Roofing repairs advice

30s semi with no roof lining. Looking at options for breathable membrane vs spray foam vs anything else. Pros and cons to both so far and not sure who to believe. Will probably go DIY.

Any products/services you’d recommend?

Property also has a flat roof extension c 20yrs old, therefore looking to proof it. New layer of bitumen or slop on some liquid (no leaks/tears in current felt). If roof unsafe to walk on then is it a case of laying planks across for access?

Again, any products etc?

Ta v much

flat roof – easiest/best is to pull up old roof – it’ll only be 8×4 plywood and replace the lot then recover.

Might be worth looking at addign a warm roof (insulation on top of the plywood) if there’s not much insulation on it.

Right o. I’ll add that as an option.

I’m no expert, but ours is similar (the pitched roof not the flat one) – 1927 semi with slates, some torching but mostly dropping off. I was a bit concerned about it at first but did a bit of research and asked around and don’t think it’s a problem. The slates are sounds and it’s watertight except for a bit of seepage when it’s windy and the fact that it’s not sealed keeps away the condensation.

There’re mixed reviews about the spray on stuff. Looked alright to me except you can’t get to any future problems if you need to fix them. I’d leave it unless you need to address a specific issue.

There’re mixed reviews about the spray on stuff. Looked alright to me except you can’t get to any future problems if you need to fix them. I’d leave it unless you need to address a specific issue.

Good point about restricting access to future problems – without cutting it away I guess. Could get messy. Hmm.

What you have to think is that anything getting behind the tiles is coming through them.

Spraying stuff on the back won’t stop it, just stop timbers etc drying out. You really need to deal with the cause, not the symptoms.

I’d be reluctant to buy a house where the inside of the roof had been treated like this as you can’t judge the state of any of the timbers and would assume it was there to mask a problem.

The original roof on our gaff had the foam spray inside when we bought the house, bit of a make do and mend I think as there had been a couple of leaks and iffy slates. The roof needed replacing and the roofer didn’t think it would be much of a problem…..cue much swearing and hammering, it took him 3-4 times longer to strip the roof back. 🙂

The only downside now that I’ve noticed with the new roof is that the bedrooms get a lot hotter in the summer without the foam under the slates to bet off some of the heat.

Not an expert but for the flat roof this EPDM stuff looks good. Not sure of cost but I think the EPDM stuff has a better life.

that epdm stuff is good i did an flat roof extension last year with 120mm pir also the epdm is a straightforward diy job there are lots of u tube guides, finished off with upvc cladding looks good IMHO. i wish i had added a little more fall as i get a shallow pool after rain 🙁

We have a similar aged house with a slate roof and no felt lining – much of the original plaster from underneath the slates has fallen off and I was quite shocked bu how much daylight you can see when going up the loft ladders. The surveyor however reckoned it was in good condition, but that it should be re-parged (I think that’s what he called it) to prevent snow being blown in. I also spoke to a builder who said either to leave it be as it’ll be fine, or to have all the slates taken off, put a membrane down and then put the slates back on!

When I had flat roof. I thought it would be best to build in some pitch when redoing it. Can’t be that hard to include a sloped surface onto of the flat bit.

I also spoke to a builder who said either to leave it be as it’ll be fine

Hope this tyurns out to be the consensus for slate roofs, I have to say ia was surprised to fined mine unlined, bt then everything inside the roofspace seems in good order 🙂

I had flat roof. I thought it would be best to build in some pitch when redoing it.

Of course, flat roofs aren’t meant to be billiard table flat

Yeah, heard good things about the EPDM although one builder recently said bitumen does the job equally well without the expense.

Might hold back from doing any of the lining/foam for now. I can certainly see how the latter can cause problems down the line.

Will keep investigating.

I replaced my leaking felt flat garage roof about 6 years ago with an EPDM membrane and it still looks like it has just been laid.

It is a single sheet so there is no chance of water ingress at joints.

I used the water based adhesive because it is a bit more forgiving for amateur installers.

That looks pretty sound eskay. Did you DIY it?

Yes. Me and my father-in-law (with some ‘help’ from the kids) fitted it. Took a weekend but I had to remove all of the old boards and fit new OSB sheets.

We also fitted UPVC fascia boards to replace the rotten wooden boards.

It was quite straight forward.

Oh – the garage door was also painted afterwards!

Our pitched roof has clay tiles with no lining; if you go up in our loft on a windy day you can feel the air blowing through. When we bought it the surveyor didn’t seem to think it was a problem and as it’s been standing for nearly 100 years now I guess he was right. The only reason for lining it might be if you want to store stuff in the loft as a surprising amount of crap blows in through the gaps in the tiles, although you’re probably better off just putting the stuff in bags to keep it clean.

Hmm, food for thought that. The flat roof I’m looking to do is on the extension and I’ve been told it’s not suitable for walking on. I guess planking over would do the trick. Would look to replace all the boards too. Cheers

eskay, is it necessary to have someone with chippie skills? Or a case of following a YT vid and common sense?

Rio, I’m thinking about leaving the loft for now actually. If we do end up completing on the house then I’ll monitor it over winter.

No chippy skills required at all. All I had was a circular saw for cutting the sheets to size, they are then screwed to the joists.

The only other wood required was for the upstand all around the edge, that was simply 2×1 (I think) that was cut to length around three sides of the garage.

UPVC Fascia was cut to length and fitted to the walls.

After that the water based adhesive was spread onto the boards in sections and the membrane rolled out as you go.

Trim the sheet to size after rolling out and then fit the trim pieces.

The company I bought my stuff from supplied everything I needed, membrane, adhesive, trim, fixings etc.

No special skills are required at all, just take your time with it and you cannot go wrong.

Sounds like a plan. You don’t happen to know the name of the supplier BAC? Ta

I used this company and found they were pretty good and answered my queries quickly.

http://www.klaudiacontrolsystems.co.uk/index.html

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We have a 20’s semi with a rosemary tiled, unlined roof (those small red clay tiles) & we have a damp patch on the bedroom wall. We were told by a builder it was condensation, we had it checked out by a damp specialist who said it was water ingress (it definitely is, you can see it get wet when it rains). We’ve had 2 separate roofers go up and tell us the roof was fine, flashings ok etc etc, but we still have water coming in. It’s obviously not ok, so any tips on what to check next?

Ta!

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Cheers eskay. I’ll call them and see what they say.