Flat Roof EPDM and lead flashing - problem?

Long time lurker, first time poster, I'm wondering if someone can provide some info into an issue I'm having.

Bit of back story - two years ago I had a flat roof re-done with EPDM membrane by a roofer. Shortly afterwards we discovered there were problems with water ingress into the cavity trays.

There were possibly multiple issues causing the water to come in, but during look at all this I discovered that:

- the rubber membrane was only slightly returned under the existing lead flashing. The returned amount isn't very big (maybe 10cm). The roof also has a door that leads out onto it, which had a stone step. Under that it's returned even less.

- the membrane isn't adhered to anything like the brickwork behind and and is loose. Where it isn't loose already you could easily peel it off. There's a large amount of stones and water collecting under the flashing when it rains.

As is always the first port of call, I got the roofer back last year. He wasn't having any of it and at the time it was easy for him to fob me off as the render seemed to have gone porous and was holding water which he claimed was the issue.

However that issue has been sorted now but with the heavy wind and rain we're having, while the water is coming in less than before, it is still collecting in the tray (noticeably under the door).

Does the above method of fitting sound right? One person has suggested that capillary action could be drawing the water up and over the membrane and into the bricks behind?

Just need to arm myself with a bit more knowledge before I confront him again.

This might show things a bit better - sorry the picture is not very good but it was raining, cold and dark up there

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As you can see, the membrane doesn't go all the way up and is loose, you can even see the old felt underneath. It stops just short of the top and I think that's brick work exposed behind.

If this isn't right, how easy is that to fix and any idea what would be needed to do it right?

Photos showing the roof as a whole and some more up close please.

Sorry, took me longer to take some more pictures than it should have.

Here's the best one I could get of the overall roof

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Here's the step (the tarp is what was over the step to try and keep it dry in case it was some how letting water through)

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Here's some more shots of how it looks under the lead flashing (under the step and further along, although that's how it looks if you lift up any random section all the way along)

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One thing I noticed when taking these is that although we've had a lot of rain this week, it's been dry for the past two days here and there was a lot of water under the lead.

ok so im no expert on epdm but have done 4 flat roofs using epdm succesfully so heres what i know.
the epdm should be adhered to the brickwork using a contact adhesive and follow up the wall right upto the flashing.
yours looks shoddy and cut short into the flashing however it may be possible to correct with a seam tape.
looking at the picture it doesnt appear to be sealed correctly around the step so water could be getting in there.
epdm isnt really suitable for foot traffic any bits of grit in a trainer may puncture it
being a single membrane with no joins the only way water can penetrate it is via a tear or from the edges namely the flashing
if i were you id get another opinion on it from other roofing contractors in your area and go from there.

Your roofer has only been able to stick the rubber as best he can under the step and under the flashing but he has had no space to work to and a silicone roller wouldn't even fit under the door to glue the rubber to the wall.

The only way to rectify it properly is get rid of that old lead and grind a new chase further up, removing all the render underneath that chase. This gives a good upstand to glue the rubber to ( and possibly extend it with some formflash). Then some new wide lead into the chase.

It's one of those... Not much for the roofer to work with. If it was a cheap quote then he wouldn't have done all what I've suggested above. If we had did it it would have cost you the earth lol BUT we would have cut back all the render, re leaded and even bonded to your step and boxed around it.

But we wouldn't have wanted to do a roof like that due to it being a balcony/foot traffic roof. Single ply roofs are best for roofs that have no one walk on them.

Hope you sort it anyway.

Thanks for your views both, much appreciated.

It was a fire escape route but it isn't any more (the escape has been removed) so it doesn't get any traffic.

Mw Roofline, I can see what you're saying about the job being a bit of a swine and the quote wasn't astronomical, but the roofer didn't make any mention of potential problems when assessing the job, or say anything when installing it. I'd have expected him to do that really and if he had then I wouldn't have hesitate to have it done (either by him or someone else if he didn't want to do the chasing and re-leading). I guess I'm disappointed in him really as it seems he's tried to wing it and hope it will be okay

Can I ask, what height from the roof should the membrane be returned? Curious as to how much would need to be cut and hacked off.

edit: sorry, just found that it should be 150mm

Discussing the door sill area only: roof door sills and thresholds can be a nightmare for a roofer, and a constant and expensive irritation to the owner.

Typically, we would pull them and rebuild something more suitable to take flashing and shed water.

If your PVC door was installed with the correct threshold for such a position then that should cover penetrating water coming from below the door. Before installing the frame, lead flashing should be run below the bottom rail/threshold.

To do a proper job i would remove that sill, and make repairs to any damage underneath, and then build up a new custom made (bossed & burned) one piece lead sheet entrance way where everything is sloping downhill, and the PVC door bar is shedding water onto the lead.

I obviously cant see the whole entrance way but one makes theses things work - and gets paid for making it work.