FOCUS ON….. Roof Fittings
There are many components to a traditional tiled roof – here’s a quick summary:
RIDGE -The point at which the two sides of a pitched roof meet at the apex is called the ridge. The tiles used to cover this are called ridge tiles or roof cappings and are designed to be weatherproof and heavy enough to stand up to strong winds and storms.
Ridge tiles come in a number of different profiles, manufactured from clay and concrete, and typically 300mm – 450mm in length. A half round profile is common and is a simple covering to your ridge line, with third round ridges available for shallower, hip ridges. You also find basic angled ridge which is triangular in profile with a number of different angles produced to suit a wide selection of roof pitches. These are also available with a collar or belt detail allowing them to interlock to provide a stronger fixing.
There are more decorative options too such as roll-top, fin-top or crested ridge tiles and locally, you will find natural stone ridges carved from Cotswold limestone.
HIPS & VALLEYS – Ensuring that there is a weatherproof junction at the point where two roof slopes meet is essentail and hip and valley tiles are used to provide a seamless transition between the two areas. Typically shaped to fit the angle at the intersection, they help ensure the integrity of the roof and protect from leaks.
Hips are used on outside angles and valleys are used on inside angles with various pitches available. There are different profiles made too, including sharp angled arris hips to bonnets which are rounder in shape.
UNDEREAVES – These smaller tiles are used under the bottom course of plain tiles to ‘kick out’ from the fascia board and provide the double lap for the first row. These are also used on the top row of tiles at the ridge.
TILE & HALF / GABLE TILES: As the name suggests, these are one and a half times the width of a standard plain tile and are used to maintain a broken bond at verges or abutments. (Famously difficult to reclaim as they tend to be particularly well mortared on and break on removal….)