We have a large flat roof above garage/utility room. The roof slopes into
the middle into a valley drain, with the recent rains we have noticed water
is getting into the utility room. I cannot find the source of the leak, and
have decided the best thing is to replace the roof altogether.

I have had a quote for a company using something called EPDM rubber
membrane, not sure what this is, but having had a look around, there is also
the option of fibreglass, or copy what is there and use felt.

I cannot find/decide what the pro/cons are for the various materials, any
help would be much appreciated. I am sceptical of the guarantees that are
offered, the EPDM had a 20 year warranty but is only single ply.

thanks

"Vernon" wrote in message
...
We have a large flat roof above garage/utility room. The roof slopes into
the middle into a valley drain, with the recent rains we have noticed
water is getting into the utility room. I cannot find the source of the
leak, and have decided the best thing is to replace the roof altogether.

I have had a quote for a company using something called EPDM rubber
membrane, not sure what this is, but having had a look around, there is
also the option of fibreglass, or copy what is there and use felt.

EPDM is a synthetic rubber, which is approved for use with potable water,
which implies that it is unaffected by prolonged contact with water.

I cannot find/decide what the pro/cons are for the various materials, any
help would be much appreciated. I am sceptical of the guarantees that are
offered, the EPDM had a 20 year warranty but is only single ply.

Provided the guarantee is backed by an insurance company, rather than just
being offered by the installer, who may not be around in 20 years time, it
should be credible. I quite like the look of the GRP systems though.

Colin Bignell

On May 6, 11:29 am, "Vernon" wrote:

have decided the best thing is to replace the roof altogether.

I have had a quote for a company using something called EPDM rubber
membrane, not sure what this is, but having had a look around, there is also
the option of fibreglass, t.

thanks


Friend of mine is going for the Fibre glass option, he says it's the
dog's bollox.

"freepo" wrote in message
...
On May 6, 11:29 am, "Vernon" wrote:

have decided the best thing is to replace the roof altogether.

I have had a quote for a company using something called EPDM rubber
membrane, not sure what this is, but having had a look around, there is
also
the option of fibreglass, t.

thanks


Friend of mine is going for the Fibre glass option, he says it's the
dog's bollox.


Thanks for the replies

I am trying to find a local roofer that uses fibreglass, but none I have
called so far do it.

Are there any reputable national companies, that I could get a quote from?

FYI the quote for the EPDM roof was close to £2k, which does sound a lot,
but if it lasts 20 years is not outrageous, still waiting for quotes for
felt.

In article ,
Vernon wrote:
FYI the quote for the EPDM roof was close to £2k, which does sound a
lot, but if it lasts 20 years is not outrageous, still waiting for
quotes for felt.

I have a flat roof which is coming up to 20 years old - and it's just
felt. Good quality stuff though I'd guess since an architect specified it.

--
*He's not dead - he's electroencephalographically challenged

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

nightjar wrote:


EPDM is a synthetic rubber, (snip) which implies that it is
unaffected by prolonged contact with water.


I have a friend who drives a submarine. He hopes (knows )that you
are correct - his external hatch seals are EPDM.

--
"S'ils te mordent, mords-les"

"Vernon" wrote in message
...
We have a large flat roof above garage/utility room. The roof slopes into
the middle into a valley drain, with the recent rains we have noticed
water is getting into the utility room. I cannot find the source of the
leak, and have decided the best thing is to replace the roof altogether.

I have had a quote for a company using something called EPDM rubber
membrane, not sure what this is, but having had a look around, there is
also the option of fibreglass, or copy what is there and use felt.

I cannot find/decide what the pro/cons are for the various materials, any
help would be much appreciated. I am sceptical of the guarantees that are
offered, the EPDM had a 20 year warranty but is only single ply.
When my garage leaked and certainly couldn't afford the priced quotes (that
was straight replacement, fibre glass and rubber sheeting) I just replaced
it myself.

As the original felt was hot pitch bonded (two layers) to roof it would have
been imposible to remove did the following:

- Removed all the stones (+ cat poo + soiled nappy...yuk yuk) + moss + soil
etc.
- Brushed surface thoroughly.
- Used some felt adhesive (or pitch filler, can't remember) to fill/glue any
obvious problem.
- Used self adhesive underlay felt straight on top of existing felt. Stuck
surprisingly well.
- Used slef adhesive felt on top of underlay.
- Touched up any "sub standard" bits with adhesive.
- I bought the felt adhesive in a 300ml sealent gun format, which I used
most as very handy and easy to apply.
- The 500ml tub of adhesive I still have 18years later and only opened
recently for kids playshed and is fine.
- Put stones back and survived for at least 15years until I sold the house.

