Ridge/hip tile repairs advice

[danlightbulb]

Simple - if you have decided you will not be doing it, then you need quotes from a roofer.

Do you agree the job definitely needs doing? Obviously with these things sometimes its easy to panic and think I have to do it, in this case is that in agreement or do you think I can wait?

 

[accelerator]

That's all fair enough and I agree with Harry, you definitely shouldn't be attempting this alone, and also only with all the correct safety measures in place, which are expensive.

You'd better get searching for roofing contractors then.

 

[danlightbulb]

That's all fair enough and I agree with Harry, you definitely shouldn't be attempting this alone, and also only with all the correct safety measures in place, which are expensive.

You'd better get searching for roofing contractors then.

Same question to you really - do you agree the whole job needs doing? Or do I have other options, such as a smaller patch repair, finding a 'handyman' who is more willing to work off a ladder/small platform to get the costs down, something else I haven't thought of?

 

[Koolpc]

I would get it all done. Get someone in to do the work. Shop around. Get some quotes. Word of mouth.

Dont risk it yourself if you have any doubts..

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Do you agree the job definitely needs doing? Obviously with these things sometimes its easy to panic and think I have to do it, in this case is that in agreement or do you think I can wait?

Your photos are none to clear, but from what I can see, those ridge tiles are not too bad. I live at a high spot, where it gets very windy, and mine survived in worse condition than yours, for years. When I got around to it, I simply had the sides buttered, rather than disturbed and reset.

I found my roofer, by simply keeping my eyes open, in the local area. I would sometimes see a guy working on various rooves, around the area, from ladders. Checked his work out, and satisfied myself he was doing a decent job, and waited for him to come down to get his contact number. Since then, I've had him reflaunch the chimney, do the ridge tiles, replace 100 tiles, and even replace the old TV antenna, with a new one. The most he has ever asked for, is £100.

 

[danlightbulb]

Your photos are none to clear, but from what I can see, those ridge tiles are not too bad. I live at a high spot, where it gets very windy, and mine survived in worse condition than yours, for years. When I got around to it, I simply had the sides buttered, rather than disturbed and reset.

I found my roofer, by simply keeping my eyes open, in the local area. I would sometimes see a guy working on various rooves, around the area, from ladders. Checked his work out, and satisfied myself he was doing a decent job, and waited for him to come down to get his contact number. Since then, I've had him reflaunch the chimney, do the ridge tiles, replace 100 tiles, and even replace the old TV antenna, with a new one. The most he has ever asked for, is £100.

Thank you. That would be a good option if I get lucky and see someone who Im happy with.

I think with this job, yes I could throw a few £k at it of course and get it done, and there will be people ready to take my money.

If repointing them up is sufficient to make it last another 5 years, for a few hundred £, then I'd probably go for that.


I'll get the better digital camera out later and try and get some better pictures using the optical zoom.

The mortar is clearly falling out of the sides, but I don't know how much is still inside. If they were laid on a full bed it could be quite alot still in there.

 

[aveatry]

If you went up there and started with the ones with little mortar I think you will be shocked how easily each one will just pull straight off. If you have never been up on a roof like that then to do it yourself you would need proper scaffolding.
I have made a wedge shape out of old foam mattress with ply glued to the top so when its on the roof the top is level and horizontal, also the foam grips the rough concrete tiles and stays put.

 

[accelerator]

Same question to you really - do you agree the whole job needs doing? Or do I have other options, such as a smaller patch repair, finding a 'handyman' who is more willing to work off a ladder/small platform to get the costs down, something else I haven't thought of?

The definition of "needs doing" is subjective. Everyone will think differently.

If it was my roof, I would definitely fix it if it was leaking. I would also want it to "look nice" and be in "good repair". Whether I wanted to pay to do that, would depend on my finances at the time. Honestly, I think it's your decision to make.

If you're going to leave it, I would be regularly checking for leaks to avoid further damage. If you fix it now, you might avoid further bills later, e.g. as said above tiles might get blown off.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

If you're going to leave it, I would be regularly checking for leaks to avoid further damage. If you fix it now, you might avoid further bills later, e.g. as said above tiles might get blown off.

They will not leak, unless dislodged by the weather, the mortar is to keep them in place, against the weather. The buttering along the lip, plays a big part, in preventing the wind catching under the lip, and dislodging them.

