Welcome to DIY Roofing
DIY Roofing was set up to allow people access to the best information and products in flat roofing and associated products and methods. This site will hopefully continue to grow with help from yourself and our sponsors. Please feel free to e-mail any experiences you may have had or tips you would like to share, or anything you think could help others with their roofing projects and we shall publish them on the site. The forum is now up and running and can be found in the help menu. If you would like any new forum headers please e-mail to let us know.The information contained within these pages is either from our sponsors, or freely available on the web. Every effort is taken to make sure that the information is correct, and where borrowed from other sites links to that site are placed within the text or at the bottom of the page.
The articles, pages, and views published on these pages do not necessarily reflect those of the author or the sponsors.
As anyone with a flat roof will probably tell you flat roofs have got a bad name, this is almost wholly due to the materials used i.e. Felt. If the correct materials are used there is no reason that a roof cannot last in excess of fifty years.
In our view the two best products for a long lasting roof are GRP Fibreglass and EPDM synthetic rubber. Fibreglass has a typical life of thirty to forty years but this can be extended in most cases if the topcoat is ground down and re-applied when it starts to de-laminate of crack. EPDM is a very flexible material roofing material which does not suffer the same shortfalls as fibreglass, however this does not mean that it is ideal for all situations, it can be difficult to install if there are too many obstacles coming through the roof and it is not suitable if there is to be a lot of foot traffic such as a roof garden although this can be remedied by covering with light weight flagstones or wooden decking.
Another problem that has been brought to our attention is the fact that you can spend quite large amounts of money on a flat roof and nine times out of ten no-body can see it. Although we can sympathise with some people where money is very tight, but on the whole this is small mindedness because once a roof goes completely it not only costs more to fix but can also mean new ceilings and decorating is required. The best solution in an ideal world would be that we all fit EPDM roofs over our existing roofs and never have to worry about them again.
Warning & disclaimer :- Any information is given in good faith and is based on manufacturers data, our own experience and that of visitors like yourself pooling information and is considered best practice but we cannot be held responsible for over or under estimates of materials or technical or regulatory advice as we cannot be aware of all the facts concerning a given roof or construction. If in doubt ask and/or try the proposed method or system on a sample patch and test it out in an unimportant area or on a simulated unit. These materials are very versatile in application and these notes cannot hope to be fully comprehensive and being a progressive site we reserve the right to alter specs or methods without notice.
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