If you own a tiled house in the inner north, sooner or later someone will tell you the roof needs rebedding and repointing. It is real work and a common job. It also gets quoted on roofs that do not need it and skipped on roofs that do. Here is what the words mean.
What holds a ridge cap on
The ridge caps are the curved tiles running along the top of the roof and down each hip. They sit on a bed of sand and cement mortar. That is the bedding. Over the visible edge of the bedding goes a second layer called pointing, which seals the join and grips the cap. On older houses the pointing was cement too, which goes hard and brittle. Today we use a flexible pointing compound that moves with the roof as it heats and cools.
Repointing only, or rebedding as well
If the bedding underneath is still solid, the old pointing is scraped back and new flexible pointing goes over the top. That is a repoint. If the bedding has cracked through or crumbled, the caps are lifted off, the old mortar is cleaned away, new bedding is laid, and the caps are set back in line and pointed. That is a full rebed and repoint. It takes longer and costs more, so a quote should say which one you are getting and why.
Signs you can see from the ground
- Gaps or cracks in the mortar line under the ridge caps.
- Lumps of grey mortar in the gutters or on the path.
- Ridge caps that sit crooked or have slid out of line.
- A water stain on the ceiling directly below a ridge or hip.
Stand across the street with binoculars and follow each ridge from end to end. Please do not climb up to check. Loose ridge caps are exactly the tiles that move underfoot.
What it costs and how long it lasts
On a typical single-storey Coburg bungalow, a full rebed and repoint of the ridges and hips starts from about $2,800. A repoint alone is less. Broken tiles are replaced at the same time, because the safety gear is already up. Done properly with flexible pointing, the ridges should not need touching again for many years. Ask for photos of the bedding before and after, so you can see the work that ends up hidden.
If you are not sure which job your roof needs, a $220 inspection will tell you, with photos.