The ridge caps a pitched roof at the join of its two slopes, and the ridge tiles are the curved or angled pieces that sit along it. They stand higher than anything else on the building, so every gust reaches them first. Most are bedded on mortar, a sand and cement mix, and many older ones depend on that mortar alone. When a storm has worked at the bedding, tiles can shift, tilt or crack long before any of them falls.
This guide is about that earlier stage: a ridge that is loose but still in place. It covers how to spot one, what the wind does to the fixing, who is at risk below, what we do to make a roof safe and what a permanent repair involves. If a tile has already come down, our answer on a ridge tile that has fallen off deals with that. For the wider range of ridge, hip and verge work, start at ridge, verge and dry-fix roofing.
How to tell a ridge has loosened before anything falls
Stand across the road, or at the far end of the garden, and look along the ridge. It should read as one straight, even run. A ridge shaken loose often shows a dip, a kink or a tile sitting at a different angle from its neighbours. Binoculars help, and a phone camera on full zoom is better because you can enlarge the picture and keep it for reference.
What to look for
Study the joints between tiles. Fresh gaps, dark lines where mortar has dropped out, or pale crumbs on the slope below all suggest the bedding is letting go. Check the ends too. The tile at a gable end, where the ridge stops, has the least support and is often the first to tilt. Where the ridge meets a hip (the sloping line that runs from the ridge down to the eaves at an outside corner), look for a gap at the junction.
Listen as well as look. A rattle or a faint clicking on a windy night can be a ridge tile rocking on its bed. Mortar crumbs in the gutter or in a flower bed point the same way.
Signs from inside
From the loft hatch, a loose ridge sometimes shows as a thin line of daylight along the apex, or as damp staining on the timber at the very top of the rafters. Do not climb onto the roof to investigate. A tile that looks solid from a ladder can still be sitting on nothing.
What wind does to the fixing
A ridge tile does not need to be struck by anything to come loose. Wind blowing across the roof creates suction on the sheltered face, and the same movement of air that lifts a kite lifts a tile held down by nothing but a bed of mortar. Each strong gust loads the bedding a little, and a bed that is already cracked takes that load badly.
Mortar bedding ages
Mortar on a ridge is exposed to rain, sun and cold from every side. Over the years it shrinks, picks up hairline cracks and loses its grip on both tile and roof. Water gets into those cracks and, if it freezes, pushes them wider. None of this is dramatic, which is why a ridge can look fine for years and then lose tiles in one windy night. The gust did not cause the damage; it found damage that had been building for a long time. Our guide to why ridge mortar cracks explains the ageing process.
Fixings that depend on mortar alone
Marley notes that the 2014 revision of BS 5534 made clear that the grip of mortar on its own is not to be trusted against uplift, and that bedded tiles and fittings should carry mechanical fixings. So a ridge laid before that change may have nothing metal holding it down. Where a ridge does have fixings, they can be corroded or undersized, so we check them rather than assume.
Wind finds the weakest point first. On a ridge that is usually the end tile, the junction with a hip, or a stretch patched with a different mix.
Why a loose tile worries us more than a missing one
People assume the urgent job is the tile lying on the path. In practice the tile still on the roof deserves more attention, because nobody knows when it will go. A ridge tile is a solid piece of clay or concrete. Dropped from the top of a house it lands with real force, and on a steep Stroud lane it may not stop where it lands. Terraced roofs on the valley sides often sit above a pavement, a neighbour's yard or a shared stair, so the people at risk are not always the household that owns the roof.
Who is underneath
Think through the routes below the ridge: the front door, the car, the bin store, the washing line. A loose tile can fall in the next gust, or stay put for weeks and drop on a quiet morning when the ground below is busy. If any of those routes pass under a ridge you suspect, keep people and vehicles away from that stretch until it has been looked at. A few chairs or a length of rope across the path is better than nothing.
The damage a shifted ridge does to the roof
There is a second problem. A tilted or cracked ridge no longer closes the apex, so rain can blow in under the tile and onto the timbers, battens and underlay below. That moisture is slow to show indoors and can run for a season before any mark shows on a ceiling. We would rather deal with a loose ridge as a planned dry-weather job than as a repair to rotted timber later.
Insurance gets its own answer on ridge tiles and cover. For now, photograph the ridge from the pavement or garden and note the date of the storm.
