Rebedding my ridge tomorrow fopr the first time - Advice Please

[Tagged]

Hi folks

I have a garage roof which I've finally got the confidence to repair myself. I'm on a budget hence doing it myself and the old felt is rotted inside mostly around the ridge. I've opted not to replace this as it seems a really big job to take all the tiles and battens off as they are old and I don't want to disturb some the ones that are doing their job if that makes sense as I'm sure ill break some trying to take them off and would rather leave them be, I've already replaced 3 I felt needed.

Am I ok to go ahead and rebed the ridge without felting it? I know it's really recommended to have it but it is also just a secondary protection.

I have building sand and cement, the roofer who did it originally seemed to lay the cement on heavily and It took me 8 hours to get 3 quarters of it off today my back is BROKEN! Whats the best way for me to cement this, roll it up and make a little bed for the tile to go into and push it down and check its all level?

I also have a replacement ridge tile thats different to the rest as I can't find one suitable, it's a little bigger, should I trim the edges with a grinder?

Thanks for the help!

 

[^woody^]

If these are interlocking tiles, they need underfelt.

Mortar mix needs sharp sand, not just building sand. Minimum 1/3 sharp sand, so 1:2:1 ratio.

 

[Tagged]

If these are interlocking tiles, they need underfelt.

Mortar mix needs sharp sand, not just building sand. Minimum 1/3 sharp sand, so 1:2:1 ratio.

Hi. They are concrete tiles that lock into each other, I believe they are double roman?

I would like to refelt the top section but I'm afraid it will rain before I can do it due to having to work and everything.

 

[^woody^]

It should not take long to take off the tiles and battens and put one layer across the ridge, less than one hour. Once the felt is on, it's waterproof without the tiles so if it rains you are OK.

 

[Tagged]

It should not take long to take off the tiles and battens and put one layer across the ridge, less than one hour. Once the felt is on, it's waterproof without the tiles so if it rains you are OK.

Perfect thank you so much for the reply early in the morning.

Can you recommend an underlay from screw fix as it's easy for me to get to it after work I'd really appreciate it? The felt has holes here and there it's that old black undersarking stuff it's so old u can put your finger through it and it crumbles. Along the top of the tiles beside the gutter is also coming away but the ridge is priority now.

It needs doing all over but if I even got the top done I'd be happy and I can cement then to fully waterproof and do the rest of the roof over time by just knocking up the tiles.

Should I use clout nails to secure it? Also worried about some battens getting destroyed lifting them up.

 

[^woody^]

Any bitumen roofing felt will do (pitched or sarking felt, not flat roof felt!), but a modern breathable membrane is easier. You say money is an issue, but membrane is more expensive than felt, but you do get more on a roll, so if you plan to do the whole roof it may be cheaper. If you want membrane, just get the cheapest you can find, it wont matter.

Damp-proof Membrane | Damp Proofing | Screwfix.com

Galvanised clout nails for fixing, or galvanised staples.

If you are minded to do the rest of the roof at some stage, then you should really do at least 1m (three rows of tiles down from the ridge each side, else you risk disturbing your newly laid ridge when you come to slide the tiles up later

Have you considered a dry ridge instead?

For the battens, lever a bit up carefully about 10mm or so on the rafter then quickly hit the batten back down and you normally find that the nail stays up for you to pull it it out.

 

[Tagged]

Any bitumen roofing felt will do (pitched or sarking felt, not flat roof felt!), but a modern breathable membrane is easier. You say money is an issue, but membrane is more expensive than felt, but you do get more on a roll, so if you plan to do the whole roof it may be cheaper. If you want membrane, just get the cheapest you can find, it wont matter.

Damp-proof Membrane | Damp Proofing | Screwfix.com

Galvanised clout nails for fixing, or galvanised staples.

If you are minded to do the rest of the roof at some stage, then you should really do at least 1m (three rows of tiles down from the ridge each side, else you risk disturbing your newly laid ridge when you come to slide the tiles up later

Have you considered a dry ridge instead?

For the battens, lever a bit up carefully about 10mm or so on the rafter then quickly hit the batten back down and you normally find that the nail stays up for you to pull it it out.

