Ridge tile replacement - DIY - scaffold or ladders?

[loply]

Hi folks,

I've got a property I bought recently which has some frost damage and some missing mortar on the ridge tiles.

I've had a few prices about replacing them, cheapest was from a man in a van who quoted £390 for a scaffold and £400 to do the job, most expensive was from a well known company who quoted £800 to do the job and £190 for a scaffold, and a few others didn't bother calling after taking a look at it.

The previous homeowner has already done the horizontal ridge tiles (forgive the terminology!), but the ones running down at 45 degrees (are these the 'hip' tiles?) haven't been done. Luckily, I found the unused spare tiles in his garden shed!

I've laid bricks a few times recently building up gate posts and garden walls and so forth and I'm considering whether to do the ridge tiles myself, either by ladder or with a scaffold.

I'm conscious that simple working practicalities might be a big issue here, clearly the job would be a doddle if it was at ground level! Would appreciate any advice about whether it's possible or at all safe to do this with a ladder, and indeed whether it's as easy as I hope even if I get a scaffold.

Here's a streetview of the property for what it's worth: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=ne...mY3LVpdTREt-B4_V0yH5fA&cbp=12,138.13,,0,-8.71

Cheers,
Rich

 

[tony1851]

To even THINK of doing the hips off a ladder would be madness.

 

[honda]

Admittedly you would save money but is it really worth risking severe injury or possibly worse by doing it yourself. If you're determined to do it don't even contemplate working off a ladder alone. The pitch of your roof looks to be about the same as mine and if you do go up there you'll find it's very steep.

 

[loply]

To be honest the money saving is only part of it, I just like doing things myself, bit of a self-sufficiency thing I have. I'm a good rock climber and generally confident about not falling. Climbing a regularly fatal route at the Lakes this weekend actually.

Point taken about the ladder, I suppose it's just getting the muck up there and the tiles down and back up to wet them which would be tricky without a scaffold.

Is there a particular method or piece of equipment I can make to prevent breaking too many roof tiles? I think they are the clay variety.

 

[Birminghamroofer]

a cat ladder

 

[Alastairreid]

A tower scaffold will do.

 

[^woody^]

The work is a doddle, but hips are the scariest things to do even with a scaffold

And you may break a lot of tiles just getting to the hips

And bear in mind that you really should be taking the hips off, cleaning the mortar and rebedding them. Not repointing

Its your money and life, but I'd say a proper scaffold is well worth the cost and reassurance if DIYing, but better still let someone else take the risk

And if scaffolding, give the roof a good looking at to see if anything else needs to be done while you are there

 

[loply]

Hi folks, thanks for the advice so far.

The ridge tiles are actually knackered, looks like frost damage, they're missing chunks etc, so they would need replacing not just repointing.

Might be a daft question but if I hired a 1.8m tower scaffold can it be moved? So I can do one hip then move it to the other? Or would I need to hire two and have them side by side?

There's some flashing missing from the chimney as well which I'd do at the same time.

Cheers,
Rich

 

[catlad]

birmingham roofer how is a catladder going to help doing hip tiles? The fact that people have just not bothered to get back to you tells you how much of a pain in the back side it is to do. I think you should look at a dry hip system for replacing your hip tiles.

 

[Alastairreid]

My tuppence worth!

Yes the tower can be moved to the other hip if you have the room to wheel it.

If thats a rosemary tile roof chances are the tiles will lift with the ridges, you need to factor in a load of repair work as well.

Wet bedding hip tiles on a rosemary tile roof of that pitch is difficult enough for seasoned pro's , the cat/or roof ladder will be sitting at an awkward angle as it runs from the ridge in line with the hip and has a tendency to slide away from the bottom.
The other way to gain access to the hip would be a ladder from the scaffold but a tower scaffold wouldnt be stable enough.
We use roof brackets and battens for jobs like that but wouldnt be advisable for diy.

Oh just to add...i hope you're fit!

Thats a lot of gear to take down and up! and remember to bed and point in the same mix, the hips need to be bedded, leveled, run straight and tie into the ridge!
Any deviations in the bed or if you run off the line its going to look like a dogs dinner from the street.

Good luck! you may need it.

 

[^woody^]

Renew it with a dry hip system - look at Marley Hipfast, but there are others

 

[Alastairreid]

I think you should look at a dry hip system for replacing your hip tiles.

I was going to suggest that but would be just as hard imo.

 

[cotswoldbuilders]

You could use a Hip Roof ladder, that has adjustable top and bottom ridge hooks.

 

[Birminghamroofer]

@catlad if you dont have a cat ladder how you going to access the roof.
besides you can take a few tiles out next to the hip and tie the cat ladder at the bottom and top as it goes over the roof dry spec would be better though in this case put full scaffold up after all health and safety is the most important thing also a cat ladder spans the weight of the person evenly up the roof so not as many tiles are likely to be broken,

 

[Alastairreid]

Any you guys used roof brackets+battens?

They are part of our basic work equipment up here as most of the older roofs are slated/tiled hard onto sarkin boards.