Flat roof drainage

[T4orce]

Hi all, bit of a newbie here.

I have a dorma style bungalow, when it rains and is windy you can hear the water pouring off the flat roof when a gust of wind hits it.

I managed to have a brief look at the roof yesterday and saw that a lot of water just ponds on the roof, covering most of it and may be up to 2-3 cm deep.

The house is a semi, and I noticed, next door had no lying water. They do however, have a load of gravel and stones across their felt though.

Our seemes to just be felt.

Is the gravel a solution to prevent the water gathering.

Or is the only solution to pull the roof up and re-lay it on a slight angle.

any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

There is nothing wrong with a little water pooling if the condition of the roof is ok. Presumably it is a timber flat roof beneath which has probably sagged over the years. This can be more apparent if the roof was first built using very shallow minimum required falls. Your neighbours roof has gravel to reduce the effects of the sun on the felt, the water will likely be sitting on their roof too if it was built around the same time/is the same style etc its just that you can't see it. In fact their roof may be sagging even more if its had a layer of weight chippings sat on it! What do the timbers beneath the roof look like are they dry, do you have any leaks etc any photos? So in conclusion if the roof is in good nik and so is the timber beneath then leave alone. You could add a few chippings to yours though to prevent the water being blown off I suppose. This is a by-product of chippings not a reason they're intended for. //www.diynot.com/pages/rg/rg016.php

 

[T4orce]

Thanks very much for a quick reply.

We do have dis-colouring on the ceiling. However, this room is our bedroom and faces north, therefore is quite cold. I have put the dis-colouring down to condensation rather than the roof leeking.

I recently managed to insulate the flat roof from the loft by sliding celotex boards down between the joists into flat roof. This has certainly warmed the room up.

I found no evidence of any damp when pushing the boards in. I cleaned out as much crap as I could and it was very dry. I hope you are not going to say this is a bad thing to do.

As for next doors gravel and the sun, with it being North facing it rarely sees the sun, so I won't worry about that.

If you reckon the water pooling is ok, and I think I can conclude that there are no leaks, I suppose the only problem is the noise when the wind hits it. I sounds like a water-fall.

I guess some guttering would be the only way to reduce this.

Once again, many thanks for the quick reply

 

[Nige F]

Thanks very much for a quick reply.

We do have dis-colouring on the ceiling. However, this room is our bedroom and faces north, therefore is quite cold. I have put the dis-colouring down to condensation rather than the roof leeking. sounds about right

I recently managed to insulate the flat roof from the loft by sliding celotex boards down between the joists into flat roof. This has certainly warmed the room up.

I found no evidence of any damp when pushing the boards in. I cleaned out as much crap as I could and it was very dry. I hope you are not going to say this is a bad thing to do. That is OK
As for next doors gravel and the sun, with it being North facing it rarely sees the sun, so I won't worry about that.

If you reckon the water pooling is ok, and I think I can conclude that there are no leaks, I suppose the only problem is the noise when the wind hits it. I sounds like a water-fall.

I guess some guttering would be the only way to reduce this. indeed

Once again, many thanks for the quick reply