Fibre Glass Roof : Rain Noise for Neighbours Above

[rideforever]

Neighbours below are getting a new fibre glass roof on a flat roof, which at our 1st floor level, they have a ground floor extension out back and in the side return and so the flat roof is L shaped and wraps around our 1st floor flat.
Wondering if this is going to cause a noise problem for us due to tapping noise during rain, or expansion contraction noise due to direct sun.
That new flat roof will be insulated for the people underneath it, but not for anyone else so not sure if it's going to be broadcasting tapping noise upwards and sideways.
Anyone has any experience of this kind of thing?
I looked it up on google but didn't seem to be many people complaining.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Rain noise shouldn't be any worse than on a slate roof (the fibreglass roof is typically laminated onto 18mm OSB so there's a fair bit of mass there).
Thermal creaking- if the deck is done properly it won't creak. If it does creak they'll experience far more of it than you will, if it becomes really intrusive you can complain to Environmental Health, they can't.

 

[rideforever]

Rain noise shouldn't be any worse than on a slate roof (the fibreglass roof is typically laminated onto 18mm OSB so there's a fair bit of mass there).
Thermal creaking- if the deck is done properly it won't creak. If it does creak they'll experience far more of it than you will, if it becomes really intrusive you can complain to Environmental Health, they can't.

From what I understand there is insulation under the fibreglass to protect the people under the roof from the noise - which makes me think that there is a noise problem ... but it doesn't protect people above from the noise, as far as I understand it the insulation is only for under it.
Canoes make a lot of noise, like drumming, in the rain don't they is it much different - you said there is a lot of mass but fibreglass is very light material.
Complaining to Environmental Health won't do anything.
Why does thermal cracking change depending on how it's laid? Here there is a run in the side return of about 4mx9m, a large rectangular area - isn't that a prime candidate for thermal cracking?

 

[datarebal]

insulation under the fibreglass to protect the people under the roof from the noise

its a step towards protecting the world from global warming too not just noise

A canoe is a drum basically

 

[oldbutnotdead]

The insulation (as above) is mainly to keep heat in.
A canoe is a thin sheet of many layers (laminates) of fibreglass (GRP).
A house roof is a solid structure- usually 18mm OSB3 sheets- which the mat and resin are applied to- the resin soaks into the OSB and the mat to form a homogenous body.
If the deck (the OSB3) sheets are properly fixed ( T& G boards or joints supported) to an adequate solid structure (the rafters) and expansion joints are included where needed then the roof won't creak. Problems seem to occur on warm rooves where there's a layer of PIR between deck and rafters.
If there is creaking and it's loud enough to cause you distress then EH will investigate, if any creaking is really loud it can be classed as a statutory nuisance & the owner required to rectify it.
You can't prevent them doing the job. If your flats are leasehold you could grass them up to the leaseholder. And you could give your local council building control section a ring (worried about works below, looks like a bodge, how do i check its being done properly) & see what happens.

 

[rideforever]

.....

thanks for the explanation - I guess we will see

 

[rideforever]

The rain noise is very slight and not noticeable, no canoe hollow sounds. Also GRP Roof sounds like a high tech thing it is actually a very brainless kind of roof perfect for roofers with zero skill, which involves 1" chipboard (if you're cheap) or plywood and then you roll on a coat of resin then stick down the matrix sheets and then you recoat with resin several times, with some grey paint mixed in with the resin. That's it, totally idiot technology like most modern technology.

The real problems we had were firstly that the roof has to be sanded down before a final coat to sand down any imperfections and where the texture of the matrix sheets has come through ... this produces fibre glass dust, good if you want cancer or lungs that don't breath. I suppose when in 20 years the roof comes off ... then there will be more dust. Other problem is the glare, it's very bright when the sun is out ... traditional materials are muted and but fibreglass is something like a dull mirror and shines in your face.
Those are the two real problems we have had from the job.
The builders that did it are cheapos ... even though the owner of the flat - his family runs the roofing business ... anyway they didn't even remove the existing roof they just screwed 1" chipboard onto the existing and didn't change the flashings. Anyway I don't care not my roof. We just taped over the windows to prevent the dust coming through not that the builders care about their own health !!!

 

[oldbutnotdead]

The sanding stage is optional- i've never bothered, if you do a decent job feathering the mat there's no real need. The finish will dull down eventually. Big plus of GRP for me is no hot working required