Follow Us:
Follow Us:
Your tiles will outlast almost everything else on the roof. The mortar holding your ridge caps in place will not.
Ridge capping sits along the peak of the roof and down every hip line, covering the join where two tiled surfaces meet. That join is an open gap. The ridge caps cover it, and mortar holds them there. When that mortar cracks and breaks away, you have an open seam running the entire length of your roof, sitting at exactly the point that catches the most wind driven rain.
Repointing renews that mortar. Done properly it also means checking whether the bedding underneath has failed, because repointing over collapsed bedding is cosmetic work that will not hold.
It is one of the least visible jobs we do from ground level, and one of the most important on a Brisbane roof.
Aussie Durable Roof Restorations repoints concrete tile and terracotta roofs across Brisbane and the surrounding suburbs.
Old cracked mortar removed and replaced with flexible pointing compound along every ridge and hip line. The compound is designed to flex with thermal movement rather than crack under it.
Repointing renews the visible mortar. Rebedding replaces the bed of mortar the cap actually sits on. If the bedding has failed, pointing alone will not hold the cap, and we will tell you honestly which one your roof needs.
Ridges along the peak, hips running down the corners, and the apex points where they meet. The junction points are where failures concentrate and where cheap jobs get skipped.
Terracotta caps are more brittle and harder to source replacements for. We handle them carefully and match existing profiles where a cap needs replacing.
Flexible pointing compound comes in a range of colours. We match it to your tiles or your ridge caps so the finished ridge line looks intentional rather than patched.
Caps that have moved out of alignment reset to the correct line before pointing, not just pointed in place where they have ended up.
Failing pointing gives clear warnings, but most of them are only visible from the roof or the gutters rather than from the ground.
✔ Visible cracks running along the mortar on the ridge or hip lines
✔ Gaps where the mortar has broken away completely
✔ Pieces of old mortar and grit collecting in your gutters
✔ Ridge caps that look out of line or uneven along the peak
✔ A ridge cap that visibly moves or rocks when touched
✔ Water stains on the ceiling near the peak of the roof or along a hip line
✔ Daylight visible along the ridge line from inside the roof space
✔ Birds nesting under lifted ridge caps
✔ The roof has never been repointed and is more than fifteen years old
✔ Mortar that crumbles when you press it
The grit in the gutters is the one most people miss. If you are clearing what looks like sand or small stones out of your gutters and you cannot work out where it came from, it is almost certainly your ridge capping mortar breaking down above it
These get quoted as if they are the same job and they are not. The difference matters, both to the price and to whether the work actually holds.
Repointing is enough when:
The bedding mortar underneath the cap is still solid and the cap is sitting firm. Only the visible pointing along the edges has cracked and broken away. The caps are in the right position and are not moving.
Rebedding is needed when:
The bed of mortar the cap sits on has collapsed or crumbled. Caps move when touched, sit unevenly, or have slipped out of line. On these roofs the caps have to be lifted off, the old bedding removed entirely, fresh bedding laid, the caps reset to the correct line, and then pointed.
Rebedding costs more because it is significantly more work. That is exactly why some operators quote repointing and apply it over failed bedding. The finished ridge line looks perfect for a season, and then the caps start moving again and the fresh pointing cracks straight off, because nothing underneath was holding it.
Most roofs need a combination. Some sections need rebedding, others only need pointing. We assess it section by section at the inspection, photograph what we find, and quote for what the roof actually needs rather than applying one price to the whole ridge line.
Repointing is one of the easiest roofing jobs to do badly in a way that stays hidden for a year or two.
Pointing applied over failed bedding. The most common shortcut. Looks correct on completion, fails within a couple of summers because the caps underneath are still loose.
Sand cement used instead of flexible compound. Cheaper material, and it is what cracked in the first place. Using it again guarantees you are repeating this job sooner rather than later.
Old mortar not fully removed. Fresh compound needs a clean surface to bond to. Applied over loose and crumbling material, it bonds to the debris rather than the tile, and takes the debris with it when it comes away.
Junction points skipped. The apex where ridges and hips meet is fiddly and time consuming. It is also where leaks concentrate, and it is the first thing a rushed job leaves out.
Roof repaired without being cleaned first. Moss and organic material under the pointing area stops proper adhesion.
We remove the old material properly, rebed where the roof needs it, use flexible compound throughout, and photograph the ridge lines before and after so you can see the work rather than take our word for it.
Repointing and rebedding are different jobs at different prices. We assess it section by section and quote honestly, rather than pointing over bedding that has already failed.
Fully QBCC licensed and insured, working to Queensland height safety requirements. (QBCC Licence No. [INSERT])
Ridge lines photographed before and after. This is work you cannot see from the ground, so we make sure you can see it anyway.
Chermside, Aspley, Bracken Ridge, Everton Park, Stafford, Nundah, Clayfield, Ashgrove, The Gap, Ferny Grove
Mount Gravatt, Sunnybank, Carindale, Holland Park, Coorparoo, Camp Hill, Annerley, Salisbury
Indooroopilly, Kenmore, Chapel Hill, Toowong, Jindalee, Centenary Suburbs
Wynnum, Manly, Cleveland, Capalaba, Victoria Point, Thornlands
North Lakes, Redcliffe, Caboolture, Strathpine, Narangba, Burpengary
Springfield, Springwood, Shailer Park, Browns Plains, Booval, Ripley
The Gold Coast on request. If your suburb is not listed, call us anyway. We most likely cover it.
