Newmarket Roofers carries out commercial roofing work in Soham, from single-section leak repairs to full roof replacements on warehouses, offices, and agricultural buildings.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
A commercial roof problem rarely announces itself at a convenient time. Whether water has started coming through a flat roof on a unit you rent out, tiles have slipped on an office building after a spell of wind, or guttering has failed and is letting water track back under the eaves, the question that usually follows is the same: do I repair it, or do I replace the whole roof?
We carry out the full range of commercial roofing work across Soham and the surrounding area - flat roof repairs and replacements using felt and EPDM rubber systems, pitched roof repairs and re-tiling in slate or concrete tile, leadwork, guttering, and zinc detailing. We work around your operating hours where possible to keep disruption to a minimum.
This is the most practical question a commercial property owner or manager faces, and the honest answer is that it depends on the age of the roof, the extent of the damage, and the system it is built from. There is no universal rule, but there are clear signals that point one way or the other.
A repair is the right call when the problem is genuinely isolated. A single cracked tile, a failed flashing, a split in a localised area of felt membrane, or a blocked outlet causing ponding water in one spot - these are all problems that a targeted repair can fix properly without disturbing the rest of the roof.
Repairs are also appropriate when the roof is still relatively young and the surrounding material is in good condition. A felt flat roof that is, say, five or six years old and has developed a small split at a joint can usually be repaired and have several more years of serviceable life. The same applies to a pitched roof where only a handful of tiles have slipped or broken, and the underlying battens and felt are sound.
A repair typically costs a fraction of a replacement. A straightforward flat roof patch on a small area might cost a few hundred pounds. A flashing repair or tile replacement on a pitched roof is often in the same range. These figures vary considerably depending on access - scaffold requirements can add significantly to any job.
Replacement makes more sense when the roof as a whole is near or past the end of its serviceable life. A built-up felt flat roof typically lasts somewhere between fifteen and twenty-five years depending on specification and maintenance. If a flat roof is already showing widespread blistering, cracking, or multiple areas of ponding, patching one section is likely to extend the life of that section while the rest continues to deteriorate.
The calculation changes when you look at the cumulative cost of repeated repairs versus a single replacement. Two or three patch repairs over three years that each cost £400 to £600 start to look less economical when a full re-cover of a modest flat roof might cost £3,000 to £6,000 and give you many more years of performance. A good contractor should be honest with you about which scenario you are in.
Replacement is also the right answer when there is damage to the structural deck beneath the waterproof layer. Saturated or rotten timber decking cannot support a new membrane properly and the deck itself needs replacing first. This is not visible until the old covering is stripped, which is one reason a proper scope of work matters before any price is agreed.
When a contractor surveys your roof, push them on these points:
If replacement is the right call, you have a choice of systems. The two most widely used on commercial buildings are built-up felt and EPDM rubber membrane. Built-up felt uses multiple layers of bitumen felt, usually with a mineral-surfaced cap sheet. EPDM is a single-ply rubber membrane bonded or mechanically fixed to the deck. Both are well-established systems with a long track record on commercial properties.
EPDM is generally regarded as more flexible and resistant to ponding water over time. Built-up felt is often cheaper to install initially. A flat roof replacement on a commercial building in this area typically costs in the region of £70 to £110 per square metre depending on the system, deck condition, and access requirements.
On a pitched roof, the case for full replacement is rarer but does arise. Individual tile or slate repairs are straightforward and cost-effective. Where a roof is losing large numbers of tiles regularly, or where the underlying battens have deteriorated to the point that tiles will not sit or fix securely, a strip-and-re-tile becomes the practical answer.
Leadwork on valleys, chimney flashings, and parapet copings also has a finite life. Lead that has cracked or pulled away from the upstand will let water in at one of the most vulnerable points on any roof. A lead repair done properly - cutting back, re-dressing, and pinning the lead correctly - is very different from pushing sealant into the gap as a short-term fix.
We work across Soham and the surrounding area including Newmarket, Ely, Burwell, and out towards Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds. If you are unsure whether your commercial roof needs a repair or a full replacement, call us to arrange a proper survey - the kind where someone actually gets up and looks at it - before you commit to anything.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
