Flat roofing in Crossways

The garage roof comes first. The commonest flat roof in Crossways, and most are felt laid when the estate went up. What fails is a lap that has split, a blister lifted off the deck, a seam gone between two sheets, or a trim whose fixings have pulled.

On a Crossways garage, any of those is cut out, primed and welded back under a fresh cap sheet in a morning. What decides whether that is worth doing is the deck: chipboard swells the moment water reaches it and never flattens again, so a garage roof that dips in the middle is a board problem wearing a covering problem's clothes.

The porch and the bay top. Small roofs, awkward shapes, usually the ones with a kerb, an outlet and something to work round. GRP fibreglass is laid wet onto the deck, so it takes a shape rather than being cut to one, and that is why it suits these. A crack along a joint grinds out and re-laminates. On a plain rectangle we would rather use EPDM rubber, because it goes on as one sheet with no joints across the field and there is nothing in the middle of it to fail.

The roof over the back kitchen. Bigger, usually over a room in daily use, and the one where the build up decides how happy you are in five years. A built up three layer torch on felt system is still a proper roof and single ply belongs on the wider spans. What we will not do is re-cover a room roof cold when it is already running with condensation. PIR insulation above the deck, with the vapour control layer under it, keeps the dew point outside the timber and stops the interstitial damp people mistake for a leak. BS 6229 covers the build up.

Falls, and where the water is meant to go. Crossways roofs of this era were often laid dead level. Firrings over the joists put a slope back, or tapered insulation does the same work inside a warm roof, so water reaches the rainwater outlet rather than pooling. Ponding will not come through a sound covering by itself, but it holds grit and moss on the surface all winter and it is where the first split appears. Standing water underfoot that moves like a bubble is water in the deck.

The junctions, which is where the hours are. The upstand against the house wall, the abutment with a lead cover flashing set into a chase, the drip and apron at the front edge, the kerb round a rooflight, and the outlet itself. A parapet, a coping and a cavity tray get formed, not sealed. A skylight, a lantern, a Velux, a hatch, a soil pipe or a vent pipe each need a collar. And before any of it, we check the gutter, the hopper and the downpipe. A garage is a day, a back extension with a new deck two or three working days.

We do not price Crossways roofs by the square metre. The covering goes on quickly. What is underneath it sets the job. The deck. Garage roofs from this era were often decked in chipboard, which swells and goes soft once water gets in through a split. Ply that bounces when you walk on it has to come off too. Thomas lifts an edge before he quotes, because a new deck is the biggest single change in the price.

The falls. Many of these roofs were laid nearly flat, or drain towards a corner with no proper outlet, so water sits on them. Adding firrings to set a fall is more work than laying the membrane, and it is what stops the next roof ponding. Each upstand against the house wall, each edge trim and all the outlets are priced one by one.

Reaching it. A single Crossways garage beside the drive comes off a tower. An extension roof under an upstairs window needs a scaffold that stays up while the deck is open. The work at height rules set which of the two it is, and the skip is listed separately.

The system. Torch on felt, EPDM rubber and fibreglass all price differently. Unless the house is listed, the choice is yours and comes down to the roof.

Put these to any rival roofer: the system and number of layers, whether the deck is replaced or overlaid, and whether firrings are being added to correct the falls.

We travel 21.8 miles from our base in Boscombe to Crossways, and we cover flat roofs in the village, Woodsford, Warmwell, Moreton and the DT2 villages round them, with Dorset Council for building control. Your contract is with Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, number 15471719. Before you book a visit in Crossways, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Thomas Hannen owns the firm, and he walks the roof and writes your price himself. On Checkatrade, a verified customer scored us 10 out of 10. We do not charge for the visit, and the written quote with each part itemised is free too.

Most repairs in Crossways 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.