Leak on flat roof

Poppycat

Right guys, finally moved in a new house a couple of weeks back, had a few rain showers over recent days, last night was really rainy, windy, today more rain. We got a slight leak in a flat roof above the bay window, rather large bay.

The roof has some of that felt that has tiny grains of silverish/blue grit. It doesnt slope and is also wrinkled a bit.

What best way to patch roof up, assuming I cant find the leak. Would some roofing bitumen type paint door? or is there something better.

Thanks

navig8r

A flat roof that is felted allways has the potential to leak ..I would bite the slug and get it fibreglassed.
Dave

economiser

From my experience leaks are notoriously difficult to find and patching up is rarely successful. As navig8r suggests get it recovered before you get too much damage underneath.

ritesh

I agree with economiser. Flat roofs are notorious for leaks! My parents had a flat roof and had a number of leaks in the time they spent in their house (30 years). No matter how many times it was re-patched, there was always another leak. In the end they re-did the whole roof again out of sheer fustration.

Poppycat

Thanks guys I was thinking of just putting a coar of water proof material on the whole section. My last house had lead flat roof on bay window it being a 105 year old terraced house. The lead got worn in places so we out some bitumen mastic in a tin and got some paint that felt rubbery which did the trick. This time the flat roof although it appears fairly new with the felt I suspect its getting in some where, and hard to trace because our ceiling is wood panelled.

I might get a quote off a roofing company that guarantees a finish that suppose last 50 years, EPDM I think they call it.

itsakidsworld

Do you have a gutter above the bay window? Although the bay sounds not to healthy, it could be that you might have a slight problem with a gutter higher up?

If the bay is lounge window with bedrooms above then check the gutter, if not, then replace the bay top to save money long term.

Poppycat

We dont have a gutter, just a hole that goes through the bay and out into a drain pipe which needs fixing as its a few feet off the ground. Water doesnt appear to go into the hole much due to flatness of the roof. We also have adjacent to the bay a foot away a porch whcih also has a flat roof and a hole to a drain pipe, although it doenst leak, I noticed water seems to just sit there for days, when it was windy it was just blowing off the roof onto a side window of the porch

ormus

you can try to patch it up, i did it with some stuff from wickes, it worked for a while.
then i got a local chap to do it properly with the real bitumen stuff. big old burner thing in the front garden etc.. he did a great job.
and all for 250 quid.

itsakidsworld

Ok, that's fine. It appears that you have established the area which is the problem by eliminating the gutter. So now the repair?

Obviously get some quotations and from my experience I would look at removing the existing covering which sounds either a poor job or old green mineral felt and replace with a new covering.

It could be worth looking at getting a quotation to raise the roof slightly from one corner down to the outlet. This is done by way of using timbers called "furrings" which are say 2"-0 forming a fall. Then cover these with new timber decking in 3/4 sterling board and then fix the new waterproof top. Look at costs for lead in minimum code 5 or six ( the higher the number the thicker the lead). Never, ever code 4 so be careful. Or look at fibreglass. These are the two best options but unfortunately cost the most. However, once done by a professional tradesman, your problems will be solved forever!!( Or should be!!).

Cheaper options are just replacing with new green mineral felt but not rag based which does not expand with heat, rubber( which might not look good on such a small area) or the cheap as chips job ( which you can do yourself) is go to a local builders suppliers and get a 5l tin of acropol. This is like bitumen paint but with fibreglass in and if covered correctly will do the job. Brush off the area and paint away!!