Flat Roofing in Birmingham
Moseley Roofing & Building Services

The Flat Roofing Work We Do

Flat roofing is one of our main services. We build new flat roofs, replace ones that have reached the end, and repair the ones worth saving, on homes across Birmingham from our base in Moseley (B14). The full spread of roofing work we take on is on our roofers in Birmingham page.

A flat roof is a different job to a pitched one. Water has to run off a shallow fall rather than roll down a slope, so the finish, the joins and the outlets all have to be right. Get them right and the roof just sits there doing its job for years.

Where Flat Roofs Turn Up

Most houses have more flat roof than the owner realises. The kitchen extension, the garage, the dormer at the back, the porch over the front door, the bay window canopy. Any of them can be quietly doing its job, or quietly letting water in.

Because these roofs sit over the rooms you use every day, a failure shows up fast, usually as a stain on the ceiling. That is the point to call, not the point to panic.

Signs a Flat Roof Is Failing

You can check most of this from a window or a quick look over the fence:

• Ponding water that is still sitting on the roof days after the rain stopped.
• Blisters or bubbles in the surface finish.
• Splits opening up at the seams or around the edges.
• The roof sagging in the middle between the joists.
• A yellow-brown stain spreading on the ceiling underneath.

One of these on its own might not mean much. Two or three together usually mean the roof is on borrowed time, and the free inspection will tell you how much.

Flat Roof Systems: EPDM, GRP and Felt

Most flat roofs in this country are one of three systems, and it helps to know which one you have. EPDM is a rubber membrane that comes in a single sheet and is glued down over the deck. GRP is fibreglass: a liquid resin laid over the deck and cured to a hard, sealed surface. Felt is the traditional one, rolls of bitumen sheet torched on in layers.

Each has its place. EPDM copes well with big awkward shapes, GRP gives a very hard finish that can be walked on, and felt has decades of track record when it is properly laid. The right system depends on the roof, the shape, the access and the budget, and it is not a one-answer-fits-everything decision.

We will talk you through the options for your specific roof when we quote, once we have seen what is there and what it is fixed to.

Felt Roofing

Felt is the traditional flat roof system, and it remains a sound one where the budget matters. Properly torched on in layers, it still suits garages and outbuildings well.

A dedicated felt roofing page is on the way; in the meantime the free inspection covers whether felt or another system suits your roof.

What a Flat Roof Replacement Involves

A full replacement starts with stripping the old finish back to the deck. Then we check the deck boards and the structure underneath, because a new covering over rotten boards is money thrown away. Timbers get treated or replaced as needed.

After that comes the new system: the deck made sound, boards and insulation where the roof needs them, the new membrane laid to proper falls so water runs to the outlet, and the trims and upstands finished at the edges and junctions. We take the old roof away with us.

The Free Inspection and Honest Quote

We look at the roof, check the falls and the outlets, and, where it helps, the ceiling underneath. Then we tell you plainly whether a repair will hold or a replacement is due, and quote for exactly that.

Nobody needs a new flat roof they do not need. If the repair buys you years more, we will say so.