Roof restoration
The full job on a tiled roof, done in the right order. Free inspection first, so you find out whether you actually need one.
Free inspection first, then a fixed price
Roofshelter · Parramatta & Western Sydney
Roof repointing and ridge capping repairs
The most common repair on a Sydney tile roof, and very often the entire fix. From $800.
From $800
5.0
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Based in Rosehill
Open 24 hours
What this actually is
Ridge caps are the tiles that sit along the peaks and the hips of your roof. They are held on with a bed of mortar, and that mortar is rigid while the roof underneath it moves every day with the heat. Western Sydney can swing twenty degrees between morning and afternoon. Eventually the bed cracks, the caps loosen, and every gust of wind drives rain in underneath them.
Re-bedding is replacing that mortar bed. Re-pointing is the flexible compound that goes over the top of it and does the actual weatherproofing. Done together, on a roof that is otherwise sound, it is a fraction of the cost of a restoration and it buys back years.
What the job involves
- Old capping lifted Caps come off and the failed mortar bed is chipped out properly rather than patched over.
- Re-bedded in fresh mortar The caps go back down on a new bed, set to a straight line so the roof looks right from the street.
- Pointed in flexible compound A flexible pointing compound over the bed. It moves with the roof instead of cracking, which is the reason the original failed.
- Colour matched Pointing is matched to the roof so a repair does not read as a stripe across your ridgeline.
- The rest of the roof checked while we are up there Cracked tiles, valleys and flashings get looked at and photographed. If something else is wrong you find out now, not next winter.
How much does it cost to repoint a roof?
Repointing is priced by the linear metre of ridge and hip capping, not by the size of your roof, which is why a big house with a simple roofline can cost less than a small one cut up into six hips.
Our repointing starts at $800. That is a genuine starting price for a straightforward single-storey ridge line, not a teaser. The free inspection measures your actual capping and gives you one fixed number.
What moves the price:
- Total metres of capping Every ridge and every hip. A simple gable roof has very little; a cut-up roof has a great deal more.
- Re-bed, or point only If the mortar bed underneath has failed it has to come out and be re-laid. Pointing over a broken bed is the cheap version and it does not last.
- Single or double storey Height access and setup, same as any roof work.
- Roof pitch A steep roof is slower and needs more fall protection.
- Condition of the caps themselves Cracked or previously mismatched capping tiles need replacing, not just re-pointing.
How to tell
Signs you need this
Most of these you can check yourself from the ground, before you call anyone.
- Visible cracks along the ridge line The clearest sign, and visible from the ground. Hairline cracks in the mortar mean water is already getting behind it.
- Mortar in your gutters or garden beds Lumps of grey mortar at ground level came off your ridge caps.
- A cap that sits crooked or proud If a capping tile has moved, its bed has gone.
- A leak that only shows up in driving rain Water gets under loose caps when wind pushes it uphill. Straight down rain often will not do it, which is why these leaks seem random.
Questions
Ridge re-pointing, answered
Ask us anything that is not here. We would rather talk it through than have you guess.
Call 0434 115 094Why does re-pointing start at $800?
That is a genuine starting price for a straightforward single-storey ridge line. What moves it is the length of ridge and hip capping, the pitch, whether it is one storey or two, and how much of the bedding has to come out rather than just be pointed over. The inspection gives you the actual number, fixed.
Can you just point over the old mortar?
Some do. It looks fine for a season and then it fails, because you have put a flexible coat over a bed that is already broken and still moving. If the bed has gone, the bed gets replaced.
How long does it last?
Flexible pointing is designed to move with the roof, which is precisely what the original rigid mortar could not do. Kept clear of overhanging branches and checked after big storms, it is a long-term repair rather than a patch.
How often should you repoint a roof?
Traditional rigid cement pointing tends to start cracking somewhere around the fifteen to twenty year mark in Sydney conditions, because the roof moves with the heat and the mortar does not. Flexible pointing is designed to move with it, which is why it lasts considerably longer. If your roof has never been repointed and the house is older than about twenty years, it is worth a look.
Can I just repoint the roof myself?
People do, and it is one of the more common DIY jobs that ends in a fall. It is steep, brittle, usually hot, and the material has to be laid consistently or it fails in patches. It is also genuinely one of the cheaper things a roofer does, which makes the risk a poor trade.
Is repointing the same as re-bedding?
No, and the difference is where a lot of cheap quotes hide. Re-bedding replaces the mortar bed the capping sits on. Repointing is the flexible compound over the top of that bed. If the bed has failed, pointing alone is cosmetic.
Will repointing stop my leak?
If the water is getting in under lifted or cracked ridge caps, yes — and that is a very common cause of a leak that only appears in driving rain. If the leak is a rusted valley iron, repointing will not touch it. The inspection tells you which one you have.
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Find out what your roof actually needs.
Free inspection, photographs, and a straight answer about whether this is the job you need.
The phone is answered 24 hours, including weekends.