Flat Garage Roof replacement

Hutch100uk

I've had 3 roofers out and rather confused. I wonder if anyone could help. I have an external garage with a flat roof which is joined on to next door's garage. The felt is completely knackered and water has been leaking through into the garage for some time.

Roofer 1 quoted me for fibre glass - £950. He said the timber is all still solid and just needs to dry out.
Roofer 2 - didn't even see inside the garage and said timber was rotten and needed a whole rip off (I know whose ripping off)
Roofer 3 - came out and said they only use the rubber and it would be £2k. He said if I can get fibreglass for £950 to just go with that. However, he looked at my quote from Roofer 1 and noted it was for 'overboarding' which obviously means just putting the fibre glass over the felt rather than replacing it. He said that may trap the moisture already there meaning it would dry out. He also thought there may be an issue merging the fibre glass to the felt on the next door garage.

I asked Roofer 1 about these concerns and he said as the upper roof is raised by 2" there should be plenty air circulation so will dry out. As for connecting it with next door's felt, he said he would put a raised trim in the joint.

So I have no clue if the cheaper quote for the fibreglass is now ok. Any advice from anyone who knows a bit about this would be greatly appreciated.

nickcc

Just a comment regarding the rubber roofing. Most importantly make sure the roofer has been correctly trained in laying this type of roofing. I had my garage and new flat roof extension roofed by my builder using the Firestone rubber roofing, unfortunately, though he claimed he'd had the correct training, he totally messed it up. He used ordinary roofing nails in the ply sheeting which lifted and punctured the rubber membrane, he also failed to apply the adhesive correctly so we ended up with bulges and ripples all over the roof.

sevenhills

Hutch100uk wrote: »

Roofer 2 - didn't even see inside the garage and said timber was rotten and needed a whole rip off (I know whose ripping off)

I know when a relative had her garage roof done, the timber beems were rotten, where the water had been leaking in.
Have you looked to see if it is rotten?
Maybe your ajoining neighbour would like his roof doing at the same time?

parking_question_chap

I believe roofer 3 as a good point about joining fibreglass with the next doors felt. Is next doors the same age? They might be interested in getting theirs done at the same time so you can match the materials whichever you go for.

Hutch100uk

sevenhills wrote: »

I know when a relative had her garage roof done, the timber beems were rotten, where the water had been leaking in.
Have you looked to see if it is rotten?
Maybe your ajoining neighbour would like his roof doing at the same time?

No the timber beams are definitely not rotten. Both roofers 1 and 3 confirmed this. They are still solid!

Hutch100uk

parking_question_chap wrote: »

I believe roofer 3 as a good point about joining fibreglass with the next doors felt. Is next doors the same age? They might be interested in getting theirs done at the same time so you can match the materials whichever you go for.

It looks like their felt is fairly new so I doubt they will want to get their done although its a good point. I may knock and ask them anyway,

Hutch100uk

nickcc wrote: »

Just a comment regarding the rubber roofing. Most importantly make sure the roofer has been correctly trained in laying this type of roofing. I had my garage and new flat roof extension roofed by my builder using the Firestone rubber roofing, unfortunately, though he claimed he'd had the correct training, he totally messed it up. He used ordinary roofing nails in the ply sheeting which lifted and punctured the rubber membrane, he also failed to apply the adhesive correctly so we ended up with bulges and ripples all over the roof.

They are a pretty big firm and get good reviews and give warranties so can only assume they know what they're doing. You don't need qualifications to be a roofer though I don't think.

nickcc

Hutch100uk wrote: »

They are a pretty big firm and get good reviews and give warranties so can only assume they know what they're doing. You don't need qualifications to be a roofer though I don't think.

The suppliers of the Firestone roofing material run training courses for the correct application of this type of material. I'm not for one moment suggesting that roofers require qualifications but only that this type of material is more specialised than your average roofer would be used to, as I found out to my cost.

Hutch100uk

nickcc wrote: »

The suppliers of the Firestone roofing material run training courses for the correct application of this type of material. I'm not for one moment suggesting that roofers require qualifications but only that this type of material is more specialised than your average roofer would be used to, as I found out to my cost.

Sorry I was more referring to the fact that because they don't need qualifications, you never really know how good they are. I guess you can only go on recommendations from others and reviews. I know zero about roofing so its hard to know what is best.

ANDY597

Just done a flat roof using firestone epdm kit , cut to size by roofingsuperstore. Also bought some bits from rubber4roofs whom were excellent.

It's very easy to lay and there is a good you tube tutorial on correct installation.

Both the epdm and fibreglass are best laid on fresh osb boards. Trying to glue or fibreglass onto wet and potentially rotten deck is a no no.

Id be asking which one intends to lay a new deck and go from there.

But with some time learning both could be a DIY job if you were skilled in basic DIY.

Hope this helps

Hutch100uk

ANDY597 wrote: »

Just done a flat roof using firestone epdm kit , cut to size by roofingsuperstore. Also bought some bits from rubber4roofs whom were excellent.

It's very easy to lay and there is a good you tube tutorial on correct installation.

Both the epdm and fibreglass are best laid on fresh osb boards. Trying to glue or fibreglass onto wet and potentially rotten deck is a no no.

Id be asking which one intends to lay a new deck and go from there.

But with some time learning both could be a DIY job if you were skilled in basic DIY.

Hope this helps

Thanks Andy. I'm hopeless at DIY so I wouldn't attempt this. However, sounds like roofer 3 is the one who intends to lay the fresh boards first so perhaps paying the extra will be worth it.