Flat Roofing in West Moors

The joists. We start at the bottom. Bungalow flat roofs on this side of West Moors are framed in light timber, and the ends resting on the wall plate soften first, because that is where a wet deck has been sitting on them.

Every one gets prodded once the boarding is off. Most of the time the ends want packing or a fresh length sistered alongside, which is an hour. Where timber has gone spongy along its length we stop and tell you, because bonding a new covering onto a frame that is finished helps nobody.

The boarding. Chipboard was the cheap deck of its day and water destroys it, so once a corner crumbles between finger and thumb the sheet is done. Plywood survives longer but comes apart in layers, and you feel that flex under your heel before you see it. Either way it lifts out and OSB goes down in its place, screwed rather than nailed so it cannot work loose. Dry, firm boards we leave alone, and that single decision swings the quote further than any other.

The fall. Nothing here is truly flat, or it ought not to be. Firrings are tapered lengths of timber that sit along the joists and tilt the whole deck towards the outlet. Where a roof holds water, either firrings were never fitted or they run the wrong way across it. We re-cut them, or lay tapered insulation to do the same job, and we put the outlet at the genuine low point instead of wherever the last man found convenient. The hopper, gutter and downpipe below it get rodded through at the same time, because a blocked rainwater run will drown a covering that had years left in it.

The covering. Then it is a choice between four. EPDM comes off the roll as one piece of rubber, bonds down cold and puts no flame anywhere near a bungalow soffit, which is why it ends up on most garages and porch canopies. GRP is brushed on wet across fresh plywood and hardens into a single fibreglass skin with the trims formed as part of it. Built up felt, three layers with the mineral cap sheet torched on last, is still the toughest surface to walk about on. Single ply is hot air welded at every lap and earns its keep across a wide open span. Blisters, bubbles, splits and a lap that has peeled back are all patchable in any of them: we go back to material with life in it, weld or bond a new piece across, and dress the edge down flat.

The insulation, and then the edges. If the covering is coming off anyway, that is the moment to settle warm roof against cold roof. Warm means PIR board above the deck with the vapour control layer beneath it, so the timber sits on the dry side of the dew point. Cold means insulation left between the joists with a ventilated gap over it, and when that gap gets blocked the condensation goes quietly into the boards where nobody will look for it. BS 6229 covers how the build should go together and Approved Document F the ventilation. The edges go on last and they are what keeps you dry: a cover flashing chased into the house wall or lead worked over an apron on an older detail, coping re-bedded on a parapet with a cavity tray behind it, a drip trim down every open side, and a kerb built up under any rooflight or lantern so the skylight stands above standing water rather than in it. Velux units, loft hatches, soil pipes and vent pipes each take a collar.

The area of a flat roof is quick to measure and tells you little. These are the things that actually move the price.

The deck. Many West Moors extensions from the sixties and seventies were decked in chipboard, which swells and crumbles once water gets in. Ply that bounces underfoot is on the way. If the deck is sound, it gets re-covered. If it is not, it all comes off, and that is the largest swing in any flat roof price. A corner is lifted before quoting.

Where it meets the house. A West Moors bungalow extension usually butts up to the main wall under the eaves, or sits below a tile-hung face. The upstand and lead flashing there are where most leaks start, and doing that junction properly takes time.

Falls and insulation. A roof laid dead level ponds. Firrings give it a fall towards the outlet. Bringing the insulation up to Part L raises the finished level, which can meet the sill of a patio door, so the detail has to be planned. The code of practice for flat roofs sets the falls.

Access. A dormer top needs a scaffold, a garage does not, and the work at height rules make the platform a line of its own.

Ask other quotes which membrane they are fitting, whether the deck is being replaced, and how the junction with the house wall is finished.

We cover West Moors, Ferndown, Three Legged Cross, Ashley Heath and West Parley across BH22. West Moors is 6.5 miles from our Boscombe base, and Dorset Council deals with planning and building control. You would be dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under number 15471719. Before you book a visit in West Moors, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Thomas Hannen owns the business and is the one who gets up on the roof and prices it. On Checkatrade, a verified customer rated us 10 out of 10. There is no charge for the site visit or for the itemised written quote.

Most repairs in West Moors 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.