Attachment of sheathing to structural clay tile

[banguiano]

Does anyone have any resources for information regarding the attachment of sheathing to structural clay tile. I'm looking for the recommended type of fastener and also the capacity of those fasteners in the clay tiles. What I'm dealing with is a 90 year old structure that has a structural clay tile "flat arch" as the roofing system.

Thank you.

 

[tolchijb]

I have never had any luck with any simple method of attaching to hollow clay tile. You can use epoxy or adhesive and screens, but that would involve laying PT sleepers on the surface and attaching your sheathing to them. It is expensive and time consuming.

I will be interested to see if anyone has a solution to this problem.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Might be easier and cheaper to remove tile, place sheathing and then re-install if desired.

 

[Ron]

About the only way to get any capacity in structural clay tile is to use toggle bolts. That's slow, expensive and a pain in the a$$. The tiles are often brittle or extremely soft and friable...not predictable. When you get roofers or others trying to drill through them to fasten anything, the result is not pretty.

I agree with Mike...remove it and go to a different system. If you leave it in place, you have to consider uplift capacity of the fasteners. If you want any insurability (Factory Mutual, etc.), you'll have to go to another method of roof substrate material.