The short answer
A dry ridge is a short job beside most roof work, and on a small, easy-access house the fitting can be a matter of hours rather than days. The real time depends on four things: the length of the ridge, how the roofer reaches it, what has to come off first, and the weather. A long ridge, a hipped roof or a poor batten line will stretch the programme.
The fitting itself is quick. Most of the time goes on getting to the apex safely, clearing the old mortar and repairing what lies underneath.
What sets the length of the job
Time on the roof starts with the ridge, which is the top edge of the house where the slopes join. A dry ridge replaces the mortar there with ridge tiles held by screws and clips, and a roll or strip underneath closes the gap. The job comes down to metres run and number of joints, plus any hips that branch away from the main line.
Why does ridge length matter so much?
Every tile has to be cut, set and fixed, and the work does not speed up on long runs because each fixing is checked. A short run of ridge above a small semi goes quickly. A long ridge on a barn conversion, a terrace with one continuous crest or a house with several hips takes longer.
Hips add time because each one is a separate sloping ridge that runs down a corner of the roof, with its own start and end details and a join to the main ridge at the top. Our page on the dry hip system explains how those corners are finished. We read the roof first and give a realistic day count with the written price, rather than a guess over the phone.
Access, scaffold and getting up there
Reaching the ridge safely often takes longer than the fixing. A low bungalow can be reached on a standard ladder, with a crawling board laid on the slope. A three-storey terrace, a steep gable or a house behind a long fence may need a scaffold or tower, and the set-up adds to the programme.
Does a scaffold change the timing?
It can. Where scaffold stands on the pavement or road, the Highways Act 1980 s169 comes in, and the notice period belongs in the plan. For a Taunton address, Somerset Council publishes its notice period as 10 working days. Ask who applies for it when you compare quotes, and expect the wait to set your start date.
A job on a private drive, worked from a tower, tends to go faster, because the materials can be set down close to the foot of the house. We say at the survey which method your roof needs, and the written price allows for it. If the roof is hard to reach, we explain why before anything is booked, so the extra time is never a surprise.
Taking off the old ridge
Stripping a mortar ridge is often the slower half. Old mortar breaks away in lumps, and each ridge tile has to come off cleanly so it can be reused or replaced. The bedding is then cleared from the tile edges so that the new fixings sit square.
What if the battens or ridge board are damaged?
That adds time but protects the result. The batten is the timber strip each tile hangs from, and the ridge board is the long board that the rafters are fixed to at the very top. If either is rotten or split, it is repaired first. Fixing a new ridge into poor timber only brings the same problem back in a few winters.
The amount of clearing depends on the age of the bedding and how well it held. Our guide to re-bedding ridge tiles covers the older approach and why it is no longer relied on alone. The strip-out debris leaves site with us, and each evening the work area is swept so that nothing is left to blow about or block a gutter.
Weather and the day-by-day plan
Dry fix does not need time to cure, which is why it can finish faster than a mortar ridge in unsettled weather. Rain and wind still stop work, because a roofer cannot safely handle long tiles on a wet or windy crest, and the roof must never be left open overnight.
How will I know what is happening each day?
You are told. Before work starts, the plan is explained: the day we expect to begin, the access we will use and what you will see on site. If the weather forces a pause, we make the open ridge watertight and rebook the next safe window.
Your price is set after the survey, and we tell you the number of days we expect on site. If something changes up there, for instance rotten timber found once the old ridge comes off, you are shown a photo and told before any extra step is taken. Our page on dry ridge cost explains what drives the price, and our overview of dry ridge and verge work sets out the full approach.
More on ridge timing
Do I need to be in for the ridge to be fitted?
Not for the roof work, but we will want a word at the start and the end of each day. Loft access is helpful at the survey, and if you use the room beneath the ridge, tell us so we can plan around it and protect your belongings.
Is a dry verge fitted on the same visit?
Often it is, because the verge meets the ridge at the top of each gable and the two are best finished together. The survey tells us whether your gables need new units. If they do, the written price covers ridge and verge as a single job.
The full picture: Dry ridge and verge repairs in Taunton ยท More short answers