Dry roof ridge tile systems vs mortar

[danlightbulb]

Hi all,

I had a guy round to remove a damaged roof aerial today. He talked to me after about some deterioration of my roof which is mainly a flat roof section, and the ridge tiles where the mortar is starting to break up.

He recommended using a dry ridge tile system instead of mortaring. I looked up and down the street and whilst quite a few houses have had mortar repairs, there are also several using this dry system.

Has anyone got any experience of it please and can vouch for this system over a traditional mortar repair approach?

Im not sure what the cost difference will be yet, which will also be a factor. I have quite a lot of ridge tiles on my house because the roof is a funny triangular shape.

Thanks
Dan

 

[shaynemawer]

Hi, as a roofer the switch from mortar ridges to dry is slowly taking place with more and more people switching to dry ridge system. It has a few benefits over mortar but the two main ones are low maintenance including mechanically fixed ridges and also offers ventilation. Most newly built houses now require dry ridges as part of the building regs.

Personally i'd have dry ridge system ridges/gables but not all houses will suit the system in style, bungalows are a tricky one for example (too much plastic low down).

As with anything, if you decided to go ahead try and find another opinion/quote from a local roofer/roofing company.

 

[danlightbulb]

Hi all.

I've had three quotes now for this work.

1. Local guy I hired off mybuilder to take down an old aerial from the chimney. This was the person who first flagged that there was some deterioration. £2300, that's just for the dry ridge replacement (using existing tiles) and the rear flat roof refelting.

2. Local roofer I found via google. The second quote again for the same scope was £2600 plus a scaffold tower hire. This was however including all new ridge tiles because he expected breakage if trying to reuse.

3. Local roofer (lives one street over) who a neighbour suggested as he has done work on several houses in the street in the past. The third quote I also asked for including full on fascia soffit and guttering replacement, as well as the ridge tiles and rear flat roof. I'd also at this point realised what 'valleys' were and so I asked to include repointing of those too. His quote is for £3600 for the roofing work and £2100 for the fascia soffits and guttering. This includes a full scaffold all round the house.


Not sure what to do here. I could try for more quotes. Or I could just take the risk and leave it for another year, two or longer. If I take the risk and something starts leaking obviously I'm then in for more hassle and cost down the line.

It's not something I can do myself.

 

[Shoza]

Seems very expensive. I had a full welsh slate re-roof done for £8k including 110 new slates. That included new fascia’s and guttering and re-point the chimney

 

[danlightbulb]

Seems very expensive. I had a full welsh slate re-roof done for £8k including 110 new slates. That included new fascia’s and guttering and re-point the chimney

Seems to be a pattern lately that all my quotes are above expectations. I'm not sure what I can do about it though, I'm doing my best getting multiple quotes per job. I'll get some more I guess.

 

[Deleted User 298457]

Might be worth waiting for it to fully fail, taking a loan and replacing the lot. Is it really as bad as you think it is? P.S. Roofers love minor repairs over winter as they can't do proper roofing jobs. You may get a glut of available roofers.

Also most home insurance "home emergency" includes minor repairs up to a grand or something. I think repointing a ridge tile might be in that scope.

What's the inside roof/from the attic look like? Is it felted?

 

[danlightbulb]

Is it really as bad as you think it is?

Honestly don't know. I can't get up there to inspect it myself. I can see from ground level that some of the mortar is falling out of the ridge tiles in a few places, but other sections are ok. It only takes one tile to come off though doesn't it, to break something or let water in.

The front bay flat roof has already been done but the rear hasn't. The photo I saw (don't have it) it looked pretty worn out. It's not currently leaking though, so maybe it will this winter or maybe it won't.

The fascia boards look poor visually (black gloss paint is peeling off the wood) but they are probably ok and if I could get up there I could try touching up. The guttering however is leaking at a couple of joints and I can't get up there to fix it because of the access problems.

What's the inside roof/from the attic look like? Is it felted?

It is felted yes. The roof structure itself is original but I think the roof is maybe 30-40 years old perhaps. That's guesswork. It's certainly not the original smaller tiles that a couple houses in the street still have, it's larger concrete tiles now.


It's a very unusual L shaped roof, it has a gable end at the front, an L shaped ridge, 3 hips and 3 valleys to it.

Difficult decision. Wait till it fails/leaks could be next month could be 5 years away. Or do the work preventatively knowing it's sorted.

 

[Deleted User 298457]

30 years old? I would sleep easy.

 

[danlightbulb]

30 years old? I would sleep easy.

The main tiles are ok, it's the ridge tiles and flat roof. Mortar expected life isnt 30 years. Felt flat roof also beyond lifespan.

I could just get the flat roof done. It's only like 3 square meters. A few hundred probably.

But still have leaking guttering in places to sort.

 

[Deleted User 298457]

The main tiles are ok, it's the ridge tiles and flat roof. Mortar expected life isnt 30 years. Felt flat roof also beyond lifespan.

