Leaking flat roof, repair or replace & rough cost...?

[olly330]

Hi all,

Yesterdays storm caused the flat roof to leak in various places, I actually made a hole where it was dripping in the living room ceiling and loads of water poured out. Going to put a tarp sheet over it for now with some bricks to hopefully keep most of the water out.

Only a few months ago the roof was cleaned, roof sealant applied in places and bitumen paint applied and the leaks still happened yesterday.

I am planning on selling in 2 years, so I have to take finances into account, and I am wondering which is the best option:

option 1 - apply a better product such as isoflex liquid rubber all over the roof, will prime the roof first and also use a fibreglass scrim all over. Probably cheapest option, around £100 materials and just labour, but I dont know if it will work.

option 2 - convert the existing roof pitched. No idea on how much this would cost, the roof is 5.35m x 0.75m. Any ideas on cost?

Thankyou in advance.

 

[scruffybiker]

If it was me I would re-do it with EPDM. easy enough and still a diy job.

 

[olly330]

Thanks, I will look into EPDM - it does look a hell of a lot better than felt.
Had a chap come out today to price it up, £280 for re-felting (didnt really ask him about what type of felt as I don't want it felted again).
Or £550 for fitting a tiled pitched roof with guttering.

 

[vinn]

EPDM is not the answer - you will be going over a damaged felt roof that lacks correct falls and drains into a 68mm roof drain "hole" in the felt.
As you were advised in June, a pitched replacement roof is the way to go.
Its possible that there is water damage hidden in the flat roof and behind the fascia.

The prices strike me as low even for labour only esp the idea of a pitched roof for £550.

 

[olly330]

Quick update - I had a few quotes for pitched roof - all the roofers said it was fine to go over the existing roof while leaving it in place.

One of the quotes fitted me in and the job has been completed today, I paid £550 which does seem cheap.

Im am due to pay him tomorrow, any feedback on the job would be grateful.

 

[vinn]

Is that for labour and materials or labour only?
A shoe or bend is needed on the down pipe to direct water into the gulley.

 

[olly330]

Thanks for your reply Vinn.
£550 is for the complete job including materials and labour.

For the downpipe, do you mean to direct it into the round hole in the ground?

The downpipe does go directly into the ground at the moment, there is a hole the exact size of the circumference of the downpipe and the pipe sits pretty tight into it in the floor.

Or do you mean something else, sorry I am learning as I go along.

 

[colind86]

Tiling looks ok. The lead work is atrocious. Looks as though they've used 6 inch lead as the flashing with unsuitable side lap. It should be 12 inch lead chased in to the brick course above. Cheap price for that work which may explain the corners cut with lead.

 

[vinn]

Thanks for the photo, there's no need to move anything, I couldn't see the original detail.
What you have is possibly a back inlet gulley - if you lift the grill in a BIG there is a trap.
For your info. check it out and clean it out.

The job seems fine & astonishingly cheap compared to how we charge. Fair enough.