Flat Roof Repairs

Some warnings are obvious: water dripping through a ceiling below an extension, or a damp ring spreading on a garage roof. Others are easier to miss. Puddles that sit for days after rain, blisters or bubbles in the surface, cracks and splits, edges that have curled up and a covering that feels soft or spongy underfoot all suggest trouble.

Inside, look for staining around light fittings, mould in corners and a musty smell in the room below. The earlier a problem is caught, the more likely a repair will deal with it.

A local split or a single failed joint on an otherwise sound roof is usually a repair. If the covering is cracked all over, water has been getting in for some time, or the boards underneath have gone soft, patching just moves the leak somewhere else. That is the point where renewing the roof becomes the better spend.

We will show you what we found and explain which side of that line your roof sits on. If replacement is on the cards, our guide to flat roof replacement cost explains what shapes the price, without quoting figures before the roof has been seen.

Most flat roof leaks start at the details rather than the middle. Upstands, where the covering turns up against a wall, need to be high enough and properly sealed under a flashing. Outlets and gutters must be clear and set at the right level, or water backs up. Edge trims hold the covering down and throw water into the gutter; when they loosen, wind gets underneath.

Ponding is often a sign the roof has too little fall, or that the deck has sagged. A repair may need to correct the fall as well as seal the surface.

Dormer roofs are small but exposed, and they meet the main slope on three sides, so the joints between flat and pitched roof matter as much as the flat surface itself. Rear extensions bring their own weak point where the roof meets the house wall. We check those junctions closely, because a perfectly good covering will still leak if the flashing above it has failed.

Garage roofs are often the oldest and most neglected flat roofs on a property. Moss, leaves and standing water speed up wear, and rotten boards are common once a leak has been left. We repair them where that makes sense and renew them where the deck has gone, replacing rotten decking as part of the job.

We look at the surface, the edges, the upstands and outlets, and the room underneath if we can. Then we explain what we found in plain language and put the proposed work in a written quote. If something can safely be watched rather than fixed straight away, we will say so. Repairs depend on dry weather for the surface to bond, so we plan the work around a suitable window.

Rowan Roofing is a family-run firm based in Cardenden, travelling up to 50 miles. We repair flat roofs across Fife and in our three core cities. For homes in the capital, see flat roofing in Edinburgh; for Tayside, see roof repairs in Dundee and our Perth roof repairs page. For new flat roofs and full renewals, our main flat roofing page has the details.