Craft Quantities
Plan & Takeoffs

Cross-market term

Verge and rake

The edge of a roof at a gable — where the covering stops at the sloping end of the roof rather than at the eaves. Named differently by market, and the British word has an unrelated highway meaning.
  • 4Markets
  • NoSame thing everywhere
  • 3Calculators

What it is called, by market

One concept, four markets. Where a name means something else locally, the card says so rather than leaving you to find out on site.

  • United Kingdom

    Same word, different thing

    verge

    also gable edge, barge

    In highway and landscaping work a verge is the grass strip beside a carriageway — a completely unrelated element that appears on the same site drawings.

  • Australia

    Same word, different thing

    verge

    also gable end, barge

    As the UK, and in Australian usage the highway sense is if anything more common — the nature strip beside a road is widely called the verge.

  • United Statesyours

    Close, not identical

    rake

    also rake edge, gable edge

    "Rake" names the sloping edge itself and the trim along it; American usage has no roofing sense of verge at all.

  • Canada

    Close, not identical

    rake

    also rake edge, gable trim

    As the United States, with the rake board and the drip edge along it named separately from the eaves components.

The governing standard, by market

  • United Kingdom

    BS 5534

    Slating and tiling, including verge detailing and fixing in wind.

  • United States

    IRC Chapter 9 / ASTM D3161

    Roof coverings and their wind resistance, including edge details.

Calculators for this

Each works in either measurement system, and the terminology on the page follows whichever market you have selected.

Roof Squares Calculator →Common Gable Rafter Length Calculator →Fascia Board Calculator →

Frequently asked questions

Is the verge the same as the eaves?
No — they are the two different edges of a pitched roof and they behave differently. The EAVES is the horizontal lower edge, where water leaves the roof and where the gutter is; the VERGE or rake is the sloping edge at a gable, running from eaves up to ridge, where water is not collected but where wind pressure is highest. That difference in exposure is why verge details are about FIXING and wind rather than about drainage, and why a covering's fixing specification tightens along both the verge and the eaves. A specification that treats the two edges identically has usually not thought about either.
Why does the verge need extra fixing?
Because wind uplift is concentrated at edges and corners, and the verge is an edge running the full slope of the roof. Air flowing over a building separates at its edges and generates strong local suction there — considerably higher than over the middle of the roof — so the tiles, slates or sheets along a verge are the ones most likely to be lifted. That is why fixing specifications state a tighter pattern in the perimeter zones than in the field, why dry verge systems and mechanical clips exist, and why a mortar-bedded verge that has begun to crack is a maintenance item rather than a cosmetic one.
What is a bargeboard, and is it part of the verge?
It is the board along the verge, and the distinction matters when pricing. The verge is the EDGE — the line where the roof covering stops at the gable. The bargeboard, or rake board in American usage, is the timber or composite board fixed along that edge, closing the ends of the battens or sheathing and finishing the line. So a verge detail might be a dry verge system, a mortar bed, a cloaked tile or an overhanging bargeboard, and each is a different material and a different fixing. Asking for a verge repair without saying which of those is meant leaves the pricing open by a wide margin.