Mortar has come out of ridge tiles

The_Wall

Noticed the other evening that the mortar has come out from between at least two ridge tiles. As far as I can tell there is no water getting in, but maybe I just haven't found it yet

The house is over 40 years old, and I have no idea if they have ever been replaced, except for the one on the end which blew off a couple of years ago.

Therefore I am wondering if it is worth getting the whole lot done in one go, or to just get the damaged ridge tiles fixed?

If the whole lot then as I'm in the South East what do you think it would cost, just a rough figure, and can I get done on the house insurance?

Given that more cold weather is on the way, so no point in trying to get it done now. Is there anything that can be put over the ridge tiles to help keep the rain out, or, given there appears to be no water getting in, shall I just leave them, until they can be repaired?

Thanks

Happychappy

A really simple repair, just get a bucket of gunge mixed and get up there with a crawling ladder if needed, lift the ridge tile and sit it on fresh mortar, nothing difficult and a saturday morning will get all the ridge tiles reset. I did mine and then the neighbours, and then the neighbour but one and then.................

Al1x

if you don't feel comfortable going up that high you could always get a quote from a general builder.

i'd say only get the ones done that need done. it would be a fairly quick job if it is just a matter of bedding on a couple of ridge tiles.

If you want a recomendation of a builder in south east of Kent pm me and I'll give you the number of the guys who did my friends loft conversion.

iamcornholio

If the roof has underfelt (look in the loft) and if this is not ripped at the ridge, and even if no felt, if there are no signs of water ingress (have a look in loft after, not during, a long spell of rain) then I would leave this for now. Wait until the whole ridge gets a lot worse - which could be years away.

Small bits of missing mortar are not that big an issue, and there is the potential to actually cause more damage in just going up there to recify it

If you are going to repair, make sure the quote is to re-bed the ridges not just re-point. Re-pointing will fall back out after a winter or two. And make sure you actually see the roofers take the ridges off to rebed them - and not just quickly point them up while your back is turned

And yes if you decide to repair, you may as well have the lot done, and then they should be good for many years to come. You don't want to have to send someone back up there next year to fix the two ridges next to the two you have done this year!

27col

Obviously loose ridge tiles can be a safety issue. One of mine came off and went through the back window of my son's Metro. However, as has been said already, it is quite likely that the slater's felt has been carried up over the ridge and so there is no immediate likelihood that rain will come in, if there is just a few bits of pointing missing.

knowloads

the extra frost this year makes the wet cement expand and then contract when thawing, then it falls out. there are many roofs like this right now. NOT a DIY job, its dangerous up there. Better to get a roofer to do it. If the ridges are 40+ yrs old then so is the roof, so felt should be there too. Unlikely to leak but certainly need looking at. The rest are probably ready for re-setting.

savemoney

I need mine doing soon lost a lot of mortar last year found it guttering when I cleaned them out to repaint along with some tiles. I did a few myself which I could get out from a ladder but must admit I dont like using ladders had a couple of falls over years. Luckily got a fair few flat roofs around the house, an extension, garage, porch and bay windows around the house

The_Wall

Just a quick update, as something cropped up at the weekend so didn't manage to spend much time doing too much investigation.

Firstly thanks for all the advice.

As the attic was converted I was able to stick my head out the window on Saturday and as well as the two ridge tiles which have mortar missing, a piece of which I found in the gutter, at least one other has mortar missing from where it would be bedded onto the tiles. I'm guessing this is even less of an issue since the rain would have to be blown back up the roof to get under the ridge tile. But it does look like it might be worth having the lot of the them taken off and re-bedded.

So thanks for the advice iamcornholio about watching them do the work.

As it rained so much on Sunday I did take another quick look, and yes there is felt under the tiles.

The downside to having an attic conversion is I cannot see all of the roof, but I certainly cannot see an water ingress. Except for one place which is where the flue goes out the roof. But this is only a small trickle and is possibly a case of the flashing leaking, although it is near one of the ridge tiles with the missing mortar.

The only other odd thing is that in a couple of places where the felt was ripped, presumably when the attic was converted, I can see that water is getting in between the tiles that lie side by side. But it is just damp. It is not actually dripping.