Hip and gable roof repairs: the edges that fail first
Roof slopes are simple. It's the edges — the hips, the verges, the ridges where they meet — that take the weather from two directions at once and rely on mortar somebody buttered on decades ago.
Hips and gables fail before the main slopes because they are mortar-dependent, wind-exposed and thermally active. Re-bedding or dry-fixing a hip line typically runs £450–£1,200 depending on length and access; a dry-verge conversion on a gable is usually £300–£700 per side.
Why edges fail before slopes
A tile in the middle of a slope is held down by gravity, its nails and the tiles above it, and it sheds water onto the tile below. A hip or verge tile is doing a structural and weathering job at the same time, usually bedded in sand-and-cement mortar. Mortar shrinks as it cures, cracks with thermal movement, and after twenty to forty British winters it loses grip. Add wind uplift, which is strongest at edges and corners, and it's no surprise that most of the loose tiles we recover after a storm come off a hip or a verge.
Hip tiles: bedded, bonnet and dry-fix
Standard angular hip tiles are bedded in mortar along the hip rafter with a hip iron at the bottom to stop them sliding off. Bonnet hips, common on 1930s roofs across Hampton and Fulwell, are individual curved tiles bedded and nailed, and they are far more labour to re-lay. Dry-fix hip systems replace the mortar with a mechanically fixed batten roll and clips — no mortar to fail, ventilation built in, and now the default on new work. Converting an old bedded hip to dry-fix costs a little more than re-bedding but removes the problem rather than resetting the clock on it.
Gable verges and bargeboards
The verge is the tile edge at a gable wall, traditionally bedded in mortar over an undercloak. When it cracks, water gets behind the tile edge and into the wall head — that's the classic damp patch at the top corner of an upstairs bedroom. Behind the verge sits the bargeboard, and where that's timber and unpainted it rots quietly, taking the fixings for the verge with it. We usually price these two together because the access and the diagnosis overlap.
The hip iron nobody thinks about
The hip iron is a small galvanised strap at the foot of a hip that physically stops the bottom hip tile sliding down the roof and off the eaves. On roofs of a certain age it's rusted to nothing. If a bottom hip tile has crept downhill by an inch or two, the iron has failed, and re-bedding without replacing it means the same movement will start again. It's a £15 part on a job where nobody notices its absence until a tile lands in a garden.
What repairs typically cost
Re-bedding a single hip run on a straightforward semi is usually £450–£800 where access is safe from ladders, more with scaffold. Dry-fix conversion of the same run tends to be £600–£1,200 including the batten roll, clips and ridge or hip tiles reset. Dry-verge kits on a gable generally run £300–£700 per side. Bargeboard and fascia renewal at the same time is efficient because the access is already paid for — that's the main reason we always quote the edges as a package rather than one line at a time.
Mortar or dry-fix: an honest comparison
Properly mixed and struck mortar looks right on period property and is often preferred in conservation areas around Hampton Court, Strawberry Hill and parts of Richmond. It also needs redoing every 20–30 years. Dry-fix is mechanically superior, meets current British Standards for mechanical fixing, ventilates the ridge and hip lines, and carries longer guarantees — but on some period roofs the plastic profile is visible from the street. We'll show you both on your own roof and let you pick.
Spotting hip and verge problems from the ground
Take a photograph of each roof edge with a phone at full zoom on a bright day. You're looking for: gaps or missing chunks of mortar along the hip line, a bottom hip tile that has slid, dark vertical staining on the gable wall below the verge, mortar fragments in the gutter or on the path, and any tile sitting proud of its neighbours. Those five signs cover the vast majority of what we find on survey.
Getting the edges done once
If you're already having scaffold up for another job, doing the hips, verges and ridge at the same time is by far the cheapest way to buy the next twenty-five years. We cover Hampton, Hampton Hill, Teddington, Twickenham, Whitton, Richmond and the surrounding KT postcodes and will price the edge work as a standalone job or alongside anything else the roof needs.
FAQs
Typically 20–30 years in this climate. Poorly mixed or frost-damaged mortar can start crumbling in under ten, which is why we check the whole run rather than patching one gap.
Mechanically, yes — it can't wash out, it ventilates and it carries longer guarantees. Mortar still wins on appearance for period and conservation-area properties, so it's a genuine choice rather than an upgrade.
It's usually washing off a failing ridge or hip bedding above. Treat it as an early warning: the tiles it was holding are next.
Yes, if a match is available — reclaimed bonnets are usually sourceable. They're slower to lay than angular hips, so expect more labour per metre.
Related reading
More on repairs & problems and the jobs that usually come with it.
- Storm damage: what to do first and what insurance coversRepairs & problems
- Blocked gutters and damp walls: tracing the cause properlyRepairs & problems
- Emergency roof repair: what happens when you callRepairs & problems
- Listed buildings and conservation areas: roof repairsProperty types
Looking for something specific? See our roofing services, cost guides, common roof problems or the areas we cover.
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