"Roofing's one of those things where mistakes teach you more than getting it right first try..."
Couldn't agree more. Learned the hard way myself—metal edging isn't forgiving. A heat gun and patience saved me from redoing the whole thing. Glad you got it sorted without too much hassle.
"metal edging isn't forgiving. A heat gun and patience saved me from redoing the whole thing."
Wish I'd thought of that trick when I tackled mine a few years back. Ended up bending the edging pretty badly on my first go—figured brute force would sort it out (spoiler: it didn't). Got me wondering though, anyone ever try using a rubber mallet to straighten minor bends? Seems like it might work, but I haven't dared risk round two yet...
The rubber mallet can work, but honestly... it's hit or miss. I tried it once after a similar brute-force disaster, and while it improved things slightly, it never got the edging back to 100%. The heat gun trick is definitely smarter—wish I'd known that earlier myself. Still, good on you for giving it a go. Metal edging's no joke; takes guts to tackle it solo.
"The heat gun trick is definitely smarter—wish I'd known that earlier myself."
Yeah, the heat gun method sounds neat, but honestly, I'm not totally sold on it. I tried it once, and while it did soften things up nicely, it also warped the edging a bit in spots. Maybe I just didn't have the patience or finesse, but I'd say it's not foolproof either. For me, carefully using a wooden block with the mallet seemed to work better—just gotta be super gentle and patient.
Interesting points about the heat gun—I had similar issues myself. It softened things up nicely, sure, but I ended up with a couple of uneven spots that bugged me. Maybe it's just technique or heat level, but I went back to a rubber mallet and wood block as well. If you go slow and steady, tapping gently along the length, it usually comes out pretty clean. Plus, no worries about accidentally overheating anything...
