Recommend me some durable shed roof material

Maxson

It was dry this weekend when I was expecting rain so I decided to get it sorted as this might be the last dry weekend for weeks. I went to Wickes to get felt, saw the skyguard EPDM and bought that instead. They had me at 20 years guarantee and easy installation.

So it's on and glued, not too difficult and it probably took longer to take all the nails out of the old felt than gluing the new rubber sheet on. Now I need to sort out some trim for the edges. The wood finials that came with the shed are thin and I never bothered using them. Painted wood won't last all that long so maybe UPVC but not sure TBH.

Niv

Maxson said:

It was dry this weekend when I was expecting rain so I decided to get it sorted as this might be the last dry weekend for weeks. I went to Wickes to get felt, saw the skyguard EPDM and bought that instead. They had me at 20 years guarantee and easy installation.

So it's on and glued, not too difficult and it probably took longer to take all the nails out of the old felt than gluing the new rubber sheet on. Now I need to sort out some trim for the edges. The wood finials that came with the shed are thin and I never bothered using them. Painted wood won't last all that long so maybe UPVC but not sure TBH.

Yep, same when I did mine!.

Regarding trim, either or imo, depends what you prefer the look of, wood would be fine but need replacing periodically but UPVC will be more expensive but likely last the life of the shed.

Maxson

By the way, I priced up doing it with corotile and it came out at £685 for my 8'x10' shed so forget that as an option! The skyguard kit cost £145 although that doesn't include any trim or finials but then again you don't strictly need those as they are just decoration. The Skyguard life expectancy is 50 years, says 20 years guarantee on the box. IKO super shed felt that lasts 'up to' 15 years would have cost £75 at £37.50 a roll. Corrugated bitumen sheets with life expectancy of 15 years would have been about £205. £365 for a Watershed corrugated bitumen roofing kit from wickes.

gamston

i've done 2 dormers a garage & 2 sheds with EPDM and i've used both the standard and top trims and the top trims are by far the best ones not cheap but do set the roofs off

Niv

Maxson said:

By the way, I priced up doing it with corotile and it came out at £685 for my 8'x10' shed so forget that as an option! The skyguard kit cost £145 although that doesn't include any trim or finials but then again you don't strictly need those as they are just decoration. The Skyguard life expectancy is 50 years, says 20 years guarantee on the box. IKO super shed felt that lasts 'up to' 15 years would have cost £75 at £37.50 a roll. Corrugated bitumen sheets with life expectancy of 15 years would have been about £205. £365 for a Watershed corrugated bitumen roofing kit from wickes.

Take a look on ebay next time, my EDPM kit cost £80 - included EDPM, adhesive and roller. 

Maxson

I finished the roof by doing the edge adhesive and screwing on uPVC trim with stainless screws. This is the trim I used:

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-PVCu-White-Cloaking-Profile-65-x-2500mm-Pack-5/p/162622

Farside71

I just use the decent roof felt, not the cheapest roll they have and I find it lasts fine and is easy and quick to put on.  Re roofed a shed about 5 years ago to replace the rubbish it came with and it is still absolutely solid.

I think this is the one I used for another one of our sheds this summer and it looks really solid too.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/roof-pro-green-shed-felt-10-x-1m/820ht

I do have some EDPM  regret reading this thread though!

Bendy_House

I think you've gone for the sensible choice, Maxson.

The only 'con' to this stuff, imo, is its overall appearance if you don't finish the edges with some neat trim - but you have! Very sensible, too, going for PVC and SS screws there.

To absolutely reduce maintenance to zero, and cover the only potentially weak point that I can see - and that's where the SS screws go through the membrane into the timber behind - I wonder if it's worth adding a bead of sealant down that top edge betwixt the membrane and the trim top to seal it off 100%? Choose something you know will stick to EPDM (if that's what it is?)

Even tho' the SS screws themselves won't rust, rain will be constantly getting in to - and sitting in - that joint, and the smallest trace could be also constantly working its way along the screw thread into the timber.

Maxson

Bendy_House said:

I think you've gone for the sensible choice, Maxson.

The only 'con' to this stuff, imo, is its overall appearance if you don't finish the edges with some neat trim - but you have! Very sensible, too, going for PVC and SS screws there.

To absolutely reduce maintenance to zero, and cover the only potentially weak point that I can see - and that's where the SS screws go through the membrane into the timber behind - I wonder if it's worth adding a bead of sealant down that top edge betwixt the membrane and the trim top to seal it off 100%? Choose something you know will stick to EPDM (if that's what it is?)

Even tho' the SS screws themselves won't rust, rain will be constantly getting in to - and sitting in - that joint, and the smallest trace could be also constantly working its way along the screw thread into the timber.

That is a good point although the rubber and plastic should form a seal together and also the rubber should seal on the screw thread. Plus I added some properly treated 2x2 on the ends of the roof to make it stronger and more substantial to screw in to so that should be more rot resistant as well.

That said there is a lot of 'should' in there so maybe a bead of the sealant that's left over from the kit won't hurt but it could end up looking messy.