Flat roofing in Merley
Porch canopies, garage roofs, utility roofs and extension roofs across Merley and BH21. We check the deck under the covering and price the job in writing.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Most flat roofs in Merley went on when the houses did, and they are all reaching the same point at the same time. If yours is still on its original deck, that deck is the first thing worth looking at, not the covering over it.
The flat roofs around Merley are porch canopies, attached garages, utility and cloakroom roofs and the odd wide extension. They are shallow, they sit low, and they were laid to a fall that was modest even when new.
Trouble on a Merley flat roof shows when a canopy starts dripping at the front door, when a garage ceiling goes soft in one corner, or when the covering has gone chalky and split along a crease. We come out, get on the roof, follow the water back to where it is really entering and open a corner where there is a sensible place to do it. Then you get photographs of what is up there and a written price with each part of the work on its own line. If the porch canopy or garage ceiling is dripping as it rains, ring 07435 839745.
The work
Porch canopies, garages and the utility roof
What comes off is almost always felt. Either a three layer built up system finished with a mineral cap sheet, or a single torch on layer somebody laid over the original to buy time.
The failures are predictable: splits along the creases, blisters where damp was trapped underneath, and a lifted seam where the covering turns up an upstand against the wall. A failed seam is the worst of the three, because water runs under the whole covering and shows up on a ceiling nowhere near the fault.
Going on. EPDM rubber for a plain rectangle, bonded down in one sheet with no lap and no seam in the open field of the roof. GRP fibreglass where there are kerbs, corners and upstands to laminate round, and on anything that will be walked on. Single ply, hot air welded rather than torched, for a long run.
The deck is the real question. Lift the covering on a Merley house of this age and you usually meet chipboard decking rather than plywood or OSB. Chipboard swells the moment it gets properly wet, and it does not recover. The joists underneath are normally fine, and the firrings on them are what create the fall to the outlet. A roof laid too flat holds standing water, and ponding in the same corner every winter finishes a covering years early. BS 6229 sets out the falls, and where re-firring will not work we form them in tapered insulation.
Anything heated gets the insulation moved. A utility, a cloakroom or an extension counts, and renewing the covering brings the insulation into scope under Part L. Done properly it is a warm roof: vapour control layer down first, PIR over it, membrane on top, and both deck and joists stay warm. Done the old way, with the insulation between the joists, it is a cold roof and the boards sit below the dew point. Moist air reaches them, interstitial condensation forms inside the build up, and they rot from above with nothing at all showing outside. Building control are notified and inspect it open.
Edges, junctions and openings. A canopy or a garage roof is mostly edges, which is why the detailing takes longer than the covering. The abutment wants a chase cut in and a lead cover flashing dressed home, with a cavity tray above it. A parapet wants a coping and an apron. Openings go on kerbs, every one of them: a rooflight, a lantern, a Velux style flat roof window, a hatch, a soil and vent pipe. The open sides run out over a drip trim, and the rainwater outlet feeds a hopper, a downpipe or the gutter. A canopy is a day, a bigger extension two or three working days, and we say how long first.
How it runs
How a garage or extension flat roof gets re-covered
Thomas climbs up and looks at the flat roof before he writes a price. He presses along the deck for soft spots and lifts an edge to see what it is made of, because Merley flat roofs from the seventies and early eighties were often felted straight onto chipboard. The written quote separates access, stripping the old covering, any new deck or firrings, the insulation, the membrane, each upstand, outlet and edge trim, and disposal.
Stripping and laying come under the one written quote. On most Merley houses the flat roof is an attached garage, a porch canopy or a single storey extension at the back, reached off a tower from the drive or the garden. The deck is never left open overnight, the old felt is bagged and taken away, and the ground is swept every day. If a joist has rotted further in than anyone could see, Thomas sends you a photo of it with a price, and nothing more is done until you say.
Re-covering an existing flat roof is repair, so there is no planning permission to apply for. Once the roof is over a heated room and most of it is stripped, building control is notified and the insulation has to meet Approved Document L. The housing is not inside either of the ward's conservation areas, which are at Canford Magna and Oakley Lane, and BCP Council publishes their boundaries.
Cost
Deck, falls and upstands: where a flat roof price comes from
Nobody should price a flat roof by the square metre. The area is quick to measure. What sits under the covering is what makes the job.