Making a loose ridge safe: what happens on the first visit
The first visit is about removing the risk, not completing the repair. We prioritise a ridge that is shedding tiles in the same way as a leak, because a roof dropping masonry is as pressing as one letting water in.
Access and assessment
Scaffold is not always needed for a make-safe. A roof ladder or a tower at the gable is often enough to reach the ridge, and the survey photographs come to you so you can follow what we are looking at. For a full ridge replacement on a tall or steep house, scaffold becomes part of the job. MyBuilder puts roof scaffolding at about £1,125 in its 2026 re-roof guide, and a written quote should allow for it.
Securing what is loose
We lift off any tile that cannot be trusted to stay put and lay it down safely rather than leaving it balanced. Sound tiles that have simply shifted can often be re-seated once the old mortar is cleared. Where a repair cannot follow straight away, a temporary cover closes the apex against rain until the permanent work can happen. That is a stopgap and the quote labels it as one.
What we leave alone
We do not smear fresh mortar over the old. A thin skim over a failed bed looks tidy and holds briefly, but it does nothing for the underlying fault, and the next gust finds the same weakness. If the bedding is sound and a single tile has moved, a small local repair may be all that is needed. If the mortar has failed along a run, we will say so and price the full length.
The permanent repair: rebed with fixings or fit a dry system
A lasting repair has to do what the original did not: hold every tile mechanically as well as with mortar. There are two routes.
Re-bedding with mechanical fixings
The old tiles come off, the old mortar is cleared and the ridge line is cleaned and checked for gaps. A fresh bed is laid, the tiles are set to a straight line, and each is secured to the roof with stainless steel clips or screws. Gaps at the ends are closed and the joints pointed. Under BS 5534:2014 each ridge and hip piece also needs a mechanical fixing, and we work to that. Our guide to choosing mortar or dry-fix compares the two routes.
Dry-fix systems
A dry ridge does away with the bed. Tiles sit on a batten and are held with clips or screws, and the joints are closed by a continuous unit that may also let air through. Marley points out that only systems properly tested to BS 8612 can show compliance. Dry-fix is quicker on site and is not sensitive to cold in the way fresh mortar is. Some units also ventilate the loft, which our guide to the ventilated dry ridge explains.
Costs
Treat these as national ranges, not our prices. MyBuilder gives £300 to £600 for a ridge re-bed or replacement, and £40 to £60 per metre for a dry ridge, with a typical job at £500 to £1,000 (2026). Checkatrade, in its 2026 repair guide, gives £50 to £70 per metre for dry ridge and £70 to £100 per metre for dry hip, before VAT. Your own figure follows the survey, covering scaffold, labour and materials.
Between noticing and the roofer arriving
A few steps help in the gap between spotting a problem and having someone on site. None involves a ladder.
- Keep people clear of the ground beneath the ridge, and move a parked car if you can.
- Photograph the ridge from several angles with the zoom, including one wide shot of the whole roofline.
- Write down the date of the storm. If a claim follows, that detail matters.
- Keep any fallen fragments. They show the type, colour and size of tile, which makes matching easier.
- Send the pictures to us on WhatsApp, use the enquiry form, or ring 01453 933613.
Matching what is already there
Ridge tiles come in several profiles, including half-round, angled and crested, and a repair should follow the existing run. On an older roof we stay like for like: clay stays clay and stone stays stone. A mismatched ridge shows from the lane and can sit differently on the slope. If you cannot identify yours, the broken pieces and a clear photograph are usually enough.
Roofs that need more care
On a listed building, or inside one of Stroud District's conservation areas, ask the planning team before changing the type of ridge. Replacing it like for like is not normally development, but the council can confirm whether anything extra applies at your address. We explain what is needed and, where work is notifiable, handle the building control notification ourselves.
The written quote, the guarantee and keeping a ridge sound
After the visit, the written quote covers access, tiles and materials, labour, waste and making good. If the ridge is the only fault, the quote covers the ridge. If storm damage also shows in lifted slates or a failed verge, we tell you, leaving the order of work with you.
The work carries a 10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing. That covers our workmanship, not your home insurance, and it does not replace a claim. At the end the site is cleared and the old mortar, broken tiles and packaging leave with us.
Looking after it afterwards
A properly fixed ridge needs very little, but look at it each spring and after any severe storm. From the ground, check for the same signs as before: a straight line, no gaps and no crumbs in the gutter. A small fix made early is cheaper than the same job once a tile has dropped, and an annual look costs nothing at all.