I have moved into a new house (read that as money pit) and it has had a kitchen extension at some time in the past and this has a flat roof – standard bitumen felt and loose grit cover (supposedly renewed two years ago). With the recent rain we have had a big leak (stream) coming through a screw hole that attaches a window blind to the window alcove.
There is a pipe from another pitched roof extension that seems to run directly onto the roof. This was pouring water over the last few days which is why we noticed the problem. I fixed that by extending the pipe into a drain, but what with the weight of water, the flat roof still leaked… though not as badly as with the pipe run off addition.
My questions are:
1. If the roof has leaked will this have damaged the stuff underneath (I have looked at DIY sites and it looks like there should be chipboard and a couple of other layers beneath) and should it need replacing?
2. What is the best material to use for flat roofs these days – I am tending towards one of the PVC/rubberised type materials as these seem to adapt well to changes in temp and have a good life expectancy.
3. Given that I have never done a repair job of this level before, would you recommend getting a professional firm in to do this? (The roof is about 18 sq m in size, so would this be v expensive)
Cheers
There is a pipe from another pitched roof extension that seems to run directly onto the roof. This was pouring water over the last few days which is why we noticed the problem. I fixed that by extending the pipe into a drain, but what with the weight of water, the flat roof still leaked… though not as badly as with the pipe run off addition.
My questions are:
1. If the roof has leaked will this have damaged the stuff underneath (I have looked at DIY sites and it looks like there should be chipboard and a couple of other layers beneath) and should it need replacing?
2. What is the best material to use for flat roofs these days – I am tending towards one of the PVC/rubberised type materials as these seem to adapt well to changes in temp and have a good life expectancy.
3. Given that I have never done a repair job of this level before, would you recommend getting a professional firm in to do this? (The roof is about 18 sq m in size, so would this be v expensive)
Cheers
