Roof verging DIY advice

[Jacksdad]

I am currently having 2 of 7 roof verges renovated by a roofer on our Victorian house. For cost reasons I was considering having a go at doing the other 5 verges off a cherry-picker. Has anyone had any experience of doing this sort of work without scaffold? Could anyone provide any advice as to how to go about it?
Many thanks, Nick

 

[Moo]

Absolutely no idea (I even had to google to find out what a roof verge is!), but I'm just replying so as to bump your question back to the top.

 

[88v8]

If it's just a matter of repointing them... preferably in lime if it's the original roof... then it may not be too bad a job, although hire of the cherry picker will cost. However, if the verges have been left cracked for long there may be underlying problems with broken or missing tiles/slates, rotten battens, verge boards, rusted nails. And of course some well-intentioned person in the past may have repointed in cement which can be hard to remove without breaking the tiles. In other words, the whole job could escalate in scope.
I would have a good look at one from a ladder before you decide to diy. A job which is relatively easy at ground level can be a real pain when aloft.

Ivor

 

[Jacksdad]

Thanks, Im pretty sure cement has been used previously so a sticky job is likely.
I also spoke to my roofer today about the verges he was doing and asked what he would be pointing them with (Ive already given him a hard time and eventually convinced him to use lime mortar on the rebuild of our chimney stack!). He said he would be using a lime, sand and cement mix???? Obviously alarm bells are ringing....... should I be concerned?? Is a pure lime/sand mortar the right thing for pointing verges??
Thanks, Nick

 

[agbagb]

As Ivor says the repointing will be easy enough, virtually a one hand job so a Ladder with a stand off would be enough. Braking / raking the old stuff out, might need a hammer and chisel or power tools, two handed job. So HSE wouldn't recomend using a ladder. So if your not happy on a ladder I would look at using a mobile scaffold tower. I'd only consider a Cherry Picker if there were obsticles to reach over, they aren't cheap to hire and can be dangerous in untrained hands.

This would have been a good job for a Cherry Picker.

 

[88v8]

Sharp sand and NHL5. No hydrated lime, no cement....

Ivor

 

[Feltwell]

This would have been a good job for a Cherry Picker.

Eeek!

 

[Flyfisher]

. . . or someone else. :shock:

 

[Jacksdad]

Thanks Ivor. Unfortunately all but one of the verges are obstructed by bay windows etc meaning a scaffold tower would leave me about 3 foot away from the roof. I tried to get a bespoke, cantilever scaffold tower made but couldnt get any of the regular bespoke tower makers to commit (may also have been quite pricey!).
My roofer says he would consider doing the remaining verges of a cherry picker and says he can get a "special rate" from the hire company so Ill wait and see what his quote is like.

 

[oversteer]

A mate hired one for the day for £100 delivered which didn't sound bad !

 

[agbagb]

I'm sure Ive seen staging boards to bridge across two scaffold towers somewhere so you could have one either side of bay.
edit - found them various sizes http://www.hireaccessplatforms.co.uk/manual/accessories/ya20.html

£100 a day should be about right for trade discount on a Cherry Picker, ref. Trailer mounted here http://www.hireaccessplatforms.co.uk/powered/static-boom/ah7.html