Flat roofing in Norwich

Nearly every Victorian and Edwardian house in Norwich has a flat roofed rear addition, and a great many of the city's post war properties have a flat roofed garage or a later extension as well. It adds up to a lot of flat roofing in a city better known for its slate.

Why they fail here

Two reasons, and they compound. The first is age: a single layer of felt laid decades ago has long since lost its elasticity, and it splits where the roof moves. The second is fall, or the absence of one. A great many Norwich back additions were built with a nominal fall that the deck has since lost as it sagged, so water sits on the roof after every shower and finds the weakest point.

Laying a new surface over a sagging deck with no fall gives you a roof that looks new and behaves exactly like the old one. We strip back to the deck, replace boards that have gone soft, and build the fall back in with firrings before anything else goes down.

What we install

• GRP fibreglass, cured into one unbroken sheet, walkable, and the usual choice on a back addition or a dormer
• Single ply membrane, hot air welded, which suits larger and more complicated areas
• High performance torch on felt, still the sensible answer on many garages
• Warm roof build ups where the space underneath is a habitable room and building regulations apply

Extensions and building control

If you are putting a room under the flat roof rather than a store, the insulation has to meet current regulations, and that usually means building the roof warm with the insulation above the deck. It costs more than laying a new covering on the old build up and it is not optional. We will tell you which category your job falls into at survey, in writing.