Flat roofing in Wareham

Small flats behind a parapet. Common on the older buildings in Wareham. They drain to one outlet, often internal, and there is no margin in the design: block the outlet and the roof becomes a tank, and the first thing anybody notices is damp at the head of a wall.

We re-form the outlet, look at the coping and any cavity tray, and dress a lead cover flashing into a chase at the abutment rather than trusting a bead of mastic. Where the original covering on a Wareham roof is lead, a re-lay in shorter bays often solves a split without changing what the building looks like.

Back additions and outshots. Older houses in Wareham grew outwards, so there is usually a low roof over a kitchen, a bathroom or a passage. Where the deck is sound, EPDM rubber goes down as one sheet with bonded seams, and GRP fibreglass suits one with kerbs, steps or an awkward corner because it is laid wet and forms the upstands and edge trim in one piece.

Garages and extensions on the newer Wareham estates. Mostly felt built up in three layers with a mineral cap sheet on top, over plywood, OSB or chipboard. Chipboard that has been wet swells and stops holding a fixing, so it comes off. A modern torch on system suits a big plain span, and single ply welded at the laps suits a large or complicated one.

Falls, insulation and the damp that never rained. Firrings create the falls over the joists, and where there are none you get ponding and standing water working on every lap and seam. Tapered insulation fixes a fall from above when the joists cannot be touched. A warm roof puts PIR over the deck on a vapour control layer laid first, so the timber stays clear of the dew point by design. A cold roof leaves the insulation between the joists and has to be ventilated, or condensation and interstitial damp ruin the decking. BS 6229 sets out both.

The rest of the detail. Blisters and bubbles, a split or crack in a tired covering, and a lifted or failed seam are the everyday repairs. At the perimeter, the edge trim, the drip and the apron into the wall. Openings mean a rooflight, a lantern or a Velux on a formed kerb, plus any soil pipe or vent pipe through the deck. Then the rainwater outlet and the downpipe under it, with the hopper and gutter sized for what the roof actually sheds.

Nobody can give you an honest figure per square metre for a flat roof. The area is quick to measure. The time goes on what is under it and how you get to it.

How it gets in and out. A kitchen roof behind a terrace in Wareham's old streets, where every roll and every bag goes through your hall, takes longer than a garage on an estate with a drive alongside. Anything above a two storey wall wants a scaffold, and it stands for as long as the deck is open. The work at height rules make that a line of its own.

What the deck is like. Chipboard that has been damp for years crumbles at the edges, and ply that flexes underfoot has to go. Sound boards can simply be re-covered. That is the biggest swing in the price, which is why a corner is lifted before the quote is written.

Falls, height and the walls round it. Many older flat roofs in Wareham were laid dead level and pond after rain. Firrings fix that. Adding insulation to meet Part L also lifts the finished level, and against an old brick wall or under a back door sill the upstands and any lead flashing have to be worked out again.

Ask any other roofer which membrane system they are pricing, whether the deck is being replaced or covered over, and how the upstands and outlet are finished.

We cover Wareham town, Northport, Stoborough, Sandford and the BH20 addresses round them, 12.5 miles from our base in Boscombe, with Dorset Council for planning and building control. You would be dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales under company number 15471719. Before you book a visit in Wareham, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Thomas Hannen owns the business and is the person who climbs up, looks at the deck and puts a price on it. On Checkatrade a verified customer rated the work 10 out of 10. There is no charge for the visit or for the written quote, which lists each part of the job.

Most repairs in Wareham 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.