Flat roofing in King's Lynn

There is a lot of flat roofing around Lynn, and a fair proportion of it is on garages, extensions and outbuildings put up between the 1960s and the 1980s. Most of it was felted once and has not been touched since.

What we find when we strip one

Usually chipboard or softwood decking that has been damp for years, sometimes for so long that it has lost its strength entirely and is no longer safe to walk on. Under that, joists that may or may not have suffered. This is the part of the job nobody wants to pay for and the part that decides whether the new roof lasts.

We strip back, replace what has gone, and correct the fall with firrings so the roof drains. Laying a new membrane over a soft deck with a dead flat fall gives you a very smart roof that will pond after the first shower and fail on the same timescale as the last one.

Exposure matters here

Lynn and the villages out towards the Wash take real wind. On a flat roof the vulnerable point is the perimeter, because that is where wind uplift works on the edge trim and where a membrane can be peeled back. We fix the perimeter for the exposure and we do not treat a coastal edge detail the same as an inland one.

Systems

• GRP fibreglass, laid in one piece, walkable and well suited to extensions and dormers
• Single ply membrane, welded at the laps, for larger or more complex areas
• Torch on felt, modern multi layer, still the right call on many garages
• Warm roof where a habitable room sits underneath and regulations apply