Felt roof on bay window Vs Lead.

helenftb

Hello

Lots of questions to ask, heres another...

Flat lead roof is leaking on the bay window (house built in 1900), its also cracked in a few places and overall looks old and scruffy. Question is, why would anyone choose expensive lead over felt these days? Roofer advised me if it was his house he would use felt, and cost of getting that done would be the cost of the lead alone.
I dont want to cut costs and quality, but does seem like lead isnt that good anyway? Thoughts?

MX5huggy

The lead has lasted 111 years, felt might last 20 years. The choice is yours.

On the other hand someone might steal your new lead after 2 weeks.

Also remember the old lead is quite valuable, make it clear to the builder that you want to keep it, or at least want its value knocked off the price.

greyteam1959

Why not use grey fibreglass ???
I have had 2 felt flat roof's replaced with it.
Cant remember what its called but they lay it & it is cured by the sunlight.
P.S.
The old lead will be worth in the region of £1 per kilo at your local scrapyard.

System

maybe the roofer you have spoken to isn't that skillful with the leadwork... people choose "expensive" lead over felt as lead is the most durable material you can use on a roof (you can also use zinc for a cheaper finish) - felt will eventually perish under sunlight, fibreglass as suggested would potentially outlast the felt (but can get damaged if access to the roof is regular) - lead is only expensive when comparing the initial costs, lifetime costs on a felt roof would be a lot higher.

anotherbaldrick

Why use felt or lead ? there are many modern high performance roof membrane materials he can use which will be guaranteed 50 years and not much more expensive than felt . These are used on industrial buildings such as supermarkets .

http://www.roofingsuperstore.co.uk/product/flat-roofing/epdm-single-ply-membrane/hertalan-1mm-epdm-flat-roof-membrane-price-per-m2.html

System

if you want to do down the epdm route i would be tempted to put a layer of gravel over the finish which should protect it against damage, but that obviously depends how flat the flat roof is!

helenftb

Thanks Guys, I would personally like to replace with Lead,, to keep in with the period of the house, so looks like roofer was after an easy job, and thanks for the tip on the value of the old stuff, didnt realise it would be so valuable in its current state! Will be getting another quote for lead asap.

slipperyshoe

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

Why use felt or lead ? there are many modern high performance roof membrane materials he can use which will be guaranteed 50 years and not much more expensive than felt . These are used on industrial buildings such as supermarkets .

http://www.roofingsuperstore.co.uk/product/flat-roofing/epdm-single-ply-membrane/hertalan-1mm-epdm-flat-roof-membrane-price-per-m2.html

Please note that there is NO flat roofing product, EPDM, Singley ply liquid etc etc that has a proper guarantee for 50 years, NONE.

The best guarantee I know of (also the company I work for) is a pre-paid 25 year insurance backed guarantee for materials, labour, design and site setup; it is very expensive. We monitor and inspect sites throughout the works to ensure that workmanship etc is up to scratch.

Please trust me as I am in the industry (I'm not selling anything to you and will not reveal who I work for for fear of being berated for spamming). If you would like to ask me about any company guarantee I will tell you why it is not worth the paper it is written on.

Also please do not put stones on an EPDM, it is UV stable without the stones (not a great product IMO though). All the stones will do is increase the chances of puncture and premature failure.

Back to the OP I would recommend lead all the way, unless there is a danger of theft.

barrisroofingltd

Lead should out-live you on the property if installed properly using the correct code and staying within the maximum lengths of each piece. An underlay should also be laid before the lead is fitted to allow movement, and avoid splits and rucks caused by the changing weather/climate conditions.

Lead is the sure thing. Felt is a good fix if you need 15-20 years out of it.

ormus

very few roofers can work lead these days. hence all the rubbish talked about it by so called roofers.