Flat Roofing in Ferndown

Can a Ferndown flat roof 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.

A flat roof cannot be priced fairly by the square metre. The deck and the drainage decide it. Deck. Ferndown garages and extensions of this era were often boarded in chipboard, and plenty have been re-felted over the top more than once. Chipboard that has soaked up water sags and must be replaced, while firm ply can usually stay. Thomas lifts a corner before he quotes.

Fall. A lot of older flat roofs were laid nearly dead level, so puddles sit for days. Firrings fixed over the joists create a proper fall and stop the ponding. Upstands, outlets and edge trims are each costed separately.

Height and setting. In Ferndown, a sun lounge on the back of a bungalow, an integral garage and the canopy over a communal entrance all need different set-ups. The platform stays until the new covering is sealed, and what that platform is has to follow the work at height rules.

Which system. EPDM, GRP and torch-on felt each suit a different roof and cost a different amount. A block roof that carries plant or a walkway may point to one of them.

Service charges. For a block, the bill normally goes through the service charge, and bigger jobs may need a section 20 consultation.

Before you choose, find out from each firm which system they mean and how many layers, whether new deck boards are allowed for, whether firrings are in, and whether scaffold and skip are covered.

We look after flat roofs in Ferndown, West Moors, West Parley, Longham and Stapehill, travelling out from our base in Boscombe, Bournemouth, 5.9 miles away. The council for all of them is Dorset.

Your agreement would be with Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, entered on the register for England and Wales as company 15471719. Its owner, Thomas Hannen, goes up on the roof and prices it in person, and for a block he can meet the managing agent there. Checkatrade shows one verified customer's 10 out of 10. The visit costs nothing, and nor does the written quote, laid out item by item. Before you book a visit in Ferndown, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Ferndown 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.