Chapter one
Hips and ridges on 1920s and 1930s bungalows
The detached houses and bungalows along the Brighton road were laid before mechanical ridge fixing was the norm, and they show it.
The Victoria County History says detached houses and bungalows were built along the Henfield to Brighton road in the 1920s and 1930s, which puts the roofs of that stretch at around ninety years old or more. A bungalow has no upper storey to shelter its roof, so every slope stands in plain view of the weather, and the hips, the angled ridges at each corner, and the ridge along the top are long runs of bedded tile. Marley notes that until the 2014 revision of BS 5534 a mortar bed alone was widely accepted for ridges and hips, so a roof laid in the 1930s may have nothing but ageing mortar between its top course and a gale.
At a glance
- Bungalows date from the 1920s and 1930s
- Older ridge bedding relied on mortar alone
- Verges and hip ends are checked at the same visit
1.1 Where we look first
We begin at the corners. A hip end is where the lowest hip tile meets the eaves, and the hip iron, a curved metal strap holding that tile against sliding off, can rust through and let the whole row creep. Along the top we look for gaps in the bedding, for tiles that rock under a gloved hand and for lines of daylight visible from the loft. Along the verge, where a slope finishes against a gable wall, every tile needs its own fixing, because that edge takes the full push of a gale. Many bungalows also gained a flat-roofed extension or porch over the years, and where the flat roof joins the pitched one, lead folded over the junction is what keeps damp out of the wall.
1.2 Re-fixing without replacing everything
The quick answer to a loose ridge is another trowel of mortar, and it rarely lasts. A better one is to lift the tiles, clean them, bed them again and add a fixing that bites into the timber below, and BS 5534 now looks for ridge and hip tiles to be held down in just that way. For a long ridge, a dry-fix system, tested to BS 8612:2018, replaces the mortar with a ventilated roll and clips, so there is no bed to crack. Either way the tiles you already own are kept wherever they are sound. Our ridge tile repairs page compares the routes, while slipped tiles on the slopes themselves are refixed or replaced one at a time, with sound neighbours left alone. If the survey shows the covering is failing across every slope, we say that plainly and show you the evidence.
Where an interwar hipped roof usually needs attention
| Part of the roof | What we look for | Typical remedy |
|---|---|---|
| Ridge | Cracked or dropped bedding, rocking tiles | Re-bed and fix mechanically |
| Hips | Slipped tiles, rusted hip irons | Fix back, replace the iron |
| Verge | Loose edge tiles, failed pointing | Re-fix, or dry-fix the edge |
| Extension flat roof | Ponding, split edges | Patch, or recover the roof |
