Cambridge Roofers handles commercial roofing in Saffron Walden, taking projects on offices, warehouses, retail units and industrial buildings from the first look at the roof right through to clean-up.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
Many commercial property managers and business owners have little visibility of what a roofing contractor actually does once they are on site. Knowing the sequence of a job - from the first inspection to the final check before we leave - helps you plan around the work, ask better questions and judge whether what you are being told makes sense.
This page walks through a commercial roofing job step by step. The detail applies whether the work is a flat roof replacement, a pitched re-roof, a repair to leadwork, or guttering work on an office or retail unit in Saffron Walden or nearby.
Before any price is given and before any work is planned, the roof needs to be looked at properly. That means getting up to it - not just a look from ground level. A ground-level inspection can show obvious missing tiles or overflowing gutters, but it cannot reveal blistering on a flat roof surface, failed upstand detailing, rot in the roof deck, or the condition of the structure beneath the covering.
On a flat-roofed commercial building, the assessment covers the main membrane, all upstands (the vertical sections where the roof meets a wall or parapet), all outlets and their surrounds, any penetrations for pipes or cables, and the condition of the deck below where it can be tested. On pitched roofs, it covers the tiles or slates, the mortar at ridges and verges, the condition of any lead flashings, the state of the fascias and soffits, and - where accessible - the timbers in the roof void.
The assessment is the part of the job that determines everything else. A roofer who quotes without getting up to the roof cannot give you an accurate figure, and work based on an incomplete picture frequently throws up surprises mid-job that drive the cost up.
Once the assessment is complete, the scope of work is agreed in writing. This is the stage where you should understand exactly what is included - what materials will be used, which areas are being covered, how drainage, upstands and flashings will be dealt with, and what happens if additional problems are found when the old covering is stripped.
For a commercial property in Saffron Walden, it is also worth agreeing at this stage how access will be managed. A warehouse or retail unit with customers or staff working below needs scaffolding and protective sheeting planned before work starts, not improvised on the day. The same applies if vehicles or goods need to be moved to give safe access.
Any reputable contractor should be able to explain the materials they are specifying and why those materials suit the building. On a flat roof, the choice between a built-up felt system and an EPDM rubber membrane will affect both the installation process and the long-term maintenance picture. On a pitched commercial roof, whether existing timbers and battens are being retained or replaced affects both cost and longevity.
Most commercial roofing jobs above single-storey height require scaffolding. Scaffold erection is usually arranged by the roofing contractor, and the cost should be included in your quote or clearly broken out. Scaffold on a commercial site is not just about the roofers' safety - it protects the building's walls and windows, provides a working platform for guttering and fascia work, and in some cases provides the only safe way to protect pedestrian areas below.
For lower-level commercial roof work, a MEWP (mobile elevated work platform) or tower scaffold may be used instead of full tube-and-fitting scaffold. For large warehouse or industrial roofs, edge protection and roof-deck walkway boards are required to allow safe movement across the surface.
Before stripping starts, any roof areas that need to remain weathertight overnight - because the building is occupied or because goods or equipment are stored below - should be identified. Stripping in sections and using temporary waterproofing sheet (typically heavy-duty polythene or a temporary roofing membrane) between sessions is standard practice on occupied commercial premises.
When the old covering comes off, the condition of what is underneath becomes clear for the first time. This stage regularly reveals problems that were not visible during the assessment - rot in timber decking on a flat roof, corroded fixings on a profiled sheet roof, or rafter damage on a pitched roof where water has been tracking in for some time.
Any structural timber that is soft, split or showing active rot should be replaced rather than worked around. Re-covering a roof over a compromised deck or rafter is a false economy - the new covering will not perform correctly and the underlying deterioration will continue. At this stage, the scope of work may need to be revised, and the contractor should show you any additional problems found and explain the implications clearly before proceeding.
On flat roofs with a concrete or screed deck, the condition of the insulation layer - where one exists - should also be checked at this stage. Wet or compressed insulation loses its thermal performance and should be replaced when the roof is being stripped anyway.
The installation method depends on the system specified. For a torch-on felt flat roof, this involves applying primer to the deck, then laying the base layer followed by the cap sheet, with all laps, upstands and outlets formed and finished carefully. For EPDM, the membrane is adhesive-bonded to the deck in large sheets, with separate detailing tape or liquid used at upstands and drainage outlets.
For pitched roofs, the process involves fixing new battens over breathable roofing membrane (sometimes called a sarking felt), then laying tiles or slates from the eaves upward with the correct headlap for the roof pitch. Ridge tiles are bedded and pointed, verges are finished, and lead flashings at any abutments or chimney stacks are cut, dressed and fixed correctly.
Guttering, fascias and soffits are typically done as part of the same project where they are being replaced. New fascia board is fixed before guttering is hung, with the correct fall toward the outlet. On commercial buildings with large roof areas, gutter sizing matters - an undersized gutter on a large commercial roof will overflow in ordinary rain, driving water against the fascia and wall below.
Lead flashings at chimney stacks, parapet copings, abutment walls and around any pipework or roof lights that pass through the covering are installed or reinstated at this stage. Lead is cut to size, dressed into the correct shape and fixed in place - either into a mortar joint on masonry or under a batten on timber. The mortar pointing over the top of the lead is the final weathering layer, and it needs to be done with care: badly pointed flashings are one of the most common sources of water ingress on commercial roofs.
Where roof lights or VELUX-style windows are included in the project, their flashings are fitted as the tiles or covering is laid around them, not added afterward. A roof light that is flashed as an afterthought is a leak waiting to happen.
At the end of the job, all stripped material - old felt, slates, tiles, battens, packaging - is removed from site. Gutters are cleared of any debris generated by the work. A final check of all drainage outlets, flashings and any areas of particular concern is carried out before the scaffold comes down.
For a commercial building that has been occupied throughout, this is also when any areas used for access - car parks, loading bays, internal routes - should be returned to their normal condition. A tidy site hand-back is not a courtesy; it is part of the job.
When choosing a roofer for a property in Saffron Walden, check that they regularly work across the wider region, including Cambridge, Newmarket, St Ives, Ely and neighbouring areas. If you have a commercial roof that needs assessing - whether you are looking at a repair, a section replacement or a full re-roof - call Cambridge Roofers to arrange an inspection of your premises.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
