Leaking new warm flat roof problems

This new flat roof was leaking from the day it was installed. It's a liquid applied roofing system over insulation. The roofer did not install the liquid roofing system correctly; he didn't apply enough of the liquid over the reinforcement and, as you can see, water has penatrated through and now the insulation is wet. Unfortunately there is no way of getting the water out of the roof, so the roof had to be stripped and we had to start again. Further to this, due to circumstances, I didn't do any trial holes into the roof before we started the work, and assumed the flat roof was not insulated. As the work progressed we cut into the roof and started to insulate the sides of the roof; whilst doing so we found that the roof had already been formed as a cold roof, and insulation had been installed at some point even before the customer lived in the house. We were in lockdown for the first time and things were stressful for the customer; access to the property and to the flat roof was complicated, so the customer just wanted to get the flat roof finished and back together. So it was decided to remove the old warm roof insulation and just overlay the roof with EPDM rubber. If the timing had been better we would have formed a new warm roof over the top. As you can see, we cleaned the roof and then added a nice new Rubberbond rubber roof over the top, forming a new rubber flat roof.

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Steven Dickinson
London flat roofing
07802300099

Storm damaged roofs in London.
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[markt]

I wish you guys came out as far as cambridge. I'm paranoid about whether the random roofer I'll need to employ will actually do a proper job or not

[SteveThompson-lifc]

Great video and explanation. Sounds like your customer was easy to work with which always makes a huge difference when troubleshooting.

[oellasawandtool]

If only the USA roofing trades cared so much about quality as you guys in the uk wow. The scaffolding alone Says it all. Rarely do roofers set scaffolding if ever on residential job. When I travel in Europe I see the age and the well maintained level of buildings hundreds of years old. Starts with a solid roof

[wolstenholmess]

In the scenario where you needed to insulated between the deck and the wall, is it ok to just insulate between the timbers, and where do you typically insulate over/down to: the inside skin, outside skin, or cavity please?

Thank you for the excellent ongoing, easy to understand content!

[RayRay-vthc]

Hi Steve roofer

We have just constructed a block and beam flat roof on top of our garage we will use the roof as a walk on patio what’s the best way to finish it off

What I have done so far after block and beam is layer of black jack Then on top of that vapour barrier then insulation then another vapour barrier now shall I finish it off with a layer of concrete or tarmac or anything else

Any suggestions are welcome thanks

[russellmorris]

When you are changing a cold roof to a warm roof with open sides similar to the roof in this video, I assume you would need to add a wooden edge which you could then attach the fascia and roofing trims etc, however I can’t find much information on this! Is there anything you need to consider when doing this to ensure the roof doesn’t fail?

[Adam]

Ive got one of these EPDM roofs looks like on a warm roof as its in a loftspace/dorma. It's delimanted into spots on the windy side due to win. Can it be repaired and salvaged or does it need replacing. The roofs only 2-4 years old.

[explorerm]

Hi Steve been watching your videos for a while and very informative. I have a late 1960s dorma bungalow with I suspect very little to no insulation the roof is leaking slightly and needs redoing the deck is tongue and groove boards and solid what would you recommend. Obviously I would like some insulation.

[logik.]

I would be interested to get you views on using a big SIP panels as the roof structure and insulation (200mm thick). Just putting the EPDM on top.

[grahammorgan]

Hi Steve

Your videos are fantastic for learning, really useful. I'd really like to know, whats the software you use for 3D modelling of your roofs? I'm looking for something to do all kinds of projects, , , decks... roofs.. stud walls and remodelling etc.

[rustyexhaust]

Hi steve, have been binge watching your videos, and I have a question which you may find interesting. I have a cold roof with a new EPDM roof on which i was planning to have spray foam insulated, however, after watching many videos and reading many scare stories, I've now decided not to use the spray foam and would prefer to upgrade it to a warm roof. Building control agreed.
You mention in many videos you can use the existing felt if it is in good order as a VCL, so my question is can i use the new EPDM roof as a VCL? (I appreciate I will be putting another new EPDM over the insulation, but the question relates to the existing (installed last year) covering. I'm reluctant to remove a new EPDM which is weathertight and replace with a "sheet of polythene". Can it stay and put a vcl on top? is keeping it really going to cause a problem?

[justingross]

you shouldn't apply screws to the top of your perimeter metal. Even with mastic you are creating holes in your membrane on a water ledge. Stripping in perimeter metal or using an edge shield fascia would be ideal.

[smudger]

Hi Steve, interesting video. I was under the impression as long as the r value of the outer insulation was higher than the internal insulation that you would not need to remove it? Or is this because the insulation is inside the room not the roof space that this doesn't apply?

[michaelcollins]

Just use a 3 layer torch on SBS no issues

[colinevans]

I'm a flat felt roofer, this work wasn't a roofer at all just a chancer, bet he got the job because he was cheaper, if a registered company left work like this get them back or your money, guess not a proper company, should have used this company first but I bet it's the money, thay was cheaper, see it all the time good luck and sorry to see a bodge job yet again

[robertanthony]

A monkey could do that job people who put that fiber glass stuff down haven't a clue about flat roofs ever heard of 3 layers of touch on felt or ashfelt

[clivewilliams]

It is disappointing that you didn't resolve the issues with the existing roof, that is not what I would have expected. Clearly the polyurethane insulation was defective and the vapour barrier was compromised. As there was no ventilation to the void then the least professional response was not to ignore it but to suggest and install a resolution. As it stands, because the original vapour barrier was ineffective then your EPDM roof covering would be the place where the condensation would occur.
Also, stuffing bits of EPS down onto the external wall was a bad thing to do. The EPS should never completely fill the cavity as it will encourage moisture migration from the external leaf even if the lead fascia was quite deep. EPS used in a cavity should be partial fill i.e. it should have a minimum of 25mm separation to the outer skin of the wall.