Cambridge Roofers provides commercial roofing in Godmanchester for offices, warehouses, retail units and light industrial buildings - repairs, re-roofs and flat roof work carried out properly.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
When a commercial roof develops an active problem - a leak that has appeared suddenly, water coming in during heavy rain, or obvious damage spotted from the ground - the period before a roofer arrives on site matters more than most business owners realise. What you do, and what you avoid doing, in that window can affect the extent of the damage and the cost of putting it right.
This page covers the full scope of commercial roofing work, and goes into practical detail on what to do while you are waiting for professional help and, equally, what not to attempt yourself on a commercial building.
Cambridge Roofers handles commercial roofing work in Godmanchester and across the surrounding area, including Cambridge, St Ives, Histon, Impington and nearby towns. The work we carry out includes:
On a commercial building, a roofing failure has consequences beyond the repair itself - stock, equipment, staff and the building fabric can all be affected. Acting sensibly before the roofer arrives limits the secondary damage.
The first priority is protection, not investigation. If water is actively getting into the building, your energy is better spent managing what is happening inside than trying to find and fix the source on the roof.
Move anything that can be moved away from the area where water is coming in. Electrical equipment is the immediate priority - water near electrical fittings or distribution boards is a safety risk. If there is any doubt about whether water is reaching electrical installations, isolate the supply to that part of the building and contact an electrician before anything else.
Use buckets, trays and whatever absorbent material you have to limit spread across the floor. If a ceiling is bulging with collected water, keep everyone out of that area and do not poke, prod or pierce it - a waterlogged ceiling panel or plasterboard ceiling can collapse without much warning.
Keep a record of where the water is entering, when it started and anything you observed that might indicate the source - heavy rain before it appeared, wind from a particular direction, work recently done nearby. This information helps a roofer trace the problem more quickly and accurately.
The instinct to get up on the roof and put a temporary fix in place is understandable, but it carries real risks on a commercial building. Here is why caution is warranted.
Access to a commercial roof requires proper equipment - a scaffold, a tower or a MEWP (mobile elevated work platform). Using a ladder to access a flat or low-pitch commercial roof is rarely safe and in a business context may create liability issues if someone is injured. The same legislation that governs how contractors work at height applies in principle to whoever is on the roof, regardless of whether they are a roofer or not.
Applying temporary sealant or roofing tape to a membrane without understanding the cause of the failure can make a proper repair harder later. Some sealants bond poorly to wet or cold surfaces and peel away quickly, and working on a wet flat roof membrane increases the risk of a fall. If you cannot identify a problem clearly and safely from ground level or through a rooflight, wait for the roofer.
On a pitched roof, do not attempt to re-fix a tile or slate if you do not have safe access to the roof surface. A tile that has slipped on an upper pitch is not safe to approach without proper footing - roof pitches are deceptive and even a modest slope is hazardous when wet.
A professional roofer attending in an emergency has options that are not available without the right materials and access equipment. On a flat roof, a heavy-duty tarpaulin weighted and secured properly can protect a large area while a permanent repair is planned. On a pitched roof, a temporary weatherproofing cover over the damaged area can be fixed securely from a scaffold or tower.
Temporary patches to flat roof membranes using self-adhesive flashing tape or liquid-applied sealant can be effective as a holding measure when applied to a dry surface by someone who understands what they are looking at. These are not permanent repairs - they buy time for a proper assessment and specification.
Understanding what has gone wrong helps you report it accurately and ask the right questions when the roofer arrives. A common problem on flat-roofed commercial buildings is membrane failure at the upstands - the points where the flat roof covering turns up against a parapet wall or abutment. These areas experience the most movement and are frequently the entry point for water.
On pitched commercial roofs, ridge mortar failure is a frequent cause of acute leaks. The mortar that beds ridge tiles expands and contracts with temperature changes and eventually cracks and loosens. Once a ridge tile lifts or shifts, rain drives straight under it.
Blocked outlets on flat roofs cause ponding, which then accelerates membrane degradation and can create a sudden influx of water when an outlet finally clears and water rushes through - sometimes carrying debris that blocks internal drainage. Checking outlets regularly is one of the simplest things that prevents this.
After any emergency, a full inspection of the roof gives you peace of mind that there are no other problems waiting to surface. An inspection should cover the membrane or tile surface, all drainage points, flashings, leadwork, any rooflights and the condition of parapets or copings. The findings should be explained to you clearly, with a description of what needs doing now, what can wait and what should be monitored.
For flat roof work, the main material choices are felt and EPDM rubber. For pitched roofs, the options range from concrete and clay tiles to natural slate and fibre cement. Flashings are typically lead, though other materials are used in specific applications. The right material choice depends on the building, the roof geometry and the budget - a good contractor will explain the options rather than defaulting to whatever is easiest to fit.
Any significant commercial roofing work should be accompanied by a written scope of works and a clear price before anything starts. Guttering, fascias, leadwork and any structural repairs to the deck or timbers should be either included or explicitly excluded in what you are quoted, so there are no surprises mid-job.
We carry out commercial roofing work in Godmanchester and across the area, including St Ives, Cambridge, Histon, Impington and Over. If your building has an active problem, call us and we will arrange a visit to assess what is happening and give you straightforward advice on the best course of action.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
