Flat roof replacement cost

Pieces of string, etc....but.....

What would be a reasonable price to replace the covering on a flat roof and what would be the best material?

The roof is roughly 10' by 10' on a single storey extension.

Two suggested methods are 3 layers of torch on felt, or a single layer membrane.

This is not our abode (it is our rental property - long story) so it is not a DIY job, and a budget job (within reason) would be fine.

I assume that the underlying boarding might also need replacing (no idea what the condition is but the current felt is pretty thrashed around the edges).

Waiting for estimates (the agents are not the most proactive) but it would be nice to have a ball park figure to compare.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David
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David scribbled

Why go throught agents, they will only add to the cost.

Reply to
Jonno

Ummm......because it would be a 3 hour trip to visit the property?

Reply to
David

best material probably stainless steel. Obviously you won't want to pay for that.

Yup. Maybe joists too. And you'll want to incorporate insulation this time.

AFAICS the agents don't come into it, you phone around and get them to go view the exterior. It's hard to have sympathy for landlords that use agents, but difficult to operate without them if 3 hours away.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

Son just had a garage roof done. 3 layers torch on felt, with guttering and a new downpipe, for a grand. SE London. Seemed about right

Reply to
stuart noble

Thanks Stuart - first sensible response!

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

Torch on felt properly applied should do the job - don't believe anything they say about warranty. Flat roofers tend to move on/disappear etc - mine went and died leaving me with a worthless 30 year warranty! If the property is a keeper and you don't want to have to worry about it ever (virtually) again, then go for EPDM rubber. Dearer to fit but it really does last.

Reply to
Bob Minchin

Don't know about membranes, but for decent torch on that's probably about £150 for materials. Assuming no re-bording is required then its probably only 2 - 3 hours work for a couple of people - so anything from say £500 to a bit under a grand I would have thought.

Reply to
John Rumm

But how long has it been around? My flat roof was constructed about 25 years ago - and I don't remember being given the option of EPDM by the architect.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I cannot remember what mine were priced at as it was part of a larger job, but start in the region of a couple of grand plus or minus a few hundred. That's allowing for replacing the boards with OSB3. Easy access helps (no scaffold) and now is quite a good time (barring rain) as I'm told it's easier to work if the tar sets quickly rather than remaining squidgy for ages as it will on a hot summer's day.

Have you considered alternatives such as butyl rubber?

Reply to
Tim Watts

Have you considered fibreglass and resin? For something that size it would be easy/economic. To gain an idea of applying it try youtube.

Reply to
johnjessop46

Thanks - the property is (probably) not a long term keeper. Maximum of 10 years whatever (almost) happens.

Does show that a warranty is generally useless unless it is backed by a very reputable insurance firm (is there such a thing?).

Daughter's property had a damp proof treatment, along with guarantee backed by the manufacturer. Who is now out of business.

Cheers

Dave R

P.S. the coated pressed steel flat(ish) roof on the shed looks good enough to last a lifetime. Certainly not subject to the degradation of a felt roof. Strange that they are not popular for domestic roofing. Other countries (e.g. Australia, NZ) seem to use this all the time.

Reply to
David

Thanks - in fact quite familiar with that.

Had a balcony and a flat roof done in out previous residence. Including wedge shaped fibreglass+foam pieces which created a built in slope.

Also conspired with a friend to get the builders to do a roof with it at another house - in that case they just bought the bulk materials and the builders learned on the job. Given that it is the basis of most small boats these days it isn't rocket science.

However local roofers seem to still use traditional materials.

If it was my current abode I would be up for something like that but this is a remote managed job so KISS applies, unfortunately.

[If I recall correctly, I may have discussed the original attempt to fibreglass my balcony on this esteemed NG around 20-30 years ago. In fact, could have been before I first joined?

Including the fact that the cowboy contractors who had franchised the fibreglass system read the instructions "sprinkle with bird seed grit" as "sprinkle with bird seed". They had already done several jobs this way.

I ended up phoning the franchise holder to confirm that bird seed was not the way to go, without realising that it was the morning of April 1st. It took a while to convince him I was serious.

Sadly, so far Google is not my friend.]

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

Find a local firm who have been in business a decent length of time. And the quality of the work is more important than a warranty - if it's well done you won't need one. So ask neighbours etc.

Noise is going to be one problem - and looks, of course. And it's going to have a fair slope on it, likely. If you had the same slope with a felt roof it would increase the life dramatically over flat.

A felt roof well made using top quality materials will last for about 30 years. Of course if either of those isn't complied with it could be anything. Snag with the claims for more modern systems is have they actually been around for long enough and in suitable quantities to have accurate figures as to life? A pal's glass fibre roof gave problems - and the firm who made it had gone out of business.

Zinc was another traditional way for a flat roof. Neighbour has one, and the life of that was more than 50 years. Could be much more - but that's how long she's lived there.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Spose it could have just been 20 - don't think the group is old enough for 30...

In fact:

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$20uk.d-i-y/uk.d-i-y/KUb8-sT94rE/Nl6Wn7wMsbIJ

Reply to
John Rumm

Pay (at least £100 of) the bill using a credit card, and the credit card issuer will be liable.

Reply to
JoeJoe

Yeah - the sun lounge pre-dates that.

On the subject of "Usenet" I have vague memories of seeing it around 1987 (ish).

I was working with a mob of Unix geeks who were into UUCP and managed to wangle their own news server, which they then synced with the hierarchy.

They showed me this, and a command line news reader. I saw loads of interesting stuff scroll past (I was used to scrolling through the mailbox then going back for a closer look). When I asked "O.K. How do I go back and look at the articles?" I was told "You don't - they've gone." Obviously a very crude news reader, but my instant conclusion related to bulls, udders, teapots derived from cocoa and the like.

I got back into it nearly 10 years later (probably post 1994) with a proper news server and news client (also through work).

Time lines in the past tend to get a bit jumbled.

I tend to associate DIY with uk.d-i-y and forget that it wasn't always there!

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

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