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CWS Roofing: The Orlando Owner’s Guide
If your CWS roof is leaking, lifting, or showing water stains across the ceiling, we stock CWS-compatible roofing materials and install them throughout Orlando, with most repairs landing between $400 and $1,800 depending on how far the damage runs. You’ll usually spot the failure the same way every Orlando homeowner does: a brown ring on the ceiling after an afternoon thunderstorm, or granules collecting in the gutter after a windy week. The fix is rarely a mystery once we get on the roof, but matching the right CWS profile and material matters more than most people expect.
We’re an independent Orlando remodeler and roofer, not a CWS dealer or affiliate. That said, we’ve repaired and replaced enough CWS roofing across neighborhoods like College Park, Baldwin Park, and Conway to know exactly which profiles are still being manufactured, which have been discontinued, and what actually works as a proper substitute. We stock common CWS-compatible cement tile, ridge caps, underlayment, and flashing on our trucks, and we can source the rest within a day or two through our Orlando suppliers.
Which CWS Models This Applies To
CWS, which stands for Concrete Waterproofing Systems, is best known in Florida for its cement roof tile lines. The two series we see most often on Orlando homes are the flat-profile tile used on mid-century ranches and the barrel-profile (sometimes called Spanish “S” tile) that covers a lot of 1980s and 1990s construction. If you have the original paperwork, the product code usually starts with “CWS” followed by a three or four digit number stamped on the underside of a tile. No paperwork? Flip over a loose tile and look for a raised maker’s mark near the center. We can identify it from a photo in most cases.
Here’s the compatibility gotcha we run into constantly in Orlando: CWS tiles from the 1990s are a slightly different width and water channel depth than the ones manufactured after 2005. If someone swaps in a new tile that “looks close,” the water channel doesn’t line up, and the first heavy rain sends water sideways under the tile. We match by series, profile shape, and color, not just by rough size. For discontinued colors, we work with a local Orlando supplier who stocks reclaimed CWS tile pulled from teardown houses, which is often the only way to get a true color match on an older roof.
OEM versus aftermarket: for the tile itself, we prefer genuine CWS or matching reclaimed CWS tile. For the underlayment and flashing, we use modern self-adhering underlayment that outperforms whatever CWS originally specified in 1987. The tile stays true to the system; the waterproofing underneath gets upgraded. That matters in Orlando, where afternoon thunderstorms and the August heat cycle put far more stress on underlayment than the tile above it.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your CWS Roofing Is Failing
- Water stains on ceilings or walls after rain. This is the one that gets most people to call us. The stain usually means water found a path through a cracked tile, a failed flashing joint, or deteriorated underlayment. By the time you see the stain, water has been traveling for a while.
- Cracked, chipped, or missing tiles visible from the ground. Cement tile is tough, but a falling oak limb in College Park or a pressure washer set too high will crack it. One cracked tile left alone lets water hit the underlayment directly, and in Orlando’s rainy season, that underlayment degrades fast.
- Granules or tile dust collecting in gutters and downspouts. Cement tile erodes slowly, but if you’re seeing noticeable grit every time you clean the gutters, the surface is breaking down. That grit is what used to protect the tile from UV and impact.
- Flashing pulling away at chimneys, skylights, or valleys. Flashing is usually the first thing to fail on a CWS roof, not the tile itself. When the metal or sealant pulls away, water runs straight down the gap. It’s a $400 to $800 fix in most cases, far cheaper than waiting for the decking underneath to rot.
- Soft spots on the roof deck visible from the attic. If you’re in the attic and the underside of the sheathing looks dark or feels spongy, you have a long-running leak. That’s past a repair and into a replacement conversation.
See the difference
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a typical CWS roof repair in Orlando, you’re looking at $400 to $1,800 depending on what actually failed. A flashing repair or a few tiles replaced runs on the low end. A larger section where underlayment is shot and the underlying plywood sheathing needs to be cut out and replaced runs higher. If the whole roof has reached the end of its life, expect $8,000 to $20,000 for a full CWS-style tile roof replacement on a typical Orlando home, with the range driven by roof size, pitch, whether you’re matching existing tile or reroofing from the deck up, and how much of the original CWS tile can be salvaged.
Every repair gets a written price before anyone climbs a ladder, and that price includes parts, labor, and disposal. If we open up the roof and find additional damage, we stop, call you, and give you the new number before we touch anything else. Every repair carries our written 365-Day Done Right Promise: if the fix fails within the guarantee window, we come back and make it right at no charge, including the return visit. No service call, no re-inspection fee, no chasing us down.
DIY or Call Us?
Walking your own roof to inspect it from the ground with binoculars or checking the attic for stains after a heavy rain is fine, and it’s smart. What we don’t recommend is climbing onto a tile roof, especially after rain or early in the morning when the surface is slick with dew. Cement tile is strong under foot in the right spots, but stepping on the wrong spot cracks tiles, and cracked tiles become leaks. Orlando roofs also heat up fast in the summer, and a slip off a one-story tile roof still means a hospital visit. If you can see the problem from the ground, call us at (850) 427-6454 and describe it; we’ll give you a ballpark over the phone and a firm written price once we look.
The middle-ground option: if a tile is cracked but the weather’s dry, you can tarp the area to slow water intrusion until we get there. Stretch the tarp over the ridge and weigh it down with sandbags, never nails. That buys you time without turning a repair into a bigger one.
FAQs
CWS cement tile generally lasts 30 to 50 years in Central Florida, but the underlayment beneath it usually needs replacement around the 20 to 25 year mark. The tile can keep going; the waterproofing layer, which takes the real beating from Orlando’s rain and humidity, cannot.
A single cracked tile can sometimes be sealed with a cementitious patching compound if the crack is hairline and the tile is still fully seated. Anything worse than that should be replaced, because patched tile fails again in the first heavy Orlando storm. Call (850) 427-6454 and we’ll tell you honestly which one you’re looking at.
Most repairs are done in one visit, usually three to five hours on site. Full replacement of the underlayment over a large section or a whole-roof tile replacement runs one to two weeks depending on weather. We give you a written arrival window before we start, and we stick to it.
Yes. Our technicians carry common CWS flat and barrel tile profiles, ridge caps, matching mortar, flashing, and underlayment on every roof call in Orlando. If your particular color is discontinued, we source reclaimed tile through local Orlando suppliers and have it within a day or two.
If your CWS roof is showing any of the warning signs above, call (850) 427-6454 today. We’ll answer, talk through what you’re seeing, and schedule a free inspection with a written price before anyone picks up a tool. Give you the number first, then pick up the tool.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Orlando, serving Orlando and nearby areas.
