On a hipped roof, the slopes meet along the top and along the diagonal lines running from the ridge down to each corner. Those diagonals are the hips, and they are among the hardest-working lines on the house. Rain from two slopes runs into them, wind gets under them, and the tiles that cover them sit on a slope, so gravity tries to pull them down all the time. A hip that is badly built looks fine for a few years and then, in a gale, starts to drop tiles one at a time. This guide explains how a hip is put together, what keeps its tiles from sliding and what a dry hip system does differently.
What a hipped roof is and where the hips sit
A hipped roof slopes on all sides. Instead of a gable wall rising to a point at each end, the end of the roof is a slope too, and the meeting lines between the end slope and the side slopes are the hips. A semi-detached house often has a hip at one end and a party wall at the other. A bungalow may have a hip at every corner. Our answer on what a hipped roof is explains the shape, and the page on gable roofs shows the alternative.
Underneath each hip is a hip rafter, a deeper timber that runs diagonally from the ridge to the corner of the wall plate. It carries the shorter jack rafters from the slopes and gives the covering a line to follow. On top of it, the tiles are cut to the diagonal where they meet the hip, and the hip itself is covered with special tiles. Our guide to roof timbers describes the framing.
Hip tiles: the main forms
The covering over a hip comes in several shapes, and the choice affects both look and performance.
- Half-round hip tiles. A curved tile, like a half pipe, laid over the hip. Common on traditional roofs and the same as the half-round ridge tile.
- Angled hip tiles. A tile with a sharp, pitched section, forming a crisp ridge line down the hip. Common with modern concrete and some clay ranges.
- Bonnet hip tiles. A traditional clay tile shaped like a hat, used on plain tile roofs. Each tile overlaps the one below and sits over the cut field tiles.
- Arris hip tiles. A tile with a ridge-like profile, used with certain concrete ranges.
- Lead or mitred hips. On some roofs, the hip is formed by mitring the field tiles at the diagonal and covering the join with a lead soaker or flashing. This gives a neat, tile-only look but takes skill.
Whichever you have, the tiles must match the roof in colour and profile and be bedded or fixed so that they stay on. Our answer on half-round, angled and hogback ridge tile types sets out the shapes, which are shared with the ridge.
The hip iron: the small part that does a big job
At the bottom of each hip, where it meets the eaves, there is usually a metal bracket called a hip iron or hip hook. It is a strip of galvanised or stainless steel, fixed to the hip rafter or the wall plate and bent up in front of the lowest hip tile. Its job is to stop the whole column of hip tiles creeping down the slope. Without it, the tiles rely on mortar friction, and when the mortar fails, they begin to slide.
Hip irons are a classic failure point. Plain steel irons rust through, and nails work loose. An iron that has rusted away, or was never fitted, leaves the hip unrestrained. Often a hip begins to open at the top first, as the tiles slip, and the owner sees a gap near the ridge. If your hip tiles look as though they are lower than the junction at the ridge, check the foot. Our answer on why ridge tiles come loose explains the pattern, which is similar on the hips.
Mortar hips: how they were built and how they fail
The traditional hip is bedded in mortar. The hip tiles are laid in sequence, each bedded on a mortar mix over the cut tiles beneath, and pointed. The foot is supported by the hip iron. When it is well made it can last for many years.
The failures are familiar. The mortar cracks and shrinks, especially at the junctions. Water gets behind it and frost forces it out. The hip tiles loosen and then slip. Sometimes a single tile is lost, and often a run of tiles shifts together. Because the tiles on a hip sit on a slope, a loosened hip tile is more likely to slide and fall than a loosened ridge tile, which sits flat. That is why hips are a priority for repair after a storm. Our guide to signs your ridge tiles are failing shows what to look for, and the same signs apply to hips.
Dry hip systems: how they work
A dry hip system holds the hip tiles with mechanical fixings and closes the gaps without wet mortar. The parts are similar to those of a dry ridge.
- Hip starter or foot bracket. A fitting at the bottom of the hip that carries the lowest tile and stops the column sliding. It replaces or supplements the hip iron.
