How to repair a hole in my PVC flat roof

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Hi,

Hopefully somebody can give me common sense advice on a problem I'm having. I lost all hope.

The picture shows a flat PVC roof over my back bedroom before the hole was cut out. I don't have a current picture, but it was leaking a bit in one place and a rouge contractor cut out about 50x50cm hole in it to get rid of a small rotten piece of plywood underneath, then attempted to cover the whole PVC roof with dpc foil and then felt.... a nightmare.


Clipboard01r.jpg

Anyways, the original roof membrane is single ply Sika Trocal PVC (the white layer in the picture), installed about 15 years ago.

I researched some stuff about PVC roofing and it seems that ideally I would need a compatible PVC patch/membrane sheet larger than the hole and it would need to be hot air welded. (Such patch proves difficult to purchase for a retail client as they only sell commercial quantities everywhere)

I have just a few weeks before rainy autumn in the UK kicks in. Ideally I would get a contractor to do the patching for me, but money is a factor at the moment and I already lost a considerable amount of money on previous contractors.

Here are my ideas on how to fix it...

1. I am thinking about getting a square sheet of pvc, metal or whatever can be recommended that is larger than the cut out hole and putting it over the hole, then patching the edges with Liquid Rubber Peel and Sick Seam Tape around, and then cover the seams with Liquid Rubber sealant. It's not a perfect solution, but seems like it could be effective in stopping a flood in my bedroom every time there is stronger rain, and buy me some time to get it properly sorted next year in the summer.

2. insert new plywood piece in the area where the rotten piece was taken out, this will be a substrate, coat that with liquid rubber type product, apply fabric reinforcement, recoat with liquid rubber / everbuild, then additionally reinforce the edges with fabric and more rubber.


Just for some context, I had 2 buckets of rain water going through my ceiling the other weeknd after 2 different contractors proposed to fix the roof for me, one wanted to cover the whole PVC roof with a dpc membrane and lay felt over it, now I know it was a an absolutely shambolic idea and work...
Other contractor said I need a new rubber roof... he put an OSB board on the PVC and installed Firestone rubber roof over it, but failed to make the whole thing watertight all around the edges. I have lost close to £4000 on both contractors and my bedroom still gets flooded, nightmare. This situation is driving me against the wall. Now I see that both contractors failed to understand the issue.

Since then I have called Sika and some PVC roofing contractors in the area, so I educated myself a bit better and understand that the simplest solution is to just patch the hole somehow, and let it be until next summer.

Alternatively, I could get another rubber roof contractor and ask him to make the existing rubber roof membrane watertight in all places, the technical problem here is the fact the flat roof is shared with a neighbour, but that's another cost involved and a risk that the job won't be done properly.


I need advice if my Liquid Rubber ideas are viable or what other alternatives I should consider. Any help will be much appreciated, I'm close to losing my sanity after a month of dealing with incompetence.


Happy to answer any questions. Any help will be much appreciated!
 
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Maybe it's just me but I don't really see what's going on in that photo? It looks like there's a frame on top of the roof or something?
 
Maybe it's just me but I don't really see what's going on in that photo? It looks like there's a frame on top of the roof or something?
Yes, the steel frame is a part of the patio that is over the flat roof. The frame holds the concrete blocks.

Any advice on the hole in the PVC membrane, please?

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It's still a bit confusing as to what's been done, you say it was patched over but the whole roof's been covered, how will you stick a patch on a hole when the entire roof has been covered over?
 
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The covering is not adhered to the PVC, so I can strip back the rubber and get to the hole this way. The rubber isn't doing its job now anyway.

Let's assume I have clear access to the PVC membrane. What's the best way to go about patching it?
 
What was the outcome with this in the end? Did you manage to get it repaired?
 
The covering is not adhered to the PVC, so I can strip back the rubber and get to the hole this way. The rubber isn't doing its job now anyway.

Let's assume I have clear access to the PVC membrane. What's the best way to go about patching it?
Either hot air welded patch, or a solvent welded patch.
 

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