 

[danlightbulb]

They will not leak, unless dislodged by the weather, the mortar is to keep them in place, against the weather. The buttering along the lip, plays a big part, in preventing the wind catching under the lip, and dislodging them.

There's alot of stuff online suggesting repointing ridge tiles is not recommended because it won't last very long. Almost everything points to removal, clean up and rebedding, or fitting dry system. I understand why you had yours repointed especially if it was very cheap but its unlikely I find someone like your roofer guy who will do it for a couple hundred off a ladder.

The definition of "needs doing" is subjective. Everyone will think differently.

If it was my roof, I would definitely fix it if it was leaking. I would also want it to "look nice" and be in "good repair". Whether I wanted to pay to do that, would depend on my finances at the time. Honestly, I think it's your decision to make.

I think its obvious it does need doing, in that the mortar has all come out so is now a risk.

In an ideal world, yes it would be done with dry ridge system I think, these days.

I do care about things being in good repair and done properly. Too many people leave jobs like this when its their responsibility to do them and now it falls on owners further down the line.

And that's the rub - because it shouldn't really have been allowed to get to this stage and now Im facing the whole cost myself. The survey I had done at purchase was poor and it didn't pick anything up on the roof (or much else for that matter).

The right thing to do is to get it done. Can I get away with not doing it - maybe, but for how long and it could make things worse later.

If prices were more reasonable I'd not be thinking so much about it. Labour used to be cheap so getting mortar repaired every 15 years was fine, now its not.

Scaffold is a big part of the cost here I would imagine, and if I did it DIY I'd still need scaffold, and probably for weeks longer than getting the pro's in so probably wouldn't save much overall. I'd only really undercut the cost substantially if I do away with the scaffold. Do I want to be up 8m high perched on the ridge with a bucket of cement and no scaffold - no that would be silly thing to do.

So Im going to have to pay.

But that being the case I want to make sure I get a fair price and quality job, with the right solution.

 

[accelerator]

Or you could buy the scaffolding and sell it when you're finished.

But you'd still need someone else for safety when you did the job.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Scaffold is a big part of the cost here I would imagine, and if I did it DIY I'd still need scaffold, and probably for weeks longer than getting the pro's in so probably wouldn't save much overall.

The cost of scaff., is mostly in the delivery and erection, taking it back down and collecting. Cost while on site, is minimal.

 

[cdbe]

Get a price for a scaffold - for say 8 weeks with a fixed weekly price beyond that.

That will make it safe as houses. Price up dry ridge and hip kits (I think they're about £20 linear m), hip trays (pretty cheap), and some lengths of batten. If you don't have any cat ladders you can make some from battens. Probably need a few matching tiles for breakages - sometimes just replace a complete less obvious section with a best match.

Only you can decide whether it's worth your time but obviously you would (hopefully) have no worries about the standard of the work if you did it yourself. You can also check everything else - flashings, chimney pots and pointing, verges etc

The main tiles look reasonable so if you sort all the other stuff you should get 30 years out of it.

 

[bbjc]

If it was my house i,d get a roofer up there and repoint them or as many as he can access and remove the loose mortar etc.

Silly trying to do it yourself.

We all know the proper job is to rebed and repoint ridge tiles but at some point its not really financially sensible/viable If you,ve got say a 30 or 40 year old roof like that imo

for me i think the goal is to keep them ridges going for as long as you can till its time to reroof. Roof pointing failing is overstated imo...it can and often does last for years.

 

[danlightbulb]

If it was my house i,d get a roofer up there and repoint them or as many as he can access and remove the loose mortar etc.

Silly trying to do it yourself.

We all know the proper job is to rebed and repoint ridge tiles but at some point its not really financially sensible/viable If you,ve got say a 30 or 40 year old roof like that imo

for me i think the goal is to keep them ridges going for as long as you can till its time to reroof. Roof pointing failing is overstated imo...it can and often does last for years.

Thanks.

So I have quite a wide range of opinions on this now, ranging from a repointing job to getting the whole thing done properly. From getting a scaffold and doing it myself to getting a firm in, or to finding a one man band type guy with a ladder who'll do it for £100.

Not sure what Im supposed to do with that.

Its hard enough finding good tradespeople, but it will be easier to find a big firm to do the full job that it will be to find a reliable smaller outfit to do a few repairs - on the latter Im exposed to the checkatrade type people who might not do a great job.