The self adhesive felt was about 3 times the cost of plain felt, but youy
don't have to mess around with painting/pasting the rather messy/sticky felt
adhesive.

Vernon wrote:
We have a large flat roof above garage/utility room. The roof slopes
into the middle into a valley drain, with the recent rains we have
noticed water is getting into the utility room. I cannot find the
source of the leak, and have decided the best thing is to replace the
roof altogether.
I have had a quote for a company using something called EPDM rubber
membrane, not sure what this is, but having had a look around, there
is also the option of fibreglass, or copy what is there and use felt.

I cannot find/decide what the pro/cons are for the various materials,
any help would be much appreciated. I am sceptical of the guarantees
that are offered, the EPDM had a 20 year warranty but is only single
ply.
thanks

I know a chap who installs the EPDM rubber system and has done for almost 20
years....his supplier issues the guarantees and he is obliged to do
remedials - he has never been back to any of his jobs yet.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Vernon wrote:
FYI the quote for the EPDM roof was close to £2k, which does sound a
lot, but if it lasts 20 years is not outrageous, still waiting for
quotes for felt.

I have a flat roof which is coming up to 20 years old - and it's just
felt. Good quality stuff though I'd guess since an architect specified it.

That is about how long a well done felt roof lasts.
Keep an eye on it.

"dennis@home" wrote in message
...


"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Vernon wrote:
FYI the quote for the EPDM roof was close to £2k, which does sound a
lot, but if it lasts 20 years is not outrageous, still waiting for
quotes for felt.

I have a flat roof which is coming up to 20 years old - and it's just
felt. Good quality stuff though I'd guess since an architect specified
it.

That is about how long a well done felt roof lasts.
Keep an eye on it.



I am certain that the roof is old, can't find paperwork, but when we moved
in the previous owners left us a load of invoices for work etc. I remember
the name of the company that did the roof, and they are coming next week to
give me a quote, it will be interesting to see what the difference in price
is (if any) compared to the "modern" alternatives. The owner (small local
business) did say something about guaranteeing work for 20 years too, but it
was a bad line, so I will wait to hear exactly what he has to say next week.

FYI the quote for the EPDM roof was close to £2k

How fecking big is the roof ?

There are companies that will simply sell you the EPDM cut to size,
probably won't cost you more than a couple of hundred.

One of the sites in particular shows you how to install it from
scratch, including underlay, finishing the edges etc.

On 6 May, 11:29, "Vernon" wrote:
We have a large flat roof above garage/utility room. The roof slopes into
the middle into a valley drain, with the recent rains we have noticed water
is getting into the utility room. I cannot find the source of the leak, and
have decided the best thing is to replace the roof altogether.

I have had a quote for a company using something called EPDM rubber
membrane, not sure what this is, but having had a look around, there is also
the option of fibreglass, or copy what is there and use felt.

I cannot find/decide what the pro/cons are for the various materials, any
help would be much appreciated. I am sceptical of the guarantees that are
offered, the EPDM had a 20 year warranty but is only single ply.

A year or so ago I replaced my workshop roof with EPDM. I did it
myself, and it's very easy. It's really just a case of laying a big
sheet of EPDM over the roof, rolling it up to one end, putting down
the adhesive, and rolling the sheet back into place. trim and finish
the edges, and voila! It cost me a couple of hundred (for a 5m x 3m
roof), and took just under a day. It looks very smart - much smarter
than the felt roof on the adjoining garage.

dan.

I cannot find/decide what the pro/cons are for the various materials, any
help would be much appreciated. I am sceptical of the guarantees that are
offered, the EPDM had a 20 year warranty but is only single ply.

A year or so ago I replaced my workshop roof with EPDM. I did it
myself, and it's very easy. It's really just a case of laying a big
sheet of EPDM over the roof, rolling it up to one end, putting down
the adhesive, and rolling the sheet back into place. trim and finish
the edges, and voila! It cost me a couple of hundred (for a 5m x 3m
roof), and took just under a day. It looks very smart - much smarter
than the felt roof on the adjoining garage.

dan.

I may well have a go if the quotes are excessive, but it is not as easy to
do, as it is effectively a V shape with a valley drain in the middle, with a
couple of other pipes passing through the roof. I know that the roof above
the garage is sturdy, T&G floorboards, but above the utility it is a little
saggy, not sure what state that is in or what it is made of, so I expect it
would have to be replaced after stripping off the old felt.

One other thing I have considered is fitting insulation above the roof, to
try and reduce solar gain, as we are planning on using the utility as an
office/playroom, I am not sure if this would be do-able but looking at the
celotex website it gives basic instructions.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Vernon wrote:
FYI the quote for the EPDM roof was close to £2k, which does sound a
lot, but if it lasts 20 years is not outrageous, still waiting for
quotes for felt.

