Can You Have Dry Ridge With a Mortar Verge?

At the highest line of the roof, the two slopes meet at the ridge. Down each gable side runs the verge, where the tiles end before reaching the brickwork and need a neat, weatherproof finish. Each detail has its own tiles, fixings and finishing parts, which is why one roof can use a method at the crest and a different one at the side without the two interfering.

This happens a lot when work is done in stages. The ridge is renewed after a storm, using dry-fix, while the verge stays because its mortar still looks sound. Or an older roof had its verge redone in mortar after some other repair. Nothing about that is unusual, and nothing in the guidance we have read says the two cannot be combined.

What matters is that each detail is held securely in its own right. A dry ridge depends on its clips and roll. A mortar verge depends on the bed, and ideally on mechanical fixings for the tiles. Our guide to the dry verge system shows the alternative to a bedded verge, which is helpful if you are weighing them up.

BS 5534 is the British Standard covering slating and tiling, and BSI lists the 2014 edition with its 2018 amendment as current. Marley, in a blog updated in February 2026, says that edition changed the picture for bedded work: a mortar bed alone was no longer to be trusted for ridge and hip tiles, and every bedded tile and fitting needed a mechanical fixing in addition.

The same logic reaches a mortar verge. A verge tile bedded purely in mortar is held only by the grip of the bed, which weakens as it cracks, and a gust can lift the tile. The standard does not ban mortar. It adds a clip, screw or strap, so the tile stays held even if the bed fails.

Marley also states that working to BS 5534 is not required by law, which is worth knowing so that nobody tells you otherwise. Still, a roofer who follows it builds a safer roof, and a buyer's surveyor may ask what was followed. Our page on BS 5534 ridge and verge fixing goes through it in detail.

Look at the gable edge from the ground. A mortar verge shows a line of cement-coloured bedding under the end tiles, often with hairline cracks, stains or gaps where it has parted from the wall. A dry verge shows a continuous capping unit, usually with a visible clip or screw at intervals and no mortar line, and a small end cap where it meets the eaves.

Some mortar verges have had a mechanical fixing added, such as a stainless-steel clip or nail through the tile, and others have not. You cannot tell from the ground. A roofer can look at the underside and the fixing points, and photograph them for you. If there are none, a new fixing can often be added without taking off the whole verge, which is a modest repair compared with a rebuild.

Cracked or falling mortar is the typical call-out. Our page on verge repointing explains when repointing is enough, and when the better answer is a new dry system. A verge that is loose, rattling or moving is a safety matter and should not wait for fine weather.

If you are having the ridge done and the scaffold is already up, it is cheaper to ask about the verge in the same visit, because access is a large part of the cost where the house has two storeys. A scaffold that serves the ridge on a gable often reaches the verge at the same time, so the extra work is the verge itself. Ask whether one scaffold is priced for both.

The look is a second reason. A new dry ridge beside a weathered, cracking mortar verge can look mismatched. A dry verge, in a similar colour to the ridge, tidies the whole top of the roof. On the other hand, if the verge is sound, fixed and in keeping with the house, leaving it alone is a perfectly sensible choice. It can be revisited later.

Our survey covers the whole roof, with photos of both details and one written total price, and we can price the ridge alone if you prefer. To begin, email or message a picture of the gable edge and the ridge, with the number of floors noted. The dry ridge and dry verge page has more on the choices.