Live near the water in Del Mar and your roof has a tougher job than most. Salt rides every breeze, settles on metal and seams, and keeps working long after the sun goes down. You don’t notice it right away. Then the first real rain hits and a tiny weak spot turns into a stain on the ceiling.
At JCIS Roofing, our crew spends a lot of time on these roofs—from Ocean Front to Crest Canyon. The pattern is familiar: small coastal wear in the same places, year after year. Tighten those details and the roof stays quiet through winter. Ignore them and you’re chasing leaks.
Where Del Mar roofs give up first
- Metal at the edges and penetrations. Drip edge, chimney saddles, skylight curbs, pipe jacks. Salt sits on paint, creeps underneath, and the first rust blooms show as chalky white or orange streaks.
- Valleys and low spots. Wind drops needles and palm strings right where water needs to run. Debris holds moisture and pushes it sideways under the surface layer.
- South- and west-facing slopes. Heat bakes sealants and underlayment; night air cools everything back down. That daily expansion and contraction opens hairline gaps.
- Older tile assemblies. Tile is the shell. Underlayment is the waterproofing. When the felt or low-temp synthetic gets brittle, storms find it fast.
If a roof looks fine from the street but keeps leaking, it’s usually one of these four.
A simple coastal tune-up that actually works
We keep Del Mar maintenance straightforward. Fix the small stuff with the right materials, then rinse salt off on a schedule.
- Swap out vulnerable metal. Where standard galvanized is failing, we use aluminum, copper, or zinc-coated steel rated for marine exposure.
- Refresh the seal at critical seams. Clean the joint, prime if needed, and use flexible, UV-stable sealant that won’t turn to chalk by fall.
- Clear and shape the water path. Valleys and gutters get fully cleared; downspouts get upsized or re-pitched if they can’t keep up during a squall.
- Re-secure loose courses. Slipped tile, lifted shingle tabs, proud fasteners—tiny gaps become leak channels in a coastal storm.
- Upgrade the backbone where it’s aging. On tile roofs with tired underlayment, replace the runs along valleys and eaves now, or plan a full underlayment swap before rainy season.
This isn’t cosmetic. It’s the small, unglamorous work that keeps water on the outside.
“Do I need a new roof or just repairs?”
Honest answer: many Del Mar homes only need targeted work. If the field of the roof is solid and the weak points are at metal, seams, and drainage, a focused repair carries you years. Replacement makes sense when:
- underlayment is brittle across wide areas under tile,
- shingles are shedding granules everywhere, or
- leaks are showing up in new places after every storm.
When replacement is the right call, choose an assembly that likes living by the ocean:
- Standing-seam metal (coastal finish). Fewer joints, sheds wind-driven rain, and solar clamps to seams—no extra holes.
- Concrete tile with high-temp underlayment. Heavy, quiet, steady in gusts.
- Clay tile. Long service life and natural ventilation under the pans.
- Architectural shingles with coastal/wind ratings. If shingles fit the budget, spec matters; pair them with ventilation that actually moves air.
We’ll show photos, lay out cost and service life, and let you pick the path that fits your home and timeline.
Five-minute check you can do before the next storm
- Look up under the eaves: peeling paint, rusted nail heads, or dark streaks mean moisture has been hanging around.
- Walk the perimeter after wind: granules that look like coarse sand below a downspout point to shingle wear.
- Sight along the roofline from the curb: waves or sags can hint at tired decking.
- Peek around skylights inside: faint tea-colored rings are the first warning.
- Sniff the attic after rain: musty air usually means damp insulation.
Two or more of these? Book an inspection before the forecast turns.
How we handle a Del Mar job
We arrive early, protect landscaping, set safety, and tear off only what we need to see. If plywood is soft, we change it and document it. New underlayment goes in tight; metal gets fitted and sealed clean. At the end of each day we run a magnet for stray nails and tidy the yard. When we’re done, we walk the roof with you and go through photos—what failed, what we changed, and what to watch over the next few seasons.
No drama. No pressure. Just the work that needs doing.
Bottom line
Coastal roofs don’t fail all at once. They fail in the details. Take care of the edges, seams, and water paths and the rest of the system lasts a lot longer than you think.
If you want a straight assessment—repair, reinforce, or replace—our team will climb up, show you exactly what’s happening, and give you a plan that makes sense for a home that lives by the ocean.
JCIS Roofing — Del Mar Coastal Roofing, done right
Call: 760-481-8006 • Book: jcisroofing.com