Options for verge replacement?

[Milleniumaire]

I found a chunk of mortar had dropped out of part of our extension roof verge, which was built about 9 years ago, so doesn't seem to have lasted very long! On inspection, some of the mortar near to the damaged area is also very loose, so will need fixing, but further up the roof the mortar feels solid.

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• Milleniumaire
• 2 Jul 2023

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• Milleniumaire
• 2 Jul 2023

The verge pointing never seemed particularly tidy, so I'm thinking about taking this opportunity to replace the verge on both sides of the extension roof with a dry verge. Here's what each side looks like:

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• Milleniumaire
• 2 Jul 2023

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• Milleniumaire
• 2 Jul 2023

And a closer view of the roof on the side where the verge has failed, just to show the tiles:

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• Milleniumaire
• 2 Jul 2023

The tiles used are 132cm x 22cm:

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• Milleniumaire
• 2 Jul 2023

What would you do:
1. Simply fix the damaged area.
2. Remove mortar from both verges and replace.
3. Remove mortar from both verges and install a dry verge.
4. Something else?

My wife is keen on a dry verge being installed, but I think the tiles may be too small for that!

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[Alastairreid]

It was never done properly in the first place, dont use plastic it would look terrible. I would get the verge/undercloak stripped out and done properly with a wet verge.

 

[Milleniumaire]

Ir was never done properly in the first place, dont use plastic it would look terrible. I would get the verge/undercloak stripped out and done properly with a wet verge.

Thanks Alastair, what is it about the verge that makes you say it wasn't done properly (apart from the mortar failing after only 9 years)? TBH, there is a large housing development on a field next to us and they have been piling for 3 months now. I am wondering if all the vibration caused may have caused the verge to fail, although when the mortar dropped, they weren't actually doing any piling!

Given that the original roof was fitted by a "roofer" employed by the builder who built the extension, what's to say the next "roofer" wouldn't also do a poor job?

Looking at the dry verge systems, our tiles seem to be too small to use them, so a continuous verge may be needed if we were to go down that route. One concern I have about dry verge systems, especially those were the verge and tiles are not from the same manufacturer, is that they may not be as water tight as a wet verge.

 

[datarebal]

Tiles look like sandtoft 20/20 perfect for that pitch
The verge however is and always was a total mess.
Alastair is correct .
I'd go for wet verge fitted by a competent roofer.
Fwiw , lead flashing is shoddy too ..

 

[Milleniumaire]

Fwiw , lead flashing is shoddy too ..

The mortar above the flashing was repointed by a roofer last year as we had leaks and he told me it was getting in behind the flashing! Didn't chisel out any of the existing mortar, just plastered more mortar over the top of the existing. The quote he gave me I had assumed was for a day's work, but he was gone after a couple of hours. Despite that we haven't had a leak since, so maybe it was worth it!

So, two different roofers have worked on this roof and both could have done better! It is so difficult to find good, quality, reliable tradesmen these days!

I've had a local roofer around today to inspect the verge. I asked him what he would do with the verge if he was fitting a new roof and he said he always fits dry verges these days! Quoted me, what I think is a lot, to fit a continuous dry verge on both sides of the roof! He said he wouldn't need to remove any of the existing tiles, just the mortar. I'm struggling to understand how a dry verge fixed to the side will prevent water ingress.

 

[datarebal]

must be a Yorkshire thing . the original verge was total rubbish. id try another or go into your nearest ROOFING merchants as ask if they would share a name with you.

Id certainly want the undercloak leveled up on a bed.. And I wouldn't go for dry.

Finding a good trades person... start with the good guy and it should be a breeze as they will know who's ok

 

[Milleniumaire]

must be a Yorkshire thing . the original verge was total rubbish. id try another or go into your nearest ROOFING merchants as ask if they would share a name with you.

Id certainly want the undercloak leveled up on a bed.. And I wouldn't go for dry.

Finding a good trades person... start with the good guy and it should be a breeze as they will know who's ok

Thanks for your feedback, I'm trying to persuade the wife to go with a wet verge as a couple of you have now said it is better.

You are the second person to comment on the existing verge being total rubbish. What is it that makes you say that i.e. in your professional opinion what is wrong with the verge and what should I expect if it is replaced?

I'm looking for a roofer in West Yorkshire to get quotes for the work. The extension is around 1.3m from the house, so the verge won't be much longer than this.

For a replacement wet verge, how long would you expect this to take (1 day, 2 days)? Would you expect the existing tiles to be removed or could it be done by squeezing mortar into the edge of the existing tiles. I confess, given that once all the existing mortar is removed, I would have thought the tiles could easily be removed, making it a better way to re-mortar the verge, but I'm no expert!

Is there something stronger than the fibre cement undercloaking board that appears to have been used and has failed?

 

[datarebal]

the tiles need to come off. new undercloak fitted on a mortar bed keeping things straight and in line... not the bay of biscay.
tiles then wetted and bedded onto the under cloak and pointed in the same mortar.
pretty easy a few hours work not days

 

[Milleniumaire]

While at my brother-in-laws I couldn't help noticing how their wet verge had been constructed. The house is around 9 years old. Is this what you would expect a decent wet verge to look like?

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• Milleniumaire
• 10 Jul 2023

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• Milleniumaire
• 10 Jul 2023

 

[Milleniumaire]

The extension roof verges have now been re-done. The cost was £900 + VAT and 2 guys spent around 4.5 hours working on it.

Seems a lot neater and although they did remove the last row of tiles to insert a new undercloak and straightened up the roof line, they didn't use mortar between the tiles when replacing them, but pushed it in from the side.

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• Milleniumaire
• 5 Sep 2023

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• Milleniumaire
• 5 Sep 2023

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• Milleniumaire
• 5 Sep 2023