- Hip batten or tray. A fixing batten or tray along the hip rafter, giving something to screw into.
- Clips or brackets. Fittings that hold each hip tile to the batten.
- Flexible seal. A strip of mesh, foam or rolled material under the hip tiles that closes the gap between hip and field tiles, often allowing air to pass.
- End caps and finishing pieces. Fittings at the ridge junction and eaves.
These systems are designed to BS 8612:2018, which sets requirements for dry-fix ridge, hip and verge systems. The aim is the same as the tiling code, BS 5534:2014: hip tiles held by mechanical fixings, not by mortar alone. Our guide to how a dry ridge is fitted shows the process, and the hip follows similar steps with the added care needed at the diagonal.
Dry hip or mortar hip?
Both can be correct. A mortar hip that is also mechanically fixed, with a sound hip iron, can meet current practice. A dry hip system builds the fixing into the design, which makes it easier to get right and much easier to maintain. Dry is the better answer on exposed roofs, on hips that have failed before and where the scaffold is already up for ridge or verge work. Mortar suits some period roofs, where the look matters and the council or the house demands it. Our short answer on dry hip or mortar hip goes into the choice, and the comparison of dry ridge and mortar-bedded ridge covers the same ground for the top of the roof.
| Feature | Mortar hip | Dry hip system |
|---|---|---|
| Foot restraint | Hip iron, if fitted and sound | Starter or foot bracket built into the system |
| Holding the tiles | Mortar plus mechanical fixing | Clips and brackets to a batten |
| Movement | Mortar cracks | Flexible parts absorb it |
| Appearance | Traditional, pointed joints | Close to traditional, sealed joints |
| Upkeep | Re-pointing over time | Occasional check after storms |
Cost and access
There is no reliable published UK price range for hip work as such. As a neighbouring figure, one cost guide gives £900 to £1,600 for a dry ridge on a semi, with £300 to £900 more for scaffold. Those are typical UK ranges and not Beacon prices. A hip adds length and diagonal cutting to the job, and a hipped roof has several, so the price rises with the number of hips. Scaffold dominates on small repairs, and a hip at the high corner of a roof is no easier to reach than the ridge.
The simplest way to save money is to do the hips with the ridge, in one visit. A scaffold put up for the ridge costs no more if the hips are done at the same time, and the work is consistent. The page on ridge repair and re-bedding costs covers that side.
Matching colour and profile on a hip
Hip tiles are visible from the street, and a mismatch shows. A hip dressed in new tiles that are a shade lighter than the roof, or a different profile from the old ones, draws the eye. On a concrete tile roof the hip tiles come as part of the range and match closely, though an old roof will have weathered. On clay roofs, new hip tiles can be a visible patch against old, and reclaimed hip tiles may be the better choice. Our answer on whether old ridge tiles can be reused applies to hip tiles too. When the hip is re-done in full, a colour-matched mortar or a coloured dry system finishes the job tidily.
Common faults to watch for
If you have a hipped roof, check the hips from the ground after each gale. Look for tiles that have shifted down the line, gaps between hip tiles and the field tiles, cracked or missing pointing, a visibly rusty hip iron at the foot, or green moss and white staining where water is getting into the joint. A single dropped hip tile is not an emergency in itself but does leave the hip rafter and underlay exposed. A hip tile that has fallen is also a safety risk below.
Do not go on the roof to look. Hip tiles are bedded at an angle on a slope, and standing on them is how people fall. Binoculars, a camera zoom and a survey are the safe route.
What we do on a hip survey
We inspect each hip from the roof and loft, check the hip iron or foot fitting, the hip rafter and the underlay beneath, and photograph the faults on your roof. If the tiles are sound and only the mortar has gone, we say so and price a re-bed with proper fixings. If the foot has failed or the hip keeps slipping, we recommend a dry hip system and show you why. You get a fixed price in writing, the work carries a written ten-year guarantee on workmanship, and the old mortar and waste go with us. For the wider service, see ridge tile repairs in Basingstoke.
