Can you just repoint ridge tiles?

The ridge is the peak of a sloping roof, at the point where both sides meet. Ridge tiles sit along it, and on a traditional roof they rest on a bed of mortar. Two repairs get confused. Repointing means raking out the loose outer mortar and filling the joints with fresh, which restores the look and seals the edges. Rebedding lifts the tiles off, clears the old bed and sets them again on new mortar.

The difference matters because the bed does the holding, not the pointing. A ridge can be pointed neatly and still be loose underneath, with a bedding layer that has dried, cracked or crumbled. Tiles on a failed bed rock under the wind, and the new pointing cracks again within a short time.

So the real question is what is happening below the surface. A close look along the ridge, with a gentle push on each tile, usually tells us. If the tiles are firm, level and tight, pointing may be all that is needed.

Repointing makes sense on a ridge where the tiles are firm and tidy and the bed underneath still holds. Typical signs are small cracks in the visible joint, mortar worn back a little at the edges, or a few spots where pointing has dropped out without any tile moving. In that case the job is cosmetic and protective: it keeps water out of the joints and stops the bed from being eroded.

It also suits a roof whose covering has years left and where the ridge is the only tired part. A repair sized to the fault keeps cost down, and we do not push a new roof when a small job will hold.

We would still look for a mechanical fixing. Marley says bedded ridge and hip tiles should include mechanical fixings, and BS 5534 recommends them. Marley adds that installing to BS 5534 is not required by law. Where the ridge has no fixings, we explain that adding them is a sensible upgrade while the scaffold or access is already in place.

Pointing is the wrong job when the ridge tiles move at all. A tile that rocks when pressed, a gap between the tile and the bed, a ridge that no longer runs straight, or a section that has dropped will not be cured with a new coat of mortar. The mortar under it has lost its grip, and the new work sits on a failed base.

Daylight seen from inside the loft along the ridge is another warning. Water can blow in under the tiles in a gale and run down onto the underlay. Our answer on whether loose ridge tiles can cause a leak shows how that happens.

Lots of cracks in the mortar, or pieces turning up in the gutter, suggest the whole bed is ending its life. In that case the right choice is to rebed or move to a dry system, not to point over it.

Marley's guidance, updated in February 2026, explains that the 2014 revision of BS 5534, the standard for slating and tiling, expects ridge and hip tiles to be fixed mechanically too, because mortar's own strength cannot be counted on to hold them. Mortar stays as the bedding and the weather seal, while a clip, bolt or strap does the holding.

A pointed ridge with no mechanical fixing is therefore the weak spot in a gale. BSI adds that the recommendations can be a poor fit for roofs built with traditional or salvaged materials, so a period roof is judged individually. Our guide to ridge tiles and BS 5534 sets out the detail.

Dry-fix is the other route. BS 8612:2018 is the standard behind dry-fix, where fixings and a vented strip hold the tiles in place of a mortar bed.

On the roof we press each tile, look under the edges and record what moves. The advice comes ahead of the price: point it, rebed it or fit dry ridge, with the reason. If pointing is enough, that is the job we quote. If the bed has failed, we explain why pointing it would waste your money.

Once we have been up, a written figure follows: a single sum for the job. When you set it beside another, check whether access and VAT are included, since both can shift a figure a long way, and ask what happens if rotten timber is found under the old bed. Our repoint or go dry-fix guide sets the options side by side.

Please do not climb up to try it yourself. The ridge tile repairs page explains how a safe, lasting repair is done, and the tidy-up and waste removal are part of our job.