Cambridge Roofers installs and repairs flat roofs across Newmarket, covering extensions, garages, and outbuildings with EPDM rubber and torch-on felt systems that are built to last.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
Flat roofs give very little away until water is already getting in. By the time you spot a damp patch on your ceiling, the membrane has often been failing for months. Knowing what to look for - and understanding why problems develop - puts you in a much stronger position when deciding whether to repair or replace.
Cambridge Roofers works across Newmarket and the surrounding area, installing and repairing flat roofs on extensions, garages, outbuildings, and larger residential structures. We use EPDM rubber and torch-on felt systems, chosen to suit the specific demands of each job.
Most flat roof problems fall into a handful of categories. Recognising them early can save you a significant amount of money.
Understanding why these faults happen helps you ask better questions when getting quotes and make a more informed decision about whether a patch repair is worth doing or a full replacement is the right call.
The majority of flat roof failures trace back to the original installation. Falls that are too shallow, membranes joined incorrectly, flashings not dressed properly into the wall - these are workmanship issues that no amount of patching will fix permanently. A flat roof should have a minimum fall of 1:80 to drain reliably, and many older roofs were laid flatter than this.
Torch-on felt has a typical lifespan of 15-20 years under normal conditions. As bitumen ages it oxidises, loses plasticisers, and becomes rigid rather than flexible. Thermal cycling - the roof expanding in summer heat and contracting in winter frost - puts stress on a material that can no longer move with it. Splits and cracks follow.
The membrane sits on a timber or concrete deck. If the deck has absorbed moisture over time - often because of a slow, undetected leak above it - it softens and loses its ability to hold fixings and support the membrane properly. You may not see this from the surface. When we survey a roof before replacing the membrane, we check the deck carefully because laying new felt over rotten boards simply delays the problem.
A flat roof needs outlets sized for the area it drains. Outlets blocked by moss, leaves, or debris cause water to pond and back up against upstands and flashings. Clearing outlets regularly is the single most useful maintenance task a homeowner can do.
On warm flat roofs (where insulation sits above the deck), condensation inside the structure is rare. On cold flat roofs (older designs with insulation between joists), warm air from the room below can reach the cold deck and condense. Over years, this moisture rots the deck from the inside without any external leak being present at all.
We install two main systems on properties in and around Newmarket.
EPDM rubber is a single-ply synthetic rubber membrane bonded to the deck with contact adhesive. It is highly flexible, handles frost well, and a well-installed EPDM roof can last 25 years or more. Seams are bonded with specialist tape and adhesive - there is no heat involved - which makes it suitable in areas where open flame is impractical. It is our preferred choice for most residential flat roofs.
Torch-on felt (also called modified bitumen felt) uses a gas torch to melt the underside of the felt as it is laid, bonding it to the deck or to a base layer. Modern torch-on systems use two or three layers, giving excellent waterproofing when installed correctly. The top layer is typically mineralised (granule-faced), which reflects some UV and adds durability. This system works well on larger commercial-type areas where speed of installation matters.
Before any quotation, a proper survey should assess the condition of the existing membrane, the falls across the roof, the state of the decking, the condition of all flashings and upstands, and the outlets. If a roofer quotes from the ground or from photographs alone, they cannot know the condition of the deck - and the deck is where hidden costs live.
We carry out hands-on surveys before quoting for any replacement job in Newmarket and nearby areas. If you want to understand what we find, ask us to walk you through it before the work starts.
Flat roof replacement in the UK typically costs between £70 and £120 per square metre for an EPDM installation, and £60 to £100 per square metre for torch-on felt, depending on system specification, deck condition, and access. A small garage roof of around 15-20 square metres might cost £1,200-£2,200 fully installed. An extension roof of 30-40 square metres typically falls in the £2,500-£4,500 range. These figures assume reasonable access and a deck that does not need full replacement.
Factors that push costs up include rotten decking that must be replaced, complex shapes with multiple drainage outlets, difficult access requiring scaffolding, and high upstands needing lead work.
A patch repair makes sense when the membrane is in generally sound condition and the damage is localised - a split seam, a lifted edge, or a failed flashing. If the membrane is over 15 years old and showing widespread crazing or blistering, patching is usually a short-term measure. A repair that costs a few hundred pounds now may buy a year or two, but if the underlying membrane is at end of life, a full replacement within a short period is likely regardless.
If you are unsure, call us and describe what you can see. We can advise whether a survey is worthwhile, and for straightforward cases we can often give initial guidance over the phone before visiting.
If you have noticed any of the warning signs above - or your flat roof is over ten years old and has never been inspected - call Cambridge Roofers to arrange a roof survey. We will check the membrane, falls, outlets, and decking, and give you a clear picture of what is needed before any work is agreed.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
