Ridge tiles sit along the very top of a roof, capping the point where two roof slopes meet, and their position makes them one of the more exposed elements to wind during a storm. Traditionally bedded in mortar, ridge tiles on older Lockleaze properties can be particularly vulnerable if that mortar has cracked or eroded over time, leaving the tiles less securely fixed than they should be.
Wind can lift and dislodge ridge tiles, and in more severe cases blow them off the roof entirely, which is more than a cosmetic problem. The ridge line is a key part of the roof's weatherproofing, and a gap here gives wind-driven rain a direct route into the roof space below, sometimes affecting a wider area than a single displaced tile lower down the slope would.
Because ridge tiles sit at the highest point of the roof, damage here is one of the harder things to properly assess from ground level, and it's easy to underestimate the extent of a problem just by looking up from the garden. A proper inspection, generally with someone getting safely up to roof level, is usually needed to confirm exactly how many ridge tiles are affected and whether the mortar bedding itself needs redoing.
Repairing storm-damaged ridge tiles typically involves removing any loose or cracked tiles, re-bedding the ridge line in fresh mortar or, on some roofs, a dry ridge system using mechanical fixings rather than mortar alone, which can offer better resistance to future wind damage on an exposed roof.
It's worth noting that a single displaced ridge tile can sometimes look like a minor cosmetic issue from the ground, which is part of why ridge damage occasionally gets left longer than it should. In practice, even one gap along the ridge line can be enough to let wind-driven rain track down into the roof space, and because the ridge sits above the main slopes, water entering here can travel a reasonable distance before it becomes visible as a leak indoors. Treating ridge tile damage with the same urgency as a missing tile lower down the roof, rather than assuming its position makes it less significant, is generally the safer approach for a Lockleaze property. It's also worth checking hip tiles, which run down the sloped edges of a roof on properties with a hipped rather than a simple gabled design, since they're fixed and bedded in a broadly similar way to ridge tiles and are exposed to much the same wind forces. Any Lockleaze property with hip tiles is worth having these included as standard in a post-storm ridge and hip check, rather than assessing the ridge line in isolation.
If wind has left ridge tiles displaced or missing on your Lockleaze property, it's worth having this addressed promptly given how exposed the ridge line is to further weather. Brunel Roofing Bristol provides a 24-hour emergency call-out and free inspections for ridge tile damage, with repairs covered by a 15-year guarantee.
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