Flat roofing in West Parley

Sun lounges, garages and the wraparound at the back. On a bungalow the flat roof is rarely a small thing. A sun lounge, a garage joined to the house, a utility running the width of the back, a porch and the covered way between house and garage can add up to more flat roof than some houses have pitched. Coverings run from felt laid up in three layers with a mineral cap sheet to torch on felt over the top of it, GRP fibreglass, and single ply where the run is long. We strip a bay first, because the deck is what the quote turns on. Dry plywood or OSB will take a new covering. Chipboard decking that has been damp sags between the joists and comes off, and new boards are fixed down before anything is laid over them.

Falls, outlets and standing water. Ponding is what most people are actually ringing about, whether they say so or not. Water that sits on the surface works into every lap and seam and a frost splits them. It comes back to a fall that was never laid, firrings cut too shallow, tapered insulation squashed flat, or a rainwater outlet choked with moss washed off the main roof. We rebuild the falls so it drains at an outlet instead of holding in the middle, to the minimum in BS 6229:2025 on flat roofs, and check the gutter, hopper and downpipe below take it away.

The perimeter, the upstands and the seams. Very little goes wrong in the middle of a covering. It is the edge trim, the drip, the apron where the flat meets the tiled roof or the wall, the kerb round a rooflight and the laps. Felt blisters, bubbles and splits. Single ply lifts at a failed seam. Fibreglass cracks at a hard internal angle. What has failed is cut out, the upstand is carried up behind the covering to a sensible height, and the seams are welded or bonded rather than layered with more patches.

Openings, abutments and the build up. Bungalows collect rooflights, because a flat roof is often the only way to get daylight into the middle of the plan. Every rooflight, lantern, Velux, hatch and soil and vent pipe needs a kerb and a collar. Where the flat runs into the main roof or a wall we chase in a cover flashing in lead. On a parapet we look at the coping and the cavity tray behind it. These roofs are cold roofs as built, insulation between the joists with a stale void above, which is where condensation collects and interstitial damp rots the deck unnoticed. Rebuilt warm, the insulation goes over the boards with a vapour control layer under it, which brings every joist inside the insulated envelope.

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 sun lounge behind a bungalow, a garage joined on at the side, and a flat section running between two pitched roofs are three different jobs before a sheet is lifted. 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.

West Parley is bungalow country, and that changes the shape of a flat roofing job in three practical ways. There is more flat roof per household than almost anywhere we work, because the additions are all single storey and they tend to sprawl across the back. The access is easy, so most of the work comes off a tower rather than a scaffold and that saves a line on the quote. And the roof is usually visible from an upstairs window next door, which is the one time appearance matters on a roof nobody would otherwise see.

The other consequence is worth planning around. On a bungalow the flat roof often sits directly over the rooms you live in rather than over a garage you walk through twice a day, so condensation and a cold deck show up as damp on a ceiling rather than a wet patch on a concrete floor. If yours is going to be stripped anyway, that is the moment to build it back as a warm roof with the insulation above the deck. It is the cheapest it will ever be to do, and it deals with the problem instead of covering it over for the next owner.

We cover West Parley, Longham, Ferndown, Hampreston and the roads down towards Bournemouth, along with the rest of BH22, and the site visit is free. 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.