I could just get the flat roof done. It's only like 3 square meters. A few hundred probably.

But still have leaking guttering in places to sort.

My moms dorma flat roof was done about 60 years ago. Guttering - you might get away with a gutter cleaning service that is willing to seal it up?

 

[danlightbulb]

I did get the gutters cleaned out last year. If only I could get up there easily, I could replace a few fittings or at worse try some silicone myself. Horrible access though due to the narrow side entry.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Are you sure you couldn’t do the gutters yourself? It’s so easy to replace the joints, they all just clip together.

In other words, how would a trades person get up there to do the work?

 

[Mysterae_]

I'm always a bit suspicious of the type of trades that are in to do one job and go fishing for another. Did he take any pictures of the issues while he was on the roof? No excuses not to, everyone has a camera in their pocket nowadays. Did the blokes you got in to quote inspect it or just eyeball it from the ground?

Do you have or know anyone with a drone? It's the easy way to visually inspect your roof but obviously not as good as actually poking it.

 

[shaynemawer]

Not actually been able to see the condition it's hard to really give proper advice.

What you could do as you've said, get the flat roof done. Just ask for an overlay (cut the drip's of and then put down an added layer of felt) over the existing. if it's not leaking then the boards etc should all be fine.

Maybe whilst the weather is still good, try get a few more quotes from roofing companies. Look on facebook and see who people recommend, get them round and just ask for a roof survey. Don't tell them what you think needs doing and see what they come back with.

Also, might be worth a shout. Try going into building yards that supply roofing materials ( places like Sig Roofing, MKM etc ) and asking for recommendations.

 

[Manbatius]

I would try and find a company local that uses a drone to inspect the roof.
I had that done, and then you can see the photos yourself of the issues.

It's a tell tale that others have had the ridge tiles done and flat roofs only last forever.

To flip this on its head, if the aerial work had not been needed, you wouldn't be thinking about this as nothing is leaking.

How is loft access for main roof?
I did periodic inspections of mine during bad weather. It never leaked through the house but was leaking.

As for prices
I would expect minimum £1500 for the gutter and fascias (the fascias may just be peeling paint and old as opposed to totally rotten)
Looks like you have a lot of ridge tiles sadly so from my perspective those quotes don't seem unreasonable.

 

[danlightbulb]

Are you sure you couldn’t do the gutters yourself? It’s so easy to replace the joints, they all just clip together.

In other words, how would a trades person get up there to do the work?

Yeah the side access where the longest run of guttering is, is only 1m wide so I can't get ladders up there and that's where it's dripping from. All quotes so far have said they need scaffolding to various degrees because of the side access.

Did he take any pictures of the issues while he was on the roof?

Yes and he showed them to me at the time but didn't send them. When I asked for them later he'd deleted them.

Do you have or know anyone with a drone?

No unfortunately not.

get them round and just ask for a roof survey. Don't tell them what you think needs doing and see what they come back with.

Yeah will try this.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Yeah the side access where the longest run of guttering is, is only 1m wide so I can't get ladders up there and that's where it's dripping from. All quotes so far have said they need scaffolding to various degrees because of the side access.

I’d be tempted just ladder it myself, swapping the joints takes minutes.

It’s butted up against another house isn’t it? Sure it will be steep but the ladder isn’t going anywhere. Use a top anchor if your worried.

Can’t hire a small scaffold tower?

 

[Simon42]

Yeah the side access where the longest run of guttering is, is only 1m wide so I can't get ladders up there and that's where it's dripping from.

As already said you can ladder this possibly with an anchor, but it does make work more awkward and at 1m width some tower scaffold hire would be a good option as commercial ones start around 85cm deep.

I bought my own to work on my home as I had so many jobs planned (paid for itself just with roof treatment) and being able to wheel it down the side makes work so much easier than ladders.

 

[danlightbulb]

I did look at a portable scaffold tower. To buy one is around £800 for a 6m, or to hire one is around £100 a week plus delivery I assume. (edit - Monday to Friday hire including delivery is £170 for a 6m tower).

It would need a lot of planning. Id have to take the week off work, be confident in the weather to use it, and be sure I could get the appropriate fittings to connect to the old guttering already there.

Never assembled a scaffold tower before either, and would have to do it solo.


Using ladders, if I had access to some I'd give it a go, and if I don't feel safe I could just stop. But I don't, so I'd have to buy some extension ladders long enough to reach the area. I don't know anyone with any, and even if I did, be no way to transport them to me.

 

[Simon42]

Never assembled a scaffold tower before either, and would have to do it solo.

They just slot together with some locking pins. Due to all the roof angles on my home (47m of gutters on 9 sections ), sloping ground, steps, trees and cables I have to move and often lower/rebuild my tower many times solo to cover it all and its no problem.