I have a flat roof which is coming up to 20 years old - and it's just
felt. Good quality stuff though I'd guess since an architect specified it.


Would that be an architect like the one who explained to me that flat
roofs should be completely flat because water cannot gather on a flat
surface? And who, when a series of lakes formed, told me that this was
good, because it ensured the roof stayed cool, which helped to preserve
the felt? And who had specified Stramit boarding for it, which turned
into something like a festering Weetabix when the inevitable leaks began?

Architects? I wouldn't let most of them design a pig-sty.

D-i-y advice, oft repeated on this group: if you want felt, do it
yourself, and follow the Ruberoid Blue Book to the letter. Or why not
d-i-y with EPDM? I'd be wary of a grp approach - how does it cope with
thermal expansion, movement of the underlying structure, and long-term
UV? Old Reliants suggest: not very well. If it does fail, how easy is
it patch repair or remove and re-do?

--
Kevin Poole
****Use current date to reply (e.g. )****

In article ,
Kevin Poole wrote:
I have a flat roof which is coming up to 20 years old - and it's just
felt. Good quality stuff though I'd guess since an architect specified
it.


Would that be an architect like the one who explained to me that flat
roofs should be completely flat because water cannot gather on a flat
surface?

No.

And who, when a series of lakes formed, told me that this was
good, because it ensured the roof stayed cool, which helped to preserve
the felt?

No.

And who had specified Stramit boarding for it, which turned
into something like a festering Weetabix when the inevitable leaks began?

No.

Architects? I wouldn't let most of them design a pig-sty.

Perhaps - as with anyone you intend employing to do anything - it's best
to check up on their work first.


D-i-y advice, oft repeated on this group: if you want felt, do it
yourself, and follow the Ruberoid Blue Book to the letter. Or why not
d-i-y with EPDM? I'd be wary of a grp approach - how does it cope with
thermal expansion, movement of the underlying structure, and long-term
UV? Old Reliants suggest: not very well. If it does fail, how easy is
it patch repair or remove and re-do?

I also tend to be a bit wary of these 'new' methods. Adverts always give
the benefits but rarely mention any downsides. It may be they can work
better on a badly designed 'flat' roof, but it would be time consuming to
know truly how much if any they are better on a well designed one.

--
*'ome is where you 'ang your @ *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Wed, 07 May 2008 09:16:50 GMT, Vernon wrote:

I may well have a go if the quotes are excessive, but it is not as easy to
do, as it is effectively a V shape with a valley drain in the middle, with a
couple of other pipes passing through the roof. I know that the roof above
the garage is sturdy, T&G floorboards, but above the utility it is a little
saggy, not sure what state that is in or what it is made of, so I expect it
would have to be replaced after stripping off the old felt.

One other thing I have considered is fitting insulation above the roof, to
try and reduce solar gain, as we are planning on using the utility as an
office/playroom, I am not sure if this would be do-able but looking at the
celotex website it gives basic instructions.

You could DIY doing fibreglass. I have seen a job done by 'pros' and as
long as you have all the parts, have prepped it and work quickly its easily
DIY-able without any superhuman skills. The advantages I see include the
fact you can easily seal around awkward shapes such as you mention. You can
also patch it if needed and its good enough for boats.

If you take this route you could strip off the old roof and put your
celotex in, then reboard with suitable ply. I think there a few websites
which sell the resin and fibre matting, but please post back if you do go
ahead as I'm going to do my garage roof with this method sometime.

Martyn

"Martyn Pollard" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 07 May 2008 09:16:50 GMT, Vernon wrote:

I may well have a go if the quotes are excessive, but it is not as easy
to
do, as it is effectively a V shape with a valley drain in the middle,
with a
couple of other pipes passing through the roof. I know that the roof
above
the garage is sturdy, T&G floorboards, but above the utility it is a
little
saggy, not sure what state that is in or what it is made of, so I expect
it
would have to be replaced after stripping off the old felt.

One other thing I have considered is fitting insulation above the roof,
to
try and reduce solar gain, as we are planning on using the utility as an
office/playroom, I am not sure if this would be do-able but looking at
the
celotex website it gives basic instructions.

You could DIY doing fibreglass. I have seen a job done by 'pros' and as
long as you have all the parts, have prepped it and work quickly its
easily
DIY-able without any superhuman skills. The advantages I see include the
fact you can easily seal around awkward shapes such as you mention. You
can
also patch it if needed and its good enough for boats.




If you take this route you could strip off the old roof and put your
celotex in, then reboard with suitable ply. I think there a few websites
which sell the resin and fibre matting, but please post back if you do go
ahead as I'm going to do my garage roof with this method sometime.

http://www.curon.co.uk/

Martyn