Thanks again I have ordered both.

Money is an issue but I want to protect the garage from getting any worse and have just enough to get the membrane which won't rot this time.

I'll do 3 rows down. My garage has I think 5 or 6 rows.

Should I take off 3 rows the whole way across the roof each side and stretch it to the top of the ridge almost across to the other side and nail it in with the clout nails? And do the same with the other side? I've also heard it's good to let it have a slightly natural sag so as not to be stretched too far.

 

[^woody^]

The membrane is 1m wide and it needs to lap over the ridge by 150mm so on that basis take off the top row from one side and the batten, and then go over the ridge and take off the top 3 rows on the other side. Remove the felt, check and remove any nails, lay the membrane, refix the battens (except the top batten to allow for the lap when you do the other side) and then go over the ridge and do the same to the remaining rows. Then re-tile.

Remember to remove the old felt as necessary, but leave enough of the lower layer to allow the membrane to over lap it.

Measure the batten spacing and write it down somewhere so that you put the battens back on at the same spacing. Measure top to top of the battens for this. This assumes the top tile row is correctly done in the first place and has enough cover from the ridge tile.

First make an assessment as to whether 2 or 3 rows need to come off. It may be 2 - especially if you are using a dry ridge. And it may be that you can just use a single layer of membrane over the ridge and set 500mm down on each side.

 

[Tagged]

The membrane is 1m wide and it needs to lap over the ridge by 150mm so on that basis take off the top row from one side and the batten, and then go over the ridge and take off the top 3 rows on the other side. Remove the felt, check and remove any nails, lay the membrane, refix the battens (except the top batten to allow for the lap when you do the other side) and then go over the ridge and do the same to the remaining rows. Then re-tile.

Remember to remove the old felt as necessary, but leave enough of the lower layer to allow the membrane to over lap it.

Measure the batten spacing and write it down somewhere so that you put the battens back on at the same spacing. Measure top to top of the battens for this. This assumes the top tile row is correctly done in the first place and has enough cover from the ridge tile.

First make an assessment as to whether 2 or 3 rows need to come off. It may be 2 - especially if you are using a dry ridge. And it may be that you can just use a single layer of membrane over the ridge and set 500mm down on each side.

Well I had an absolute nightmare of an evening. After spending my entire weekend trying to repair the garage roof

I came home from work at 6pm tonight and just finished up at 10pm. I managed to felt one section of the roof probably just over a quarter of one side of it.

It was difficult to get 3 rows of tiles off, store them up on the roof as I had to store them all over the place and try work around them, pull out old battens with some rusty nails, put the membrane on was easy but I felt I didn't overlap it enough but I do plan to overlap it significantly more when doing the other side.

I also managed to nail 2 battens in the wrong place with rushing and have now made holes in the membrane ffs, I rushed due to it being late and me bashing the hammer on a roof while kids are probably trying to sleep so I'll need to fix that next day as well.

It's due to rain now this week and all I could manage was to try and lay out black bags under the ridge as much as I could. I can see very little light coming in from underneath now so I hope it's okay but I need a break after tonight my back is nipping.

Any tips for storing the tiles? Also need to check for nails in the rafters when I pull the battens out :/

So tonight was pretty unsuccessful - I did take a good few pictures so I will upload those at some stage for a progress

 

[^woody^]

Don't rush about on a roof, it never ends well. If you don't have time to finish, don't start.

For the tiles, you would kick two or four up over a rafter, and then drop one or two sideways over the top of the tiles with the groove of a tile acting as a hook, set one or two back and then the top tile becomes horizontal and you can then stack many more on this. Make sure this is done over a rafter and just down from where you are working.


It's a bit hard to explain, but if you google for "tiles stacked on roof", you will only get new roof work images, but this is the principle

 

[Tagged]

Don't rush about on a roof, it never ends well. If you don't have time to finish, don't start.

For the tiles, you would kick two or four up over a rafter, and then drop one or two sideways over the top of the tiles with the groove of a tile acting as a hook, set one or two back and then the top tile becomes horizontal and you can then stack many more on this. Make sure this is done over a rafter and just down from where you are working.


