All glossary terms
Materials
Ridge Cap
Definition: Ridge cap is the row of shingles that covers the peak (ridge) of a roof, sealing the seam where two roof planes meet. It's sold separately from field shingles, in linear feet.
Every sloped roof has at least one ridge — the horizontal peak where two roof planes come together. Ridge cap is the specialized shingle product that covers and seals that seam. Without proper ridge cap, wind drives rain straight into the seam and your attic.
Two ridge cap categories:
**Cut-from-field cap.** Cut three-tab shingles laid over the ridge. Cheap, common on budget installs, but doesn't match thicker architectural shingles aesthetically and tends to wear faster.
**Manufactured ridge cap.** Purpose-made caps thicker than field shingles, with built-in adhesive strips and color-matched to your shingle line. Examples: GAF TimberTex, CertainTeed Mountain Ridge, Owens Corning ProEdge. Standard on quality installs.
**Ventilated ridge cap.** Combines the cap with a ridge-vent slot underneath, allowing attic exhaust airflow. Required on most modern installs for proper ventilation balance with soffit intake vents.
For estimating: ridge cap is sold per linear foot (typically $4-$8 per LF installed). Calculate total ridge length plus all hip lines, then add 5-10% waste. SatelliteQuotes can auto-detect ridge linear footage from satellite imagery — it's one of the per-job line items that estimators most often forget on hand-quoted bids.