Flat roofing in Poole

Extensions, garages and the roof over the bay. Most of what we are called to in Poole is a single storey rear extension, a garage, a porch or the small roof above a bay window. The covering is usually torch on felt, an older built up three layer system with a mineral cap sheet. Stripping it is where the survey really starts: the deck underneath decides the job. Sound plywood or OSB takes a new covering straight away. Chipboard that has been damp for years sags between the joists, so it comes off and new decking goes down first. Then it is EPDM rubber in one sheet, GRP fibreglass laid wet on the boards, a fresh torch on felt, or single ply on a larger roof.

Water that sits rather than leaves. Ponding is the fault we see most. Standing water works at every lap and seam and freezes them open in a cold snap. Sometimes the fall was never laid, sometimes firrings or tapered insulation have been squashed flat, and sometimes the rainwater outlet has blocked or been built over by a later extension. We put the falls back with firrings so the water runs to an outlet instead of pooling, and BS 6229:2025 on flat roofs sets the minimum. We check the gutter, hopper and downpipe as well, because a good roof discharging into a blocked hopper still soaks the wall.

Upstands, trims and seams. Flat roofs rarely fail in the middle. They go at the edge trim, the drip, the apron, the kerb around an opening and at the laps. On felt that is a blister, a bubble or a split; on single ply a lifted or failed seam where the weld was rushed; on fibreglass a crack at a sharp internal angle. We cut back to sound material, form the upstand to a proper height, and weld or bond the seam so you end up with one surface rather than a patch on an old one.

Openings and abutments. A rooflight, a lantern, a Velux, an old skylight, a hatch or a soil and vent pipe is a hole somebody chose to make, and each one wants a kerb and a collar rather than a ring of mastic. Where the roof runs into a wall we chase in a cover flashing in lead. On a parapet we check the coping and whether a cavity tray sits behind it, because without one the water goes into the wall and the roof gets the blame.

Warm roof or cold roof. Older flat roofs around Poole are cold roofs: insulation between the joists and a void above that was meant to breathe and rarely does. That is where condensation collects, and interstitial damp rots the deck from below while the covering still looks sound. When we rebuild one we build it warm, with PIR above the deck on a vapour control layer, keeping the deck and the joists on the warm side of the dew point.

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 behind a terrace in the old town, a rear extension on a nineteen thirties semi, and a communal roof over a converted house are three different jobs before anything is stripped. 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.

A conservation area covers part of the town centre, and it changes exactly one thing about a flat roof: how it looks. Putting felt back where felt was is maintenance and nobody needs to hear about it. Changing the appearance of a roof that can be seen from the street, adding a run of rooflights or a lantern, or running a bright new trim along a parapet is a different conversation, and it is worth a phone call to the planners before anything is ordered rather than after. BCP Council keeps the list of conservation areas, so you can check your own address in a couple of minutes.

In practice most flat roofs in Poole sit behind a parapet or at the back over an extension, where nothing is visible from the pavement at all. There the choice is purely technical and you can specify whatever suits the roof. Where it genuinely is visible, a dark mineral cap sheet or a matt EPDM tends to pass without argument where a shiny metal trim does not, so it is worth knowing which of those two situations you are in before you start comparing quotes.

We cover Poole town and the quay, Hamworthy, Oakdale, Parkstone and Branksome, and the rest of BH15, and the site visit costs you nothing. 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.