Newly fitted dry ridge system

[BobAJob]

We've just had a dry ridge system fitted to our house as the suggestion of a roof contractor who was doing some other work on the house.

 

I'm no roofing expert, but to me it appears that he hasn't fitted it correctly as he has:

 

1. Left some mortar at the end of some of the tiles so the dry ridge system doesn't grip the tile and instead grips the old mortar

2. They managed to break one of the old ridge tiles and without telling me decided to install a half a new ridge as they said they can't get new ridge tiles of our design now.  On this tile they have big gaps at the end of each tile so you can see the black plastic fitting and the plastic clamps that are supposed to hold the tile in place are barely touching the tile, so I am concerned the tile may blow off or we may get rain or snow into the roof space.

 

Photos attached. 

 

1. Does what he's done look correct?

2. Are these big concrete ridge tiles suitable for use with a dry ridge system?

3. How much should it cost to get a dry ridge system fitted?

 

Thanks in advance. 

Edited September 15, 2020 by BobAJob

[Big Jimbo]

Im no roofer, but that looks like a right lash up.

[BobAJob]

7 minutes ago, Big Jimbo said:

Im no roofer, but that looks like a right lash up.

Those are exactly my thoughts and this guy has hundreds of positive reviews on checkatrade and is trading standards trusted trader approved.  

 

I think I've been had.  Fortunately, I haven't paid yet and won't be until he fixes it but redoing the whole ridge with the correct tiles correctly spaced, so he'll have to lift the fabric on the roof tiles too and put new stuff on as the screw holes will now be in the wrong place.   

 

He told me it was normal to see daylight through the gaps between the ridge tiles.  I started smelling something....

Edited September 15, 2020 by BobAJob

[Big Jimbo]

Glad that you have not paid. That alone should get him focused.

[BobAJob]

Just now, Big Jimbo said:

Glad that you have not paid. That alone should get him focused.

Promised he'd be back on Monday.  No show. Not responding to emails. I'm tempted to report him to trading standards. 

[Big Jimbo]

Best if he is a no show imho. You would be better off with somebody who knows what they are doing. I think you have a lucky escape.

[makie]

I'm a roofer and this work is poor, the new ridge isn't any good. It needs to be tight.

The mortar should all be cleared off of the ridge and the price is all dependent on size, time and how easy the access is etc

[BobAJob]

17 minutes ago, makie said:

I'm a roofer and this work is poor, the new ridge isn't any good. It needs to be tight.

The mortar should all be cleared off of the ridge and the price is all dependent on size, time and how easy the access is etc

That's what I thought. 

 

They had a man using the claw end of a hammer taking the mortar off but I think he has chipped bits off the tiles and it was probably him that broke the tile.

 

It's a mid-1980s four bed bungalow so access is very easy.

 

Do they still make concrete tiles like those or can you get them from reclamation yards?

 

Thanks

 

[makie]

1 hour ago, BobAJob said:

Do they still make concrete tiles like those or can you get them from reclamation yards?

 

It's a universal angle ridge so even if they can't find an exact match there will be something really similar.

Personally I never reuse the original ridges on any dry ridge or hip system, if one breaks like this then it is hard to match. Looks much better with new ridges.

[BobAJob]

10 hours ago, makie said:

 

It's a universal angle ridge so even if they can't find an exact match there will be something really similar.

Personally I never reuse the original ridges on any dry ridge or hip system, if one breaks like this then it is hard to match. Looks much better with new ridges.

Do you think they're Redland Universal Angle ridge or are they hip tiles?

 

The roof does have a Redland dry verge system fitted, so maybe Redlands make sense?

 

How do you fix this job?

[BobAJob]

Roofer came back today and I got him to remove every tile, clean them up properly and refit them tighter than they were before.  Also got him to replace mismatching tile with one that matches.  Cost him £4.80 for the correct tile.  Not sure why he couldn't fit the correct tile the first time round. 

[BobAJob]

My roofer came back again today as I complained about two last snagging issues.  Then he started shouting at me that I was costing him money by having to come back to fix issues.  He said he didn't want to get into a fight about it.  It's ridiculous. I'm costing him money because I'm pointing out to him that he hasn't hasn't done the job right and I'm asking him to fix it before I pay him. 

