Dry-ridge vs Mortar Roof on Victorian Building Information, help and tips on many areas of roofing including trusses, tiling, venting, insulation etc....

[jpcamps]

Hi – I’m trying to organise a few quotes for a complete re-roof.

My house is a Victorian building with Staffordshire Blue clay tiles. With the new roof, I believe there are two main types (but please forgive my total ignorance here), dry-ridge (likely more expensive upfront but saves on ongoing maintenance costs) and mortar-based (likely cheaper upfront but will have ongoing maintenance costs).

Is someone able to answer my questions, below, as I’m getting really confused about what is best?

Dry-ridge – will it be possible to keep the traditional look of the roof whilst using a dry-ridge system? This is the most important thing for me as I don’t want to make the house look silly with a Victorian building and “modern” looking roof if it would look “modern”.

Mortar-based – how often are we likely to require maintenance on a mortar-based roof? Especially bigger jobs that will require scaffolding. Can small issues be fixed by climbing a ladder, or will scaffolding be required in all instances? As you can imagine, I’m just trying to gauge what the likely ongoing costs are going to be.

I've had a couple of quotes already. One roofer mentioned it would be hard to get the traditional look using dry-ridge and the other said it would look fine with dry-ridge.

Thanks in advance.

Jpcamps

[stoneyboy]

Hi jdcamps
The appearance of a dry ridge installation will depend on the manufacturer and the installer. This type of installation depends on a number of components and some of them plastic. Go for this and if you are lucky it will last a long time.
A mortared ridge has less unknowns and relies on well tried and tested materials and installation methods. You will still be dependent on the labourer mixing the mortar in the right proportions. If a black colourant is used it will look totally in keeping with your property.
Regards S