It's a bit hard to explain, but if you google for "tiles stacked on roof", you will only get new roof work images, but this is the principle

View attachment 240197

Ah yes that makes much more sense. So just use the batten as a helper to catch it and use the rafter to hold the weight.

I originally planned to do it in 1 weekend but it took me almost 2 days to get all the mortar off as it was rock hard, I'm wondering if the roofer put too much cement in the middle as the smaller pieces came out fine but I had to really chip and smash every which way to break it up and ended up chipping 12 tiles due to vibration. I'll also post some images of these.

It was good weather here all weekend and dry today but due to rain tomorow now and I think most of the week.

I don't have anyone to help me but my plans are now to

Fix the batten nailed incorrectly and just keep going with the felt as much as I can over the next week or 2 depending on weather. It's not ideal but it needs to be done.

It's difficult to nail some of the battens back in due to a little damage in the ends and I know I should replace these but I honestly have exhausted any funds I had for this project things are pretty tight for me right now hence doing the work myself.

If I can muster up some help it would be amazing.

Thank you so much again for your advice.

Can I also ask is it better to just do the whole row in 1 big go or take it in sections? Some of the battens are longer than the others as in some are 2 parts where others are 1 longer.

 

[^woody^]

Yes do the layer in one go, and do one layer of felt at a time, not the whole roof.

Watch the weather forecast as high winds and torrential rain are forecast for some parts. Remember that wet tiles are much more slippery.

 

[Tagged]

Yes do the layer in one go, and do one layer of felt at a time, not the whole roof.

Watch the weather forecast as high winds and torrential rain are forecast for some parts. Remember that wet tiles are much more slippery.

No winds here thank god. I'm in Northern Ireland.

I'll get there eventually but its stressing me out so much I can't wait to be finished with this job. It was driving me crazy looking up at the roof wondering how much damage was being done during the winter but it wasn't actually as much as I thought. Although some of the ridge caps were just sitting on no bond but the cement in the middle was rock solid.

I'll keep you updated. Many thanks

 

[Tagged]

Update with some pictures.

Im going to take a break today and tomorrow and hopefully have a friend able to help me for a few hours on Thursday which would be such a big help.

These are some random pictures, I know some of the battens need replaced but I can't afford to do so properly at the moment so even if I could get 5 or so years out of these ones and next time the roof needs redone I can do it myself properly with help or get it done professionally. Right now it's about getting it so I'm not worrying about it or it's not letting water in, it's probably 20-30 years old and hasn't been very well maintained.

You can see I've tried to sure up some of the old battens with pieces of wood i had laying around as best I can.

Previous owner left tins of paint I think and wood and everything up top of the office room he built inside it so it's like a half garage half office room.

Anyway here are some pictures, don't be so hard on me haha. I tried to get the battens on as straight as I could and its not perfect but best I could do after work and skipping dinner trying to get it done .

https://ibb.co/RQyWf1Q
https://ibb.co/B42Bzh8
https://ibb.co/4jdn8Pf
https://ibb.co/VLbcCbh
https://ibb.co/MkWPg3N
https://ibb.co/HKNLqR7
https://ibb.co/1zwLnVc
https://ibb.co/ZJxDDDL
https://ibb.co/8YGC2Lb
https://ibb.co/h2GmzhV
https://ibb.co/TKVw0WS
https://ibb.co/Y8SHGpZ
https://ibb.co/9ZYQKS7
https://ibb.co/N6QdPqx
https://ibb.co/jrbBxc9
https://ibb.co/jMj53KF

I had to buy some replacement tiles, a roofer came up to look what I was doing while I was taking them up, he mentioned I need a drip edge on my verge as the original roofer didn't leave enough overhang and suggested I run cement board along the side to get the water to run off and just smooth off the mortar at an angle. Does this sound right?

What is the stuff called or where can I. Iy it and can I cut it easily?

Some of the tiles with cement in them I cant get off I've tried to chip awya so I'm replacing with clean ones below as I go, I don't have a grinder to feather it as I've seen in other videos.

Thanks!