Haverhill Roofers install and repair flat roofs for homeowners in Sible Hedingham, and this page explains how to look after yours once the work is done.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
Most flat roofs in a domestic setting cover a garage, a single-storey extension or a dormer cheek. The surface is either a bitumen felt product - the most common covering on homes built or extended before around 2010 - or a modern single-ply membrane such as EPDM rubber. The deck underneath is timber boarding or sheet material, and it is the deck, not just the surface, that determines how the roof performs over time.
A well-installed flat roof should perform reliably for many years. The most common reason flat roofs fail prematurely is not the material itself but a combination of installation shortcuts and a lack of basic aftercare. Neither of those things is difficult to address once you know what to look for.
A flat roof has almost no self-cleaning ability. Rain will not wash debris off the way it does on a pitched slate or tile roof. Leaves, moss, dirt and standing water accumulate, and each of them accelerates deterioration in a different way. Blocked outlets cause ponding; ponding puts stress on the membrane and the deck; prolonged moisture contact softens adhesion and causes blistering or delamination. None of this happens overnight, but all of it is preventable with simple checks done at the right time of year.
You do not need to get on the roof to carry out basic checks. The following can all be done from ground level or from a window with a decent view of the roof:
Clearing the outlet or gutters serving a flat roof before winter is the single most effective maintenance task a homeowner can do. An outlet blocked with leaves and debris will cause ponding within the first heavy rain of autumn. That ponding then sits through the colder months, contracts and expands with frost, and puts significant stress on the membrane around the outlet where it is most vulnerable.
If your outlet has a dome-shaped leaf guard, check whether it has been pushed down into the outlet by debris weight - this happens on older guards and effectively blocks the drain it is supposed to protect. Clear it by hand and make sure it sits correctly over the outlet, not in it.
A light coating of algae on a felt roof surface is normal and does not in itself cause immediate harm. Thick moss growth is a different matter. Moss holds moisture against the felt surface, which accelerates the breakdown of the bitumen binders. It also roots into any existing cracks or open seams, widening them. If moss is more than a few millimetres thick across a significant area of the roof, it is worth having it treated and cleared as part of a general condition check.
Chemical biocide treatments work well on flat felt surfaces and will kill the moss without you needing to scrub or pressure-wash the surface - which can itself damage an older felt covering. Apply in dry weather and leave it to work over several weeks. The dead moss will wash off with rain. Do not pressure-wash a felt roof; the force of the water can drive moisture under the laps and loosen any sections that are already beginning to lift.
After a period of high winds, check the perimeter trim of your flat roof. Aluminium or galvanised steel trim on older roofs can be lifted by wind, particularly at corners. If the trim has lifted and the edge of the felt or membrane is exposed, that section needs re-securing promptly - an exposed edge will allow water under the covering with the next rainfall. Check also that any lead flashing at the wall has not been disturbed.
If tiles or slates from an adjoining pitched section of the roof have fallen onto the flat roof below, check the flat roof surface underneath them carefully. A falling slate can pierce felt, and a surface tear that is not obvious from above can still allow water in. If in doubt, get someone qualified to check it.
For an EPDM rubber roof that is performing well, a visual check every two to three years is a reasonable interval - the material is resistant to UV and temperature cycling and does not need frequent intervention if it is intact and draining correctly. For a torch-on felt roof, a professional eye every one to two years is more useful, particularly on a roof that is more than 10 years old. A roofer can spot the early signs of felt degradation - surface cracking in the mineral granules, lifting at the laps, small blisters beginning to form - that are hard to identify without experience.
Catching these problems early keeps repair costs modest. A small lap that has begun to lift costs relatively little to re-bond. Left for another winter, it can allow enough moisture into the deck to require boarding replacement when the roof is eventually re-covered, adding significantly to the cost.
When any new flat roofing work is completed, check these things before the contractor leaves:
We cover Sible Hedingham and the surrounding area from our base in Haverhill. We also work in Great Yeldham, Wethersfield, Steeple Bumpstead, Saffron Walden, Thaxted, Sturmer and nearby villages. Call us to confirm coverage for your address.
If you want a professional eye on your flat roof in Sible Hedingham - whether it has just been installed by someone else or has been there for several years - call us to arrange a survey. We will give you an honest assessment of its condition and tell you what, if anything, needs attention.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
