"Jethro" wrote in message
oups.com...
hi all, passing roofer (was doing a job down the road) collared me as
I was driving to work today, and pointed out the cement which holds
the topmost tiles which go over the point of the roof (IIRC he said
"ridge tiles") was breaking away. As soon as he showed me, I could see
he wasn't having me on. There are strips of cement that have fallen
down the roof.

What's the implications - long term of this. Does it need fixing now,
this month, before next winter ?

What surprised me was when I asked him how much he'd want to do the
job, he said 80ukp, which struck me as very low - to remove and
replace the cement ...

Anyway I was late for work, so I didn't get a chance to grill him, but
wondered what the groups opinon is. I've got an "L"-shaped bungalow,
and the two lines of tiles are about 20metres in total.

On the basis that I don't have a head for heights, looks like I'll
have to get someone to do it.

I'm in the midlands btw

thanks in advance

One thing to watch out for is that he doesn't just 'butter' the joint by
spreading a thin layer over the existing mortar, which is a trick some
'roofers' do. My neighbour got caught out like this by a roofer who was
working "in the next street and I can see...." Another thing he did was
paint a thick slurry on the tile edges instead of knocking out and doing it
properly. The job looked great until the next winter then all the butter
fell off and the slurry got washed away!

HTH

John