Where the roof is. In Merley, a garage roof beside a bungalow is tower work from the drive. A wide extension across the back of a detached house may need a scaffold, and it has to stand the whole time the deck is open. The work at height rules make that a line on the quote.
The deck. Sound ply or OSB can take a new membrane. Chipboard that has been damp for years crumbles and has to come off. You cannot tell from the ground, which is why a corner gets lifted before the price is written.
The fall. Plenty of flat roofs on Merley houses of this age were laid nearly level, so water sits and finds any split. Tapered firrings give the new deck a real slope to the outlet. It is extra work, and it is what stops the next roof ponding.
Where the water goes after. The ground here is a clay that moves with the seasons. A garage gutter emptying onto the soil by the footings is worth sorting while we are there.
The system. Built-up felt, a single sheet of EPDM rubber or GRP fibreglass each detail differently at the upstands and edge trims.
When you compare, ask which system and how many layers, whether the deck is renewed or overlaid, whether firrings are included, and whether the scaffold and skip are in the price.
If it is coming through
Water dripping through the garage or porch ceiling
A split, a blister that has burst or an upstand that has pulled away from the house wall lets rain straight onto the ceiling below, and a wet chipboard deck keeps getting worse after the rain stops. Move anything valuable, catch the drips, and phone us.
Leave the enquiry form for later. We get the roof covered on that first visit, with a temporary patch or a weighted sheet, and see how far the wet has spread through the deck. The permanent job is priced when it has dried. Scheduled work is Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Should the phone ring out, we return the call the moment we are free.
Worth knowing
When one goes on the street, the rest are not far behind
Merley was built in a rush, and the great majority of the housing went up in one long stretch with the peak in the 1970s. That is unusual, and it has a practical consequence for flat roofs.
Every garage, canopy and utility roof on a Merley street went on within a couple of seasons of each other, on the same decking, laid to the same fall by the same trades. So they do not fail one at a time. They fail together, over about five years.
If a neighbour has just had theirs done and the roofer found soft chipboard, take it as a warning about yours rather than a coincidence. The difference in price between a re-cover on a sound deck and a re-cover with the deck replaced is the single biggest swing in a flat roof job, and the deck is only sound while the covering above it is still keeping water out. Getting up there this year rather than in two winters is usually the cheapest decision you will make about the roof. We are happy to look and tell you it can wait.
Who you are dealing with
Flat roofs from Oakley to Canford Magna
Merley is 6.6 miles from our Boscombe base, and we cover flat roofs here, in Oakley, Canford Magna, Broadstone and across BH21, with BCP Council handling any building control notice. You would be dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd (registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719), which Thomas Hannen owns. Before you book a visit in Merley, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
He is the one who gets up on the roof, lifts an edge and writes your price. One verified customer scored us 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. Neither the visit nor the itemised written quote costs you anything.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Merley?
Most repairs in Merley 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 Merley |
|---|---|
| Who decides | BCP Council is the planning authority for Merley. BCP Council's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | The Merley estates are outside any conservation area. Canford Magna and Oakley Lane lie in the same ward, so check your address on the BCP map. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Merley. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Merley. |
Questions
Questions about flat roofs in Merley
My porch canopy drips at the front door. Is that the roof?
Usually it is the junction where the canopy meets the wall, not the covering. The upstand is short, the flashing was sealed instead of cutting into a chase, and water gets behind it. It is a small job done properly and an endless one done badly.
Should I replace the deck even if it feels solid?
Not automatically: plywood and OSB that have stayed dry can be re-covered and will be fine. Chipboard that has been wet is different, because it never comes back. We open a corner before quoting so the answer is on the quote rather than on the invoice.
How much disruption is there?
Less than a re-tile. Nothing is left open overnight, the ground gets sheeted, and the old covering leaves with us and never sits in your drive. A garage roof is done and cleared in a day.
Can you do several houses on the same street together?
Yes, and it makes sense. If neighbours are having the same roof done, the access and the delivery are shared and each quote is still separate and itemised so nobody is guessing what they are paying for.
Nearby, and next door
Flat roofing near Merley
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Free quote
Get a price for your Merley flat roof
Tell us the address and what you have noticed. We will come out, open a corner where we can, and put an itemised price in writing. No charge, and no obligation.