Flat roofing in Ashley
Flat roofs repaired and re-covered across Ashley and the BH25 addresses, in EPDM rubber, GRP fibreglass, felt and single ply.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Last updated
A flat roof that has split or lifted at an upstand is usually a repair rather than a new roof. What settles it is the deck underneath, so we lift a corner and look before anyone talks about taking the lot off.
A flat roof in Ashley usually asks for attention through a stain in a garage ceiling or the back bedroom. Water is standing on the roof days after the rain stopped. Or the felt has gone hard and cracked at the edges and you want to know whether it will see another winter. Each of those wants somebody up there with a knife rather than a guess from the pavement. We walk the roof, open a lap where we need to, and photograph what we find. If a patch will do, we will say so. Water already coming through that ceiling is a different call, so ring 07435 839745 and say so when we answer.
The work
Garage roofs, extensions and the flat bit at the back
Garages and outbuildings. The commonest flat roof in Ashley and usually the oldest. Most were laid in torch on felt, a built up three layer job finished with a mineral cap sheet, and once that has gone brittle the laps open and the sheet splits along the edge. A sound deck can be stripped and re-laid. A soft one cannot, and no photograph tells you which you have.
Extensions and the link between two pitched roofs. An extended bungalow in Ashley nearly always has a flat section over the back, often with a narrow link where the new roof meets the old. Those we re-cover in EPDM rubber, one sheet with bonded seams, or in GRP fibreglass laid wet over the deck so there are no joints at all. Single ply suits a larger or awkward shape, welded rather than glued.
The deck, the falls and the insulation. Lift a corner and you find plywood, OSB, or chipboard that has swollen and let go of the joists. Firrings are the tapered timbers that give a roof its falls, and where nobody fitted any, the water sits. On a warm roof the PIR goes above the deck with a vapour control layer sealed under it, keeping the timbers out of reach of the dew point. On a cold roof the insulation sits between the joists and the space above it has to breathe, or you get condensation and interstitial damp in the decking rather than a leak. BS 6229 is where all of that comes from.
What actually fails. Ponding and standing water at a blocked rainwater outlet. Blisters and bubbles where damp got trapped under the membrane. A split across an old felt roof, a crack at a kerb, a lifted upstand behind a rooflight, or a failed seam where a welded or bonded lap has crept. Edges are the other half: edge trim, the drip over the fascia, and the apron where the roof runs into a wall.
Openings, abutments and where the water goes. A rooflight, a lantern or an old Velux sits on a kerb that has to be built up, insulated and dressed so the membrane runs over it, and the same goes for a soil pipe or a vent pipe through the deck. Where the roof meets brickwork we cut a chase and dress in a lead cover flashing rather than running mastic along it, and on a parapet the coping and the cavity tray get looked at too. Then the outlet, the hopper, the gutter and the downpipe, because a flat roof with nowhere to drain is a tank.
How it runs
Stripping and re-covering a garage, dormer or extension roof
Flat roofs in Ashley are mostly on bungalow garages, rear extensions, porches and the dormers of chalet bungalows. Thomas comes and looks, presses on the deck to feel for soft spots, and prices it himself. The quote gives access, stripping the old covering, a replacement deck or firrings where needed, insulation, the membrane itself, every upstand and outlet, the edge trims, and disposal as a separate line. The whole job sits on that one written quote.
Garage and extension roofs in Ashley come off a tower or a low scaffold on the drive, and a dormer on a chalet needs a scaffold up to the eaves. We strip only what can be made watertight again before we leave that evening, the drive is swept each evening, and the old felt goes off site with us. If rotten joists or a wet deck appear, you see a photograph and a figure first.
Re-covering in the same materials is maintenance, with no planning permission, as Planning Portal guidance sets out. Take the covering off most of a flat roof, though, and you are renovating a thermal element. That is notifiable to New Forest District Council's building control and brings the insulation up to the standard in Approved Document L. No conservation area covers Ashley, so for most addresses there is nothing else to ask.
Cost
Decks, falls and upstands on a bungalow flat roof
A flat roof is not priced per square metre. Measuring it takes a minute, and the deck beneath decides the job.
Where it is. A garage beside the drive can be done from a tower. A rear extension behind a chalet bungalow in Ashley may mean carrying everything round the side, and a porch roof is small but fiddly. A dormer set into a chalet roof needs scaffold standing the whole time the deck is open, and HSE guidance sets how it is built.
