Dry verge caps, fitted over the gable edge
The verge is the edge of the roof at a gable end, where the tiles overhang the wall. Dry verge caps clip and screw over that edge instead of being bedded in mortar.
What does fitting dry verge involve?
Fitting dry verge means taking the old mortar off the gable edge and capping it instead. A continuous track is screwed along the verge batten. Each cap clips into that track and screws down through it, one for every course of tiles. A starter closes the bottom of the run and an end cap closes the top.
The tiles themselves normally stay where they are. Only a tile that has already cracked or dropped gets changed while the edge is open.
Why mortar fails at a verge
The verge is the most exposed line on a roof. It takes wind from two sides, it dries out fastest in sun, and it moves as the roof timbers move with the seasons.
Mortar does not move. So it cracks, then it lets water in behind it, then frost lifts it off in lumps. Once the verge has gone, wind gets under the edge tile, and edge tiles are the ones that come off in a storm.
Specialists in maintenance free dry verge and ridge systems
That line is printed on our own leaflet, and it is the work we put first. There is no mortar to crack, so there is nothing to repoint.
A capped verge is held by screws, not stuck on with sand and cement. Wind, frost and movement have nothing left to break up. Caps can work loose over the years, and tightening one is a few minutes rather than a re-bedding job.
What you get is a gable edge that stops being something to keep an eye on. No cracked mortar to spot from the garden, no lumps of it on the path after a hard frost.
Dry verge on slate and on interlocking tile
Dry verge is not one product. Interlocking concrete tiles take a cap that sits over the roll of the tile. Plain tiles and slates take a different shape, because that edge is flat and much thinner.
There are systems made for slate verges too. The right one depends on the covering, the spacing of the battens and how far the tiles overhang the wall. We measure the edge before anything is ordered.
Where this work is covered
We cover verge work from Surrey across Crawley, Brighton, Horsham, Reigate, Redhill and Dorking. Anywhere further, ring and ask first.
Post-war streets in Crawley were built to a handful of house types. The same gable detail repeats house after house, so the mortar reaches the end of its life along the whole row.
How the job goes
What happens when we do your dry verge
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01Look along the gable
We look at what the mortar is doing along the full run, not only where it has cracked. Hollow, missing or lifting mortar, and how far the tiles overhang.
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02Measure and match
Both verges are measured and the caps are matched to the covering. Interlocking tile, plain tile and slate all take a different profile.
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03Old mortar off
The bedded mortar is cut and chipped away, down to the tile and the undercloak, which is the board it was sitting on. Anything loose comes off with it.
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04Track and caps on
A continuous track is screwed to the verge batten. Caps clip into it and screw through into the batten, one per course, working from the eaves upwards.
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05Close the ends and clear up
A starter unit closes the bottom of the run and an end cap closes the top. The old mortar goes with us and the ground is cleared.
Common questions
- Do the tiles have to come off to fit dry verge?
- No. The caps go over the tiles that are already there, along the edge. Only a tile that is cracked or has slipped gets swapped while the verge is open, and it is worth doing then rather than later.
- Can dry verge be fitted to any roof?
- Most pitched roofs with a gable end, yes. It needs a sound verge batten to screw into and a cap made for that covering. A roof with rotten timber at the edge needs that put right first, and we will tell you if that is what we find.
- Will dry verge caps blow off in a storm?
- They are screwed through into the batten, one fixing per course of tiles, so they are held mechanically rather than stuck on. A cap that has worked loose over the years can be tightened without disturbing the rest of the run.
- How long does fitting dry verge take?
- On a normal house it is one visit. Two gable ends get stripped of mortar and capped. Most of the time goes on reaching the edge safely, not on the caps themselves.
- What colour do dry verge caps come in?
- A few standard colours, with black, grey, brown and terracotta the common ones. We match them to the tile rather than to the fascia, because the tile is what they sit against.
Related work
Roofing advice on this
Plain answers to the questions we get asked most about this work, written before you ask us for a price.
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