Flat roof replacement in Teesside

Replacement, not another patch

Every Teesside town has garages and extensions on their third generation of flat-roof patches. The honest economics: when a felt roof leaks in several places, ponds across its area, or the deck has gone soft, the next patch buys months while a new EPDM roof on a typical garage costs £900 to £1,400 and buys twenty years. Replacement stops being the expensive option much earlier than most people assume.

A proper replacement strips everything: old covering off, the timber deck inspected and any soft sections renewed, falls checked so water actually drains, then the new membrane with purpose-made edge trims, upstands and outlet detailing. The details are where flat roofs live or die, and they are where a proper job spends its time.

EPDM or GRP?

EPDM rubber is the default for most roofs: one sheet, no seams, tolerant of ponding and frost, 20 to 30 year working life. GRP fibreglass gives a harder, walkable, better-looking finish, the right choice for balconies and roofs visible from upstairs windows, with the caveat that installation skill matters more and the roof must not flex. Both are quoted side by side so the choice is made with numbers. Our cost guide compares them line by line.

The deck question

What is under your old flat roof decides part of the price, and nobody knows until it is stripped: sound boards need nothing, wet-rotted sections get renewed. Quotes here state the deck inspection up front and price any renewal per board, so there are no surprises when the old felt comes up.

Bay roofs and dormers

The small flat roofs Teesside forgets about: bay-window roofs on the 1930s semis of Linthorpe and Acklam, dormer cheeks on converted lofts, porch roofs on the post-war estates. A couple of square metres each, and the source of a large share of the area's damp ceilings. They are quick and cheap to replace in EPDM, and they are included in any whole-house survey as a matter of course.