Flat roof felt need replacing

thegentleway

Hi,

The felt on my dormer flat roofs (front and back loft dormer extension, about 50-60 years old) is bubbling so I am looking into replacing it.

Apparantly you can use rubber instead of felt, which is supposed to last a lot longer. Has anybody got any recommendations for which type of repair I should use and how much it would cost.

Each roof is about 4.7 x 1.75 m, property is in Coventry.

Thanks,

Tom

smudger1964

I have used this epdm "firestone rubber" roofing on my rear porch and my shed..its a fit and forget product..more expensive than felt but has an expected life span in excess of 40 years


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIRESTONE-RUBBERCOVER-EPDM-DIY-RUBBER-ROOFING-2M-WIDE-ROLLS-FREE-DELIVERY-/261098161485?pt=L

Babbawah

smudger1964 wrote: »

I have used this epdm "firestone rubber" roofing on my rear porch and my shed..its a fit and forget product..more expensive than felt but has an expected life span in excess of 40 years


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIRESTONE-RUBBERCOVER-EPDM-DIY-RUBBER-ROOFING-2M-WIDE-ROLLS-FREE-DELIVERY-/261098161485?pt=L

My old man always used to say that 3x things in life are certain : You were born, you will die & flat roofs leak !

Butyl rubber for flat roofs has been around for donkey years. Whether it can last 40yrs is something that can only be answered by someone who had theirs done 40yrs ago.

smudger1964

My apologies I was wrong saying 40 years... firestone who manufacture it say its lifetime expectancy is in excess of 50 years ..

http://www.firestonebpe.com/en/roofing/rubbercover-epdm/frequently-asked-questions

Babbawah

smudger1964 wrote: »

My apologies I was wrong saying 40 years... firestone who manufacture it say its lifetime expectancy is in excess of 50 years ..

http://www.firestonebpe.com/en/roofing/rubbercover-epdm/frequently-asked-questions

So, how long is it guaranteed to be watertight?

& is it respected 3rd party insurance guaranteed?

Because a guarantee (especially in the home improvement industry) Is generally worth slightly less than the paper it is written on.

problemcashback

Agree with the above, warranty and paper .

Not sure if it's possible but houses on our estate have flat roof over the living room, we upgraded ours to a pitch roofs 2 summers ago, looks like it was there since the house was built.

savemoney

I have four roofs done with EPDM, two coming up to 10 years now with out any problems. On garage, one front bay, one porch and one small extension (10footx4 foot) also have another garage with fiber glass done last year.

No problems with any of roof I prefer to go fiber glass now. EPDM is easy to put on and not much more than felt only materials costs slightly more but no by much.

andrewf75

I think the reason EPDM lasts so long is because you can do the roof in one piece. If there are no joins, there won't be any leaks.

Saying that, we did our extension roof with it but as there is a lantern in the middle, we have joins so ours may not last 40 years...