 belong to flat and foam roofs, and 10 to shingle. Many houses have two types — a tile main roof with a foam patio or addition — so check both. If you cannot tell, a roof inspection names it in writing.

Which roof problem should I fix first?

Anything letting water in now, then anything that leaves felt in the sun, like a missing eave tile or a cracked tile over a batten. After that, the cheap preventive items: clear the valleys and scuppers and replace failed pipe jacks. The big decisions, a relay or a recoat, can be planned for spring or fall instead of being forced in August.