Can you get matching ridge tiles for an old roof?

Capping tiles cover the join at the top of the roof, and they come in a handful of shapes, each with its own character. The two common ones are the rounded half-round and the sharp-peaked angled tile. Before anyone orders anything, the shape, length and width of what is already there have to be measured, because a tile a few millimetres out will never line up with its neighbour.

Colour comes second and it is trickier. A clay or concrete tile that has been up for decades has weathered, gathered moss stains and faded, so a new tile from the same range can look noticeably brighter beside it. That usually mellows with time, but expect a visible difference at first.

Our short guide to half-round and angled ridge tiles helps you identify what you have. A tile that has fallen is the best sample of all, so keep any pieces rather than binning them.

Reclaimed tiles come from salvage yards and from roofs that have been taken down. They already carry their weathering, which is why they can blend into an older roof far better than anything newly made. On a clay roof with a distinctive colour or an unusual profile, they are sometimes the only sensible way to fill a gap.

They are not automatically sound. A reclaimed tile can be cracked along the arch, frost damaged underneath or chipped where it was lifted, and none of that shows in a photograph. A roofer should inspect each piece in the hand before it goes on a ridge, and reject any that ring dull or show hairline cracks.

Supply varies. Some profiles turn up easily, while others take weeks of searching, so sourcing can become part of the time the job takes. We tell you at the quote stage, so the plan is realistic before work starts.

Sometimes the cleanest answer is to avoid the mismatch altogether. If only four or five tiles have gone from a long ridge, one option is to swap in the closest available match and accept a slight difference in tone. Another is to lift the whole run, reuse the best old tiles on the elevation facing the road, and put the newer ones on the back slope where they are rarely seen.

If the ridge is cracked in many places, or earlier repairs have left a mix of tile types along one line, replacing the full run can look better and cost less than a string of small repairs. One new ridge in a single colour removes the patchwork effect, although it will sit a little differently against an older field of tiles.

Whichever route suits, each tile should be fixed mechanically as well as bedded. BSI cautions that BS 5534 can be a poor fit for certain old roofs, especially those re-covered with reclaimed pieces, so the fixing method is judged roof by roof. Our guide to how ridge tiles are fixed covers the stages.

On older houses the ridge is part of the character, and local council advice shows how much that matters. For The Steyne, Arun's conservation area guidance asks owners to bring back original slate or plain clay roofing in place of modern substitutes. The Aldwick Road guidance records slate being swapped for concrete interlocking tiles, and Felpham village's appraisal describes orange and red clay roofs.

A listed building needs consent for works that alter its special character, while like for like maintenance repairs are treated more lightly: the South Downs National Park Authority says minor in-situ repairs of that kind need no listed building consent. If you are unsure which side a ridge replacement falls on, put the question to Arun District Council's planners, or your own area's council, before the work starts.

Lime mortar is often the right bed on a period roof, and our guide to lime mortar for ridge tiles explains why.

At the survey we photograph the ridge and note the faults, then take the profile and measurements. After that we tell you plainly what can be matched, what can only be approximated and whether reclaimed tiles are worth chasing. Survey photographs come with the written quote, which is a single total.

If a close match exists, we use it. If it does not, we say what the nearest alternative is and suggest the least visible way to finish the ridge, rather than pushing a full re-roof when a repair will hold. The aim is a ridge that sits square along the line and stays put in the next gale.

Fixing every tile mechanically is part of that, and so is a neat end where the ridge meets the gable, because the end piece takes the first knock in a gale. For the wider picture, see our ridge tile repairs service page.