Roof Restoration
Roof Rebedding in Sydney
New mortar beds under your ridge caps so the capping tiles sit solid and stop leaking.
Rebedding is the job of removing the old mortar bed that sits under your ridge and hip capping tiles and laying a fresh one. On a tiled roof the ridge caps aren't fixed to anything solid on their own -- they sit on a bed of mortar packed along the ridge line. Over years of Sydney heat and movement that bed cracks, crumbles and lets the caps rock loose. Rebedding rebuilds that foundation so the pointing you put over the top has something sound to grip.
Why the mortar bed fails
The bedding mortar takes a beating that the rest of the roof doesn't. It expands and contracts every day as the roof heats and cools, and unlike the flexible pointing compound used on top, traditional sand-and-cement bedding is rigid. Once hairline cracks form, water tracks in, timber battens underneath swell and shrink, and the whole bed starts to break up. Coastal salt air around the eastern suburbs and northern beaches speeds this along.
You'll often see the symptoms before the cause: caps that wobble when touched, gaps opening at the base of the ridge, or lumps of grey mortar in the gutter after a storm. Once the bed is gone, the caps are only held by whatever pointing remains -- and pointing alone was never meant to carry that load.
How we re-bed a ridge line
We lift every capping tile along the affected ridge or hip, clean off the old bed back to the tile and batten, and check the timber underneath for rot while it's exposed. We then lay a fresh bedding mortar mixed to hold its shape, set each cap back to a true line, and let it cure before pointing goes on top. Getting the caps sitting dead straight matters -- a crooked ridge is obvious from the street and traps water at the joins.
Rebedding and repointing are usually done together because it makes no sense to point over a failing bed. If your bed is sound but the pointing has gone, you may only need repointing -- we'll tell you straight which one your roof actually needs.
Rebedding versus a full re-roof
Rebedding buys a tiled roof many more years for a fraction of the cost of replacement, provided the tiles themselves are in good nick. If the field tiles are delaminating, badly cracked or the battens are rotten, rebedding the ridges is only a partial fix. We give you an honest read on whether rebedding is worthwhile or whether your money is better spent elsewhere.
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What's Included
- Removal of all loose and cracked ridge and hip capping tiles
- Cleaning back the old mortar bed to sound tile and batten
- Inspection of exposed battens and timber for rot or damage
- Fresh bedding mortar laid and caps set to a true, straight line
- Curing time allowed before flexible pointing is applied
- Debris cleared from gutters and the site left tidy
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between rebedding and repointing?
Rebedding replaces the mortar bed underneath the capping tiles that holds them in place. Repointing is the flexible compound applied over the top for a weather seal. Rebedding is the structural part; repointing is the finish. If the bed has failed, repointing alone won't hold.
How do I know if my roof needs rebedding?
Push gently on a ridge cap -- if it rocks or shifts, the bed has failed. Other signs are gaps at the base of the ridge, grey mortar lumps in your gutters after storms, and caps sitting at uneven heights. We can confirm with a quick inspection.
Can you rebed just one section or does the whole roof need doing?
We can rebed a single ridge or hip if only that section has failed. That said, mortar beds tend to fail around the same age across a roof, so if one line is gone the others usually aren't far behind. We'll point out what's genuinely due.
How long before you can point over new bedding?
The bedding mortar needs to cure so it holds the caps firm before the flexible pointing goes over the top. We allow proper curing time rather than rushing it -- pointing over a soft bed defeats the whole purpose of the job.
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