Dry Verge & Dry Hip in Dublin

The Gable Edge & Hip Lines Are Where Mortar Fails First

The verge is the edge of the roof along a gable wall, where the last tiles overhang the brickwork. On most houses it was finished with a strip of mortar pointed under the tiles. Wind-driven rain, frost and the slight movement of the roof all work on that strip, until pieces drop into the garden and the verge tiles are left loose at the edge.

Dry verge replaces the mortar with interlocking units that clip over the end of each course and fix to the battens. They hold the edge tiles down mechanically and close the gap against birds and weather. On a hipped roof, a dry hip system does the same along the sloping hip lines, with a fixed batten, a weatherproof roll and screwed hip tiles.

This work suits the concrete interlocking tiles found on many mid-century semis, and it is a common upgrade when the ridge is being dry fixed at the same time. With no mortar along the edges, there is nothing to wash out, crumble or repoint later on.