Tile roof--how do I avoid breaking tiles?

Question

We have a beautiful, but very fragile tile roof. The tiles break if you look at them too hard. They cannot support my bodyweight even if I am on my hands and knees.

I need to make a minor repair to a window located in the middle of the roof. I can only repair it from the outside. I need to cross about 7 ft of tile.

How can I cross the roof without breaking the tiles?

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Thank you for the wonderful advice. All the answerers are worthy of a best answer. As an aside, even with a 1/2" ply, I still broke some tiles (like I said, you look at them and they break. Several times the wind has broken them at the edge of the roof). But I the damage was minor and I learned how to repair them -- thanks to you.

Answer 1

You might succeed if you distribute your weight. Get a wooden plank and place it between you and the area to be fixed. My brother and I were painters and there were times we needed to get on a tile roof to paint things such as chimneys. Hope this works and good luck!

Answer 2

Similar to Charles get hold of a big sheet of thick 1/2' /12mm ply and screw / nail thin strips of timber across the width of it, about 300mm / 12" apart, to stop u slipping and chock the bottom edge in your gutter or wall ,if you have one adjacent to the area. That will give u a good working area. When finished sit down with a nice cold beer and gloat how good you did. Ciao 4 now.

Answer 3

you didn't mention what the pitch of the roof is.
the board ideas are good as long as you are carefull and make sure it won't slide.But it's been my experience on tile repairs to do them barefoot and make sure you step on them where they overlap. if you do happen to break or crack one you can go to your local hardware store and get some roof tile adhesive.
good luck and be carefull.