Concrete tiles - ridge & verge

[70plus]

I live in a close of 70's houses on the south coast. All of them had the roof verges bedded in mortar. By virtue of position, mine is vulnerable to the prevailing SW wind. Currently, the flashing around the ridge tiles needs to be replaced - Photo 1. Apart from that, the verge, on the gable facing the SW, had two repairs in the past after tiles moved. The first used straps, but these failed lower down later on and the proper clips were fitted there - Photo 2. The first repair seemed to raise the righthand edge of the tiles slightly and an adjacent tile was blown off in a gale when the wind shifted to SE - Photo 3. For information, Photo 4 shows the verge on the other gable with tiles removed.

I think gales are going to get worse and the state of the tiles on and and around the SW verge makes me nervous. What are my best options here please? A dry ridge and dry verge have been suggested.

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

 

[^woody^]

Photo 2 shows a bodge. Some cheap steel band has been used and this just holds the lower tile but id should hold the tile above it too - as per those two proper clips on the first two rows.

Either re-bed the verge with proper clips or fit a continuous plastic dry verge.

Current standards require ridge tiles to be mechanically fixed (ie screwed or nailed). That does not mean a dry ridge, but many roofers now are not as skilled as in the past so a dry ridge tends to be thrown on instead.

 

[datarebal]

the tile battens are short, they can be longer. This means that the verge tile cannot be nailed or screwed. Likewise verge clips cannot be fixed properly. It is worse in this case as the verge is a cut tile and verge clips wont sit correctly so will need tweaking.

 

[70plus]

Thanks for both replies. Is the length of the tile battens also a problem with a dry verge?

 

[^woody^]

Yes the battens would need extending (or a batten fitted below the existing, and a piece fixed in line with the existing) in any case as they need to hold the undercloak down, otherwise the flexing of the undercloak vibrates the tiles. This would be important to do.

 

[70plus]

Thanks for that, Woody. What you and Datarebal have told me explains what I didn't understand about the construction of the roof and also tells me what to ask for.

 

[70plus]

Verge tiles removed, undercloak replaced, battens extended, clips fitted, tiles rebedded - Photos 5, 6 and 7.
Dry ridge fitted - Photo 8.

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7

Photo 8

 

[^woody^]

Looks nice