 

He now says that it's not important that the dry ridge system fabric is not stuck down properly in a few places.  There was me thinking it was there to stop the rain getting into the roof and allow the rain to flow away from the ridge.  If I was him, I'd just get on the roof and stick it down. It takes 5 minutes and makes the customer happy with the job, but not this guy. 

 

Now he's demanding payment in cash.  I said no.

 

Simple solution to that one.

 

Do the job right the first time and nobody complains and no return visits 

[BobAJob]

Roofer says all his other customers would be happy with this.  According to him it's a good job. 

[ToughButterCup]

I really hope you haven't paid....... 

[BobAJob]

5 hours ago, ToughButterCup said:

I really hope you haven't paid....... 

No, I haven't paid.

[ToughButterCup]

24 minutes ago, BobAJob said:

No, I haven't paid.

 

I would consider offering to pay him what he asks for minus the cost of putting it right. Or he puts it right.

Ask him to show you one other roof - anywhere - with gaps that size between the ridge tiles. Frankly, the work is shockingly poor. I mean its not even hidden from view is it? 

[BobAJob]

30 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

 

I would consider offering to pay him what he asks for minus the cost of putting it right. Or he puts it right.

Ask him to show you one other roof - anywhere - with gaps that size between the ridge tiles. Frankly, the work is shockingly poor. I mean its not even hidden from view is it? 

He's back tomorrow and is starting to get aggressive about his money.  I thought he was going to hit me the other day, which would just result in a call to the police. 

 

It was only that one tile was really bad.  On the others his men had not removed all the mortar from the edge of the tiles.  My concern was that this mortar would eventually fall out and then the tiles would get loose.  I made them remove all the tiles and remove all the mortar and then put them back on again.  I found it pretty bad that I had to them what good looks like.  I'm no roofer.  I've just watched a few videos on youtube.  However, I know a botched job when I see one.

 

Hopefully tomorrow he'll be less aggressive and less complaining and demanding of his money. If he's not, then I'll ask him to leave as I didn't hire him to be treated like this.  He's still not getting paid tomorrow. 

[joe90]

Might be best to get a third party with you when he comes!

[Vijay]

49 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Might be best to get a third party with you when he comes!

or at least have your phone in your pocket recording

[BobAJob]

He no showed.  There's a surprise. 

 

He still hasn't been paid. He'll be back.

Edited September 25, 2020 by BobAJob

[Mr Punter]

What are the outstanding snagging issues?  I hope the crazy gap ridge tile has now been replaced?

[ProDave]

On 15/09/2020 at 19:53, BobAJob said:

Those are exactly my thoughts and this guy has hundreds of positive reviews on checkatrade and is trading standards trusted trader approved.  

 

 

Word on the grapevine, is it is impossible to give as bad review on those sites as the bad reviews just get deleted.

[Vijay]

5 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Word on the grapevine, is it is impossible to give as bad review on those sites as the bad reviews just get deleted.

heard exactly the same thing

[BobAJob]

1 hour ago, Mr Punter said:

What are the outstanding snagging issues?  I hope the crazy gap ridge tile has now been replaced?

A couple of ridge tiles they've knocked corners and big chunk off which to my mind means wind and rain can get under the tile and there's one that they had to mortar to tie in with valleys in roof but they have left it high at one end and low at the other which means the dry ridge union doesn't hold it properly.  I think it needs mortaring.  I want the chipped tiles replaced with reclaimed matching ones not non-matching chipped off corner ones like he before.  I think it would take them an hour or two tops to fix them but apparently that costs him money and he'd rather shout at his customers instead of fixing relatively simple issues. 

 

I'm not impressed.   Who on earth thinks that gap around a ridge tile is good?

 

The roofer told me his customers who think that was good and I'm a difficult customer. 

 

And after all this and £2000 spent I still end up with two cracked roof tiles on the house because they didn't replace them before they remortared the valley.  To replace them we have to break the new mortar and then remortar again. 

[BobAJob]

Roofer hasn't returned yet and still hasn't been paid.  

 

Onto the next roofer to do what should be a very simple job