Hoi An's old houses are patched with tin and tarps as tiles run short

Many old houses in Hoi An's ancient town are being kept watertight with metal sheeting and tarpaulins because replacement yin-yang roof tiles are hard to find, VnExpress International reports in a photo feature dated 3 November. The photos were taken on 30 October. The headline says no wood-fired kilns remain, but the report does not explain when or why they closed.

The town was recognised as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1999 and has more than 1,000 old houses and relics, over 80% of them privately or collectively owned. Time, natural disasters and floods have left many in poor condition.

On Tran Phu Street, the house at 92 has replaced yin-yang tiles with metal sheets or new-style tiles, and a tarp over its remaining tiles has decayed. The altar room of the house at 68 is covered with tarps because of frequent leaks.

Some metal-roofed houses are weighted with wood, tyres and other items to withstand storms, and authorities have helped residents tie down roofs with cables and wooden posts. Some households hang tarps below the roof to catch leaks but still fear falling tiles. Colourful tarps over sidewalk displays and makeshift awnings from businesses have also narrowed pavements, the report says, and some were put up without permission.

Pham Phu Ngoc, director of the Hoi An World Cultural Heritage Conservation Center, said residents may install awnings of 0.8 to 1 square metre over the eaves of lightwell courtyards. Fully covering a lightwell with a tarp, or building a frame for a roof over it, does not comply with regulations because the yin-yang tiles are integral to the town's relics. A team inspects daily and will require households to remove tarps and make repairs.

Nguyen Tan Cuong, chairman of the Hoi An ward People's Committee, said the ward and the conservation center have agreed coordination rules for dilapidated old houses, and that authorities will review tarp use on pavements and require compliance. The report describes no formal conservation plan beyond those rules, the daily inspections and the planned reviews.

Sources

• With no wood-fired kilns left, Hoi An ancient town patches its roofs with tin and tarps (VnExpress International, November 3, 2026)

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