Flat roofing in Bury St Edmunds

Bury St Edmunds is a town we already work in regularly, so most of what follows comes from jobs we have actually priced there rather than a guess at what the town is like. The flat roofing work tends to fall into two quite different categories depending on where in the town you are. In the older streets and the conservation areas closer to the centre, flat roofs are almost always a later addition, a kitchen extension or a dormer bolted onto a period property, and the job is as much about getting the junction with the existing roof right as it is about the flat covering itself. Out toward Moreton Hall and the newer estates, flat roofs are more likely to be on a modern extension from the outset, and the brief there is usually getting the detail right first time.

GRP or EPDM, and why it matters which

GRP fibreglass is fully bonded with no seams, lasts 25 to 30 years, and is the material we reach for most often on a straightforward garage roof or flat dormer. EPDM rubber membrane is laid in one piece and copes better with a roof that has several upstands, a rooflight, or an awkward abutment against a chimney, which comes up more often on the period property in town than on a simple modern extension. Both outlast the old felt systems by a wide margin, and both come with a manufacturer's material guarantee on top of our own workmanship cover.

• GRP fibreglass, 25 to 30 year material guarantee, seamless finish
• EPDM rubber membrane, single piece, suits roofs with multiple upstands or rooflights
• Garage roofs priced from £950 felt, £1,400 EPDM, £1,700 GRP
• Larger extension roofs quoted after inspection once deck condition is known
• 10 year written workmanship guarantee on every job, £1,000,000 public liability

Working around older property

A flat roof on a period house in Bury St Edmunds often meets a wall or a chimney built long before flat roofing existed as we know it now, and the detail at that junction is where most leaks start on this kind of job, not the flat surface itself. We check the abutment flashing and the condition of the brickwork it meets before quoting, because a new membrane fitted against a failing lead flashing just moves the leak a few inches rather than fixing it.

Villages around the town, Westley, Fornham All Saints, Great Barton, Rougham, Thurston, Ixworth, Elmswell and Stanton, mix the same two building patterns, period farmhouses and cottages alongside newer estate housing, and we quote both the same way: a proper inspection first, not a phone estimate.

What to check if you think your flat roof needs attention

Staining on a ceiling below the flat roof, a felt surface that has gone brittle and cracked rather than staying flexible, or standing water that has not drained a day after rain, are the three signs worth a call. Our guide to spotting a roof leak covers this in more detail.

See the flat roofing service page for the full process, or the Bury St Edmunds page for everything else we cover in the town.