Ridge capping re-bedding and re-pointing in Traralgon

If the mortar along the ridges and hips of your tile roof is cracked, crumbling or missing in chunks, the caps are working loose and will start letting wind-driven rain in. A sound bed with tired pointing only needs re-pointing in flexible compound; caps that rock, have lifted or sit on broken bedding need to come off and be re-bedded. Independent roofers in the Latrobe Valley get your enquiry from this site, look at the ridges and quote whichever repair the roof actually needs.

What is ridge capping and why does it fail?

The ridge caps are the curved tiles that run along the top of a tile roof and down each hip. They sit on a bed of mortar laid over the edges of the roof tiles below, and a thinner layer of pointing seals the joint and gives the finished line. On older roofs both layers were sand and cement.

The Quote Yard’s roof repairs guide for Victoria puts the life of that bedding and pointing at roughly fifteen to twenty-five years before it cracks and falls away. Once the pointing goes, the bedding behind it is exposed, water gets into the cracks and the caps loosen. The guide also notes that pointing on a windy, exposed ridge line perishes faster than on a sheltered one.

Signs your ridges need attention

You can check most of these from the ground or with binoculars, without going near a ladder:

• gaps or dark lines where the pointing has fallen out between caps
• mortar crumbs or chunks in the gutters, on paths or on the ground under the hips
• caps that look out of line, lifted at one end or missing
• moss or plants growing out of the ridge joints
• a ceiling stain directly under a ridge or hip, often after rain that came with strong wind
• broken tiles near the ridge, which are often where someone stood on the roof

If you have a stain and are not sure the ridge is the cause, the roof leak repairs page covers how a roofer traces water that has run along the battens before showing up.

Re-point only or full re-bed: which is enough?

	Re-point only	Full re-bed and re-point
When it suits	Bedding is solid, caps do not move, only the top pointing has cracked or washed out	Caps rock or have lifted, bedding is cracked through or has fallen away, caps are missing
What is done	Loose pointing raked out, joints cleaned, new flexible pointing applied over the old bed	Caps lifted and stacked, old mortar removed, new bedding laid, caps reset and fixed, then flexible pointing applied
How long it takes	Usually less	More, because every cap comes off and goes back
Typical cost guide	Lower end of the band below	Toward the upper end, more on large or two-storey roofs
Risk if chosen wrongly	Pointing over a failed bed cracks again and the caps keep moving	None, but it costs more if the bed was still sound

A roofer can only tell which applies by tapping and testing the caps on the roof. A quote for re-pointing alone on caps that move under a hand is a quote for a repair that will not last.

Flexible pointing compared with sand and cement

Older Traralgon roofs were pointed with rigid sand and cement, which shrinks and cracks as the roof moves with heat, cold and wind. Modern practice, as the Quote Yard guide describes, is a flexible pointing compound that moves with the roof instead of cracking. It comes in colours to match common tile shades, so the finished ridge looks like one consistent line.

Flexible pointing still needs a sound bed under it. It is a top layer, not glue. A roofer who uses it to hold down loose caps without re-bedding is cutting a corner.

The tile installation standard, AS 2050, sets out how roof tiles are placed and installed on houses and light commercial buildings across a range of wind classifications. Ask the roofer whether the caps will be mechanically fixed as well as bedded, and how that suits your house’s wind exposure.

How loose ridge caps let rain in

Ordinary vertical rain runs off a tile roof even with tired pointing. The trouble comes with rain driven sideways by strong wind, which gets pushed into the open joints, under the caps and onto the battens and sarking below. The Bureau of Meteorology station at Latrobe Valley Airport has record gusts of 100 km/h or more in February, September, October and November, so wind and rain together are not unusual through spring here. A ridge that has held through calm weather can start leaking in the first spring blow.

Owners in town can also look at the Traralgon roofing page for how the local climate and housing affect roof upkeep more widely.

Broken and slipped tiles on the same visit

Getting onto a roof safely is a big part of the cost of any tile job, so it makes sense to deal with broken or slipped tiles while the roofer is already up for the ridges. Common causes are foot traffic from aerial or solar installers, branches, and age.

• Broken or cracked tiles are replaced with matching ones. On an older roof the original profile or colour may no longer be made, so the roofer may use salvaged tiles or the closest match.
• Slipped tiles are lifted back into position and refixed.
• Tiles around flues and vents are reset and the junction resealed.

Keep any spare tiles left over from a past job; they are often the best match you will find. A broken tile replacement on its own sits around $315 to $1,050 on the What’s The Damage Melbourne roofing cost guide, which says its figures are Melbourne metro and include GST.

What does a full ridge re-bed cost?

The same guide gives a full roof ridge capping re-bed and re-point at $840 to $3,675. Where your roof lands in that band depends on the total length of ridges and hips, the pitch, whether the house is single or double storey, and how many tiles need replacing. Travel from Melbourne pricing to the valley can move the figure either way. To have the ridge length measured on your own roof, request a ridge re-bed price and mention the number of hips. The Traralgon roofing cost guide shows this band next to the other roofing price ranges.

What a careful roofer checks and will not skip

• every cap tested for movement, not just the ones with visible gaps
• the bedding under the pointing, by removing a sample section where in doubt
• the tiles the caps sit on, since cracked edge tiles under the bed let water through even with new pointing
• the valleys and flashings on the way past, because a ridge repair does not fix a rusted valley
• safe roof access and edge protection suited to the height and pitch, the subject of WorkSafe Victoria’s falls compliance code for housing construction
• tidy disposal of old mortar, which otherwise ends up in the gutters

A careful roofer will not re-point straight over loose caps, will not walk a wet or mossy roof, and will tell you if the tiles are tired enough across the whole roof that a full restoration is better value than a ridge job alone.

When ridge work turns into a restoration

If the ridges are failing and the tiles themselves are porous, faded or patched in many places, ask for the price of a full restoration as well. That job adds cleaning, repairs and coating to the re-pointing, and the roof restoration page covers it. Ridge work on concrete or terracotta tiles is not plumbing work, but if a quote also includes metal valleys or flashings, that part is roof plumbing done by a registered or licensed roof plumber.

Next step

Take two or three photos of the ridges and hips from the ground, ideally with a zoom, and one of any ceiling stain. In the form, note the roof pitch if you know it (low, medium or steep), whether the house is one or two storeys and roughly how many broken tiles you can see. Then send a ridge capping enquiry and a local roofer can tell you whether it needs a re-point or a full re-bed.

Send a job enquiry