Flat roofing in Branksome

A sound roof gets patched. Blisters, a split at a lap, or a seam lifting at the upstand can be cut out and repaired in the same material, as long as the deck is dry. We look hardest at the edges, because that is where most flat roofs leak: the edge trim and drip over the gutter, where the downpipe or hopper takes it away, the upstand against the house wall, the lead cover flashing above it and the outlet.

Stripping and re-covering. When the deck gives underfoot or the covering has failed in several places, it all comes off. Rotten chipboard is replaced with new OSB or plywood, and firring pieces or a tapered board restore the fall, so water runs to the gutter or outlet instead of ponding in the middle. Then the covering: an EPDM rubber membrane bonded down in one sheet, GRP fibreglass laid on a new deck, or a torch on felt system with a cap sheet. We tell you which suits your roof and why. A single storey extension is often two or three working days.

Rooflights and lanterns. A skylight, a Velux style rooflight or a glazed lantern on a Branksome kitchen extension sits on a timber kerb, and the membrane has to be dressed up and over that kerb with no gaps at the corners. When a lantern leaks it is usually there, not the glass. Replacing one at the same time as the covering is far simpler than trying to seal round an old one.

Dormers. A dormer roof in Branksome is small but awkward, reached from the main roof or from a scaffold, with a lead or membrane detail where it meets the tiles. Leaks there often show up as a stain on the stairs rather than in the room itself.

Warm roofs. Many older extension roofs in Branksome are cold roofs with little insulation and poor ventilation, and condensation on the underside of the deck rots it from below. Re-covering is the time to put PIR insulation board above the deck, under a vapour control layer, so the timber stays warm and dry. Replacing a whole covering brings in building control and Approved Document L, and we handle that.

Block roofs. The larger roofs on the post-war Branksome blocks carry parapets, copings, several outlets, soil and vent pipes and often a hatch or a tank room, and each one is a detail to seal. We survey them in writing, section by section, and separate what has failed from what can wait.

When we would talk you out of it. A roof that is ten years old with one lifted seam does not need replacing. A roof with a wet deck does not want a patch, because a patch traps the water in. We will say which you have.

No rate per square metre, because the square metres are the easy part and what is under the covering is what decides the job.

Getting to it. A garage roof behind a semi near the recreation ground, a dormer on an Edwardian house with no side access, and the whole roof of a block of flats off Poole Road are three very different jobs to reach. A garage or a single storey extension will often come off a tower, anything above a two storey wall wants a scaffold, and the platform has to stand while the deck is open rather than for an afternoon. The work at height rules are why it is a priced line rather than something folded into a rate.

The deck under the covering. A sound deck can be re-covered. Chipboard that has been wet for years, or ply that gives underfoot, has to come off and be replaced, and you cannot tell which you have from the ground or from a photograph. We lift a corner before quoting, because the deck is the single biggest swing in the price.

The falls, and where the water is meant to go. Most flat roofs that fail were never laid to a fall, or the fall runs at an outlet that has since been blocked or built over. Correcting it with firrings is more work than laying a membrane and it is the difference between a roof that lasts and one that ponds. Upstands, edge trims and each outlet are priced one at a time, because that is where the hours and the leaks both are.

Comparing quotes? Ask which system is being quoted and how many layers, whether the deck is being renewed or covered over, whether the falls are being corrected with firrings, how the upstands, outlets and edge trims are detailed, and whether the scaffold and the skip are in the price.

We cover Branksome and BH12, from County Gates and Brunstead Road along Poole Road past the station and up to Alder Road, as well as Parkstone and Westbourne on either side. BCP Council is the planning and building control authority, and our base is in Boscombe.

You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building, the trading name of Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, which you can look up in a minute. Thomas Hannen's business, and he is the one who comes out to price the job, not a salesman. A verified customer's 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit and the written quote are both free. Before you book a visit in Branksome, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Branksome 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.