The deck. Sixties flat roofs were often boarded in chipboard or softwood planks. Sound boards can be re-covered. Wet chipboard swells and breaks up, and springy ply is a sign of years of water. Thomas checks before quoting, because a new deck can cost more than the covering.
Falls and outlets. Plenty of older flat roofs were laid dead level, or drain to an outlet that has since blocked. In Ashley the water then lands on clay ground beside the house, a foundation question as well as a damp one. Firrings to put a fall back in are a line of their own, and so is every upstand, outlet and edge trim, in line with BS 6229.
The system. EPDM, GRP and torch-on felt all suit these roofs, but each is laid differently round a dormer cheek or a soil pipe.
When comparing, find out which system each roofer is offering and in how many layers, whether the deck is renewed, and whether the scaffold and skip are in.
If it is coming through
Rain getting through a garage or dormer flat roof
Once a flat roof has split, blistered or pulled away at an upstand, rain goes into the deck and on to the ceiling, and the timber keeps rotting after the sky clears. Put a bowl under it, stay away from any wet light fitting, and keep off the roof itself.
On the first visit we stop the water with a temporary repair or a sheet held down with battens, and the permanent job is priced when we can see how much of the deck has gone. Booked jobs run Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. For water through a flat roof the phone is quicker than the form, and when nobody picks up we ring back as soon as we are free.
Worth knowing
Bungalow country, and what that does to a flat roof
Ashley is bungalow country, and an extended bungalow almost always ends up with a flat roof somewhere: over the back room, over the garage, or as the link that ties an extension into the original hip. So the work here is rarely one big area. It is three or four small ones, each with its own falls, its own outlet and its own upstand against a wall.
Access on an Ashley bungalow is cheap, because nearly all of it sits at single storey height and a tower will do instead of a scaffold standing for a fortnight. And the money is in the edges rather than the middle, since a small roof has almost as much upstand, trim and abutment as a big one. So compare quotes on how those are described, not on the area, and think about doing the lot in one visit while the access is up.
Who you are dealing with
Who re-covers your flat roof, and how to look us up
The drive from Boscombe to Ashley is 8.9 miles, and our flat roof work covers Fernhill, Bashley and the BH25 houses either side of the main road. Anything needing an application goes to New Forest District Council.
Behind the work is Thomas Hannen's company, Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales under number 15471719, which Companies House will show you. Thomas comes to look at the deck and prices the job in person. A customer verified by Checkatrade scored us 10 out of 10. Neither the site visit nor the itemised written quote costs anything. Before you book a visit in Ashley, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Ashley?
Most repairs in Ashley need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.
| Question | In Ashley |
|---|---|
| Who decides | New Forest District Council is the planning authority for Ashley. The National Park boundary runs close by, and the Park's property map shows which side an address falls. |
| Conservation area | None covers Ashley, so a like-for-like repair is ordinary maintenance. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Ashley. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Ashley. |
Questions
Questions about flat roofs in Ashley
Can you patch it, or does the whole roof have to come off?
Often a patch will do. A split, a lifted lap or a blister in a sound covering is cut out and welded or bonded back in. What rules a patch out is a soft deck, so we lift a corner on the free site visit and tell you which you have.
How long does a flat roof take?
A garage roof is usually a day. An extension with a new deck, firrings, insulation and a rooflight to re-form runs to two or three working days. GRP fibreglass wants a dry deck and some warmth to cure, where EPDM rubber and single ply go down in weather that stops it.
Which is better, rubber, fibreglass or felt?
It depends on the roof. EPDM suits a simple rectangle, because it goes down as one sheet with almost no seams. GRP suits a roof with kerbs and detail, because it is laid wet and takes any shape. A modern torch on felt is still a good roof on a big garage.
Do I need building control for a new flat roof?
Usually yes, where the covering is renewed over most of the roof, because that counts as renovating a thermal element. It is not a planning matter, but it has to be notified and the insulation has to reach the standard.
Nearby, and next door
Flat roofing near Ashley
Nearby places we also cover for flat roofing, with straight-line distances from Ashley, and the other trades we offer in Ashley itself.
Flat roofing nearby
Our other trades in Ashley
Flat roofing guides
GRP, EPDM or felt: which flat roof covering? Snow on a flat roof or a conservatory Warm roof or cold roof: which do you need?Everything we do in New Milton Flat roofing, all areas Every area we cover
Free quote
Get a price for your Ashley flat roof
Tell us the address and what you have noticed. We will come out, look at the deck, and put an itemised price in writing. No charge, and no obligation.