Ridge tiles

[H F]

Storm Ciara decided it didn’t like our ridge tiles - to be fair, we don’t either.

 

were going call the insurance company today.

 

When we had our chimney redone, the roofers told us there was a new way of fitting ridge tiles where they were screwed down as opposed to cemented.

 

Should we pursue this?

 

 

[ProDave]

It's called a dry ridge system. You will have to strip the whole of the ridge and you may need to insert a length of timber if there is nothing suitable already to screw them down to.

[Barney12]

Some more info here:

https://www.roofinglines.co.uk/blog/switching-to-a-dry-ridge-system

 

Your insurer will likely only cover the cost of refixing/replacing damaged ridges. They may well cash settle which you could put towards the cost of renewing with a dry ridge. Just be careful that you are content that there is no other damage. Depending on your insurer they may try and “cash you out” from nothing more than a look at the roof from the ground. 

 

[H F]

13 minutes ago, ProDave said:

It's called a dry ridge system. You will have to strip the whole of the ridge and you may need to insert a length of timber if there is nothing suitable already to screw them down to.

Thanks Dave.

[H F]

8 minutes ago, Barney12 said:

Some more info here:

https://www.roofinglines.co.uk/blog/switching-to-a-dry-ridge-system

 

Your insurer will likely only cover the cost of refixing/replacing damaged ridges. They may well cash settle which you could put towards the cost of renewing with a dry ridge. Just be careful that you are content that there is no other damage. Depending on your insurer they may try and “cash you out” from nothing more than a look at the roof from the ground. 

 

Thanks Barney. Some good advice there. We’re also getting some water ingress into the loft (not surprisingly).

 

One would assume that since that portion of roof is 10m high, scaffolding will be required.

[Ferdinand]

if you talk to your insurer carefully, they may let you use your own contractor and pay against receipts.

 

I do that sometimes.

 

Bit more organising, but it gives you control .. and you could get your roofer to split the invoice into insurer work and your work.

 

You would probably need an assessment from the insurer’s assessor or your own first. I have a couple of retired architects I have known for decades who can do these at the drop of a hat.

 

If you want to use your own assessor and get it done quickly, you can see if they are going to make you wait, or simply declare that water was coming in so it had to be done pdq. Perhaps your assessor will tell you that the insurer stands to waste hundreds on the cost of hiring dehumidifiers if you don’t get it done.

 

Sometimes there is a lot to be said for having your own report first as a matter of .. er .. insurance.  Probably only worth it for substantial claims of several thousand or more, though your scaffolding will add up if it is across much of the length of your house.

 

Ferdinand

 

Edited February 10, 2020 by Ferdinand

[joe90]

I hate mortored ridges, I used a dry ridge system and would never go back. On a garage I had in a windy location years ago I simply drilled the ridge tiles and used long screws to hold them down and they never moved.

[dpmiller]

Our clay ridges interlock  and are holed for screw fixing. No plastic spacers needed, just the roll-out breatheable strip.

 

these, although there are likely other similar types  http://www.ridgetiles.com/

 

[H F]

We spoke to our insurance company and it looks like we’ll be able to get our own contractors to do the work and they’ll reimburse us. It looks like odd roof tile was also cracked and damaged when the ridge tiles came tumbling down. Won’t be a ‘cheap job so worth claiming.