The best flat roof roofing material is without a doubt an individual sheet of rubber custom made for weather-proofing flat roofs, such as for example Firestone’s EPDM product.
That is laid directly onto roof boarding, itself supported by the roof rafters and nagging. Insulating material is normally laid in the space between your two, and if you are renewing your flat roof anyway you might as well take the opportunity of renewing that simultaneously.
This will almost certainly function as recommendation you obtain from any reputable builder or roofer advising you on replacing your existing flat roof.
Until recently the most used material for a new flat roof was bituminous felt laid in three layers, the initial layer nailed down and the upper two bonded to the one beneath with mastic bitumen. With regards to the material used, this could mean heating a good bitumen-based compound to create it liquid, and pouring it onto the underlying felt and spreading it evenly on the whole section of the roof.
Lafayette Roofers Then you had to hold back for the compound to cool before applying another layer, and by the end spreading a layer of stone chippings on the roof and bonding it with a chipping compound, this being to reflect the sun’s rays and prevent the felt and bitumen degrading quickly.
This was altogether a fairly messy, complicated and time-consuming job best left to the experts. In addition, there were several stages where it was very easy to neglect to make the roof weather-proof, e.g. where the edge of the felt met the prevailing tile or slate roofing of the pitch roof.
In addition, if, or rather when, there developed a leak in the flat roof, it could be very difficult and messy to learn wherever the rain was getting in. Seldom would the manifestation of the leak on the ceiling of the room below be directly below the foundation of it. Water could easily get by way of a weakness in the bitumen felt and travel along a rafter before descending to the ceiling board below.
The new generation of rubber-based flat roofing systems are far superior. Should you have reasonable DIY abilities then you can probably do-it-yourself, with one other person to assist. You can easily look for a local supplier of rubber flat roof roofing material online, and the existing price is only around �6.65 per square metre.
Most suppliers slice the material to the exact size and shape that you require so there are no unnecessary joins, meaning no weaknesses and an extremely long-lasting, leak-proof roof.
The vital the main whole process is to ensure that there are no gaps between your rubber roof and any existing pitch roof where rain may penetrate. To ensure there are no problems it’s important to run the rubber material up and under the tiles or slates of the adjoining pitch roof so that any rain dripping from the lower-most row falls onto the rubber, without chance for it over-lapping the edge and getting underneath the pitch roof.
Also, make sure that the prevailing slope of the flat roof towards the guttering or other method of water escape is maintained. The rubber is merely glued onto the roof boards and sealed where appropriate with metal brackets or bitumen in such a way that rain penetration is impossible. Mind that the glue covers the whole of the underneath of the rubber to be able to avoid bumps in the surface which could obstruct the drainage of the water away.
Rubber roofs have been shown to last for well over 50 years under all weathers, so that it really is the only flat roof roofing material you need to consider when deciding on a fresh flat roof.
Monday, December 4, 2023