Ask Each Roofer Whether a Half-Capped Ridge Can Sit Overnight

A roof that is open at the ridge at the end of a workday is a different roof from the one you were quoted. The field shingles may be down, the underlayment may be on, and the last run of ridge caps may still be sitting in a bundle on the deck. Each roofer has a habit for that gap, and the habit tells you more about the crew than the price does. This page is about asking each roofer, before the start date, what happens to a half-capped ridge when the crew has to leave it overnight.

Why the ridge is the last thing done

On most asphalt roofs the ridge cap goes on after the field shingles are finished and the hip and ridge lines are cut to fit. That order is normal and it is not the problem. The problem is the gap a crew leaves when the day ends before the peak is finished. The highest course takes the most wind, and a run of caps that is nailed on one side but still loose on the other can lift at the open end before anyone returns. In a St. Louis spring, a wind shift behind a storm front can do that within a few hours.

Ask each roofer to describe the open ridge in their own words. Some will say the ridge is tacked and the field is covered. Others will say the crew stops at the last full course and tarps the peak. Those are different conditions, and a homeowner should not have to guess which one applies to their house.

What a half-capped ridge exposes

An open ridge exposes the top edges of the underlayment, the nail heads on the field shingles just below the peak, and the seam where the two slopes meet. Rain that runs straight down the slope is usually handled. Rain driven sideways by a south or west wind can get under an unfinished cap and reach the deck at the ridge board. Cold weather adds a second risk. Meltwater from a sunny afternoon can refreeze at the open edge overnight, and a thin film of ice on exposed underlayment is slippery when the crew walks back up in the morning.

Hail season adds a different problem. A tarp over an open peak can be torn loose by wind before it is weighted, and a torn tarp can scuff or dent the shingles beneath it. Ask what the crew does before a forecast storm arrives and who makes that call. This is a question about a process, not a promise about the weather, and a roofer who answers with a process has given you something you can check.

Sealant strips and hand-sealed ridge caps add one more wrinkle. Sealant needs warm days to bond, so a cap that was nailed late in a cool afternoon may not hold its seal before the first cold night. Ask whether the crew will hand-seal a ridge that is finished late in the day, or whether that section waits for the next warm morning.

Questions to put to each roofer

Ask these in the same order to every roofer, and write each answer beside its question so you can read them side by side.

1. When the crew stops on a day that ends with the ridge open, what exactly is left uncapped?
2. What is tacked, what is tarped, and what is left bare at that moment?
3. Who decides whether the tarp goes on, and does that person come to your lot or call you?
4. At what wind speed will the crew refuse to leave the peak open overnight?
5. Who checks the tarp before dark and again the next morning, and is that check written on a sheet you can see?
6. If a storm comes through before the crew returns, who repairs the open ridge and how is the damage documented before the repair?
7. On jobs like yours, how many days does the ridge usually stay open?

What the written answer should say

A good answer is short and specific. It names the state of the ridge at the end of each day, the person who checks it, and the time of the check. It says whether the tarp is weighted and how. It says what gets documented, such as a dated photo of the open ridge sent to you before the crew leaves the lot. Keys Roofing puts a written scope with photos and measurements in the homeowner's hands, and the ridge belongs on that scope with the same care as the field. If you ever need to deal with your own insurer about storm damage, that conversation stays with you and your insurer, because Missouri law (RSMo 407.725) bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, and from saying anything about paying, waiving or covering a deductible.

If the answer is vague, ask the roofer to write it down. A verbal promise about a tarp is hard to check the next morning, and the next morning is when the question matters most.

Put the ridge on the schedule

Each roof schedule should carry a hold point for the ridge. That means a line that says the peak is capped, or tarped and weighted, and checked before the crew leaves the lot for the day. Compare how each roofer writes that line. One may tie it to the end of the field work. Another may tie it to a fixed clock time. Neither is wrong, but the version that names the check and the person who makes it is easier to hold the roofer to.

If a roofer says the ridge is always finished before the crew leaves, ask how that works on a late afternoon start. Ask the same question about a day when rain stops the crew after lunch. The answer to those two questions often shows whether the schedule was written with the weather in mind or only with the calendar.

If your roof is on a long run of weather days, ask whether the crew will leave a partly capped ridge through a weekend. Many homeowners never ask that question, and the weekend is the stretch that tests the answer hardest.

Call the office at (314) 220-2333 if you want the ridge question answered before you choose. Ask for the answer in writing, and keep it with the rest of your comparison papers.