Flat Roofing in Larbert

Larbert has thousands of homes under twenty-five years old, and a striking number of their garage and porch roofs are already leaking. The reason is not bad luck. Developers routinely specify the cheapest felt system that will pass inspection, laid fast onto a chipboard deck with the minimum of trims and often no proper fall. Fifteen years of Forth Valley rain and a few hard frosts later, the laps lift, the felt goes brittle and the chipboard swells the moment water reaches it. The roof was never going to see thirty.

Replaced properly, the same roof will. Here is what to expect from each system on a sound deck with correct falls:

• Torch-on felt: 10–15 years, or up to 20 for a polyester-based high-performance felt; material guarantees typically 10–15 years.
• GRP fibreglass: 20–30 years on a new board deck; material guarantees typically 20–25 years.
• EPDM rubber: 30–50 years; a single sheet with no seams on most garages, and 20-year material guarantees as standard.

Our 10-year workmanship guarantee covers the installation on top of whatever the manufacturer offers. Between them, what shortens a Larbert flat roof is water that cannot get away, whether from a blocked outlet, a deck that has sagged into a hollow, or leaves off nearby trees; moss that keeps the surface wet; freeze–thaw cracking in aged felt; and foot traffic from anyone cleaning gutters or fitting aerials. Our flat roof lifespan guide goes into the detail.

A garage roof can stay cold; a roof over a bedroom, kitchen or home office should not. The interwar bungalows around Broomage and the 1960s–80s homes in Stenhousemuir and Carronshore have been extended and dormered over the years, and most of those roofs are cold-deck construction: insulation, if any, between the joists, a ventilated void above it and the covering on top. Cold decks depend on that void being properly cross-ventilated. Where it is not, and it very often is not, warm moist air from the room condenses on the underside of the deck and the timber decays quietly for years. A damp patch that appears in cold weather but not after rain is the classic sign, and our damp and water ingress service in Larbert tells condensation from a leak before anyone spends money on the wrong fix.

The cure is a warm deck. Insulation boards go above the deck with a vapour control layer beneath them, the membrane goes over the insulation, and the entire structure stays warm and dry with no void to ventilate. It also makes the room below noticeably cheaper to heat. The finished roof sits 100–150 mm higher, so window sills, door heads and the flashing into the wall are all checked at the survey.

Paperwork is straightforward. Re-covering like-for-like normally needs no building warrant in Scotland. Adding insulation to meet current standards, changing the roof structure, or roofing a new extension may need one, and for Larbert and Stenhousemuir the authority is Falkirk Council. We tell you honestly which applies before you commit.

Larbert’s flat roofs divide by age. On the modern estates, including the large development built on the old hospital grounds at Kinnaird and the estates around it, the flat roofs are garages, porches and the occasional single-storey link between house and garage. They are small, they were built quickly, and they are reaching the age where developer-grade felt fails. Because these homes are still relatively new, owners rarely expect a roof problem and the first sign is often a stain on the garage ceiling or water tracking down the inside of the porch.

On the older streets, the picture is different. The bungalows around North and South Broomage have been extended to the rear and had dormers pushed out of their roofs since the 1960s, and those extensions and dormers are felt roofs of considerable age. Stenhousemuir and Carronshore have the same pattern on their 1960s–80s semis and terraces, along with rows of prefabricated and block garages with felt or corrugated roofs. Around the station, the Victorian villas carry flat lead or felt roofs over their bay windows.

Each gets the right approach. Developer garage roofs are usually best stripped and re-covered in EPDM, because the deck is often chipboard that swells once wet and needs replacing anyway. Older extensions are the ideal moment to add insulation. Dormers need the membrane run up under the tiles above and the cheeks properly detailed. Bay roofs need lead or GRP that tucks under the sill. Whatever the roof, water off it lands in the gutters, so we check the guttering in Larbert while we are there.

Three questions settle nearly every case. Is the deck firm? Is the fault in one place? Does the roof drain? If the answer to all three is yes, we repair it, and the repair will last. If the deck gives underfoot, if the covering has been patched before or is brittle, or if water sits in the same hollow after every shower, a repair only postpones the re-cover and adds its cost to the bill.

Our survey follows the water. We start at the outlet and gutter, because a blocked outlet is the cheapest fix in roofing and the commonest cause of a flat roof leak. We read the tide marks and staining to see where water stands. We check every lap, seam and upstand, then the trims and flashings where the roof meets the house, then walk the deck feeling for movement. Inside, we look at the shape of any staining, which tells us whether the water came through an edge or through the field of the roof. We photograph everything and hand you the findings in writing with a fixed price for the route we recommend, and if we think the roof will do another few winters with a modest repair, that is what we quote.

Where the leak turns out to be coming from the main roof above the flat section, which happens more often than you would think on dormers, our roof repairs in Larbert cover the tiles, slates and flashings too, so one visit sorts the lot.

Wind damage to a flat roof is normally a buildings insurance claim, less your excess, because it is sudden and accidental. What is excluded is wear and tear, so a fifteen-year-old developer felt roof that has simply given up is a maintenance cost, even if it finally let go in a storm. Insurers look at photographs and the roofer’s report to decide which it is. Photograph the damage from the ground, do not climb up in the wind, get the roof covered temporarily to prevent further loss, and keep receipts. Our survey report is written with that in mind.

Whether or not insurance is involved, any quote you accept should be in writing and should tell you: the system and manufacturer to be used; whether the old covering is being stripped or overlaid; what happens to the deck, and the rate for replacing boards if the condition is unknown; the trims, outlets and flashings included; who is supplying the skip and access equipment; the guarantee on workmanship and on materials, separately; and a start date and duration. It should also carry the company name, address and landline, and you should be able to ask for a copy of their public liability insurance and check the business at Companies House. Our checklist of questions to ask a roofer covers the rest. We give every Larbert customer that information as standard, because a quote you cannot check is not really a quote.