Flat Roofing in Ferndown

Can it be patched? More often than people expect, yes. Blisters, bubbles, a crack that has opened along an old torched surface, a seam that has lifted at the lap: we take the failed area back to material that is still sound, bond or weld a fresh piece across it, and dress the edge flat so wind cannot get under it. What we will not do is sell you a fourth patch on a roof that splits wherever it is touched. At that stage you are renting a repair by the year.

What goes back on if it does need re-covering? Rubber, fibreglass, felt or single ply, and the roof chooses more than we do. EPDM arrives as one sheet, sticks down cold and never sees a flame, which counts for a lot over a timber soffit. GRP is rolled on wet across new plywood and sets as one fibreglass skin with the edge trims formed into it, so it suits a sun lounge with several corners and a kerb or two. Three layer built up felt under a mineral cap sheet is what we use where somebody will be walking about. Single ply, welded at every joint, is for the long open spans.

Why does the quote go on about the deck? Because the covering is the cheap half. Chipboard boarding that has been wet for a decade holds no screw and carries no weight. Plywood that flexes when you stand on it is heading the same way. Both come out and OSB goes back down, and while everything is open the joists get checked and the fall is re-cut with firrings or tapered insulation so that water actually travels to an outlet. A roof that ponds was built wrong rather than worn out.

Warm roof or cold roof? If the covering is coming off, warm is nearly always the answer: PIR board over the deck with the vapour control layer under it, which holds the dew point up in the insulation and out of the timber. A cold roof, with insulation down between the joists, only works for as long as the ventilation gap above it stays clear, and blocked gaps are why so many old decks rot with no leak to blame it on. BS 5250 is the code for moisture and Approved Document L sets the thermal standard a renewed roof has to reach.

And the bits that stick up or stick out? They are where the leaks are, every time. Where a roof runs into a wall we cut a chase and dress a cover flashing into it, or work lead over an apron on an older detail. A parapet gets its coping bedded and a cavity tray set in behind. Every open edge takes a trim with a drip so water leaves rather than curling back underneath. Rooflights, lanterns and Velux units go onto kerbs we build up so the skylight stands clear of standing water, hatches, soil pipes and vent pipes get collars rather than a ring of mastic, and the hopper, gutter and downpipe are rodded before we price a covering at all.

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 sun lounge across the back of a bungalow, an integral garage between two houses and a flat section over a communal entrance are three different jobs before a sheet comes off the van. 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. Two quotes for the same job are usually two different jobs.

We cover Ferndown, West Moors, West Parley, Longham and Stapehill across BH22, out from Bournemouth. 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.