Roof Repairs
Roofing Contracting is a very strenuous and demanding occupation which requires a high level of expertise and knowledge. It is well suited to people who want to combine a manual occupation with craftsmanship, but we all know that levels of proficiency and dedication to quality varies tremendously across the industry. There are few things more satisfying than knowing you have done a good job to the best of your ability and a sense of pride in knowing that your work will provide the security of a strong roof that will probably outlast the building. Protek-roofing.co.uk has been able to enjoy the pride and satisfaction of producing strong durable roofs which have stood the test of time over the last thirty years.
The flashings on the top is made of cement and prone to cracking
the flashing on the bottom is a lead flashing that will move with
the building and not crack and leak.
In the past, roofs have been made of natural man made materials such as lead and clay or slate. The advancement of technology has seen a shift towards using synthetic equivalents which are not as durable but are more cost effective. These materials require less skill and knowledge such as using concrete interlocking tiles. The tiling is easy but waterproofing the abutments thats a lot more difficult. This is where roofs leak the most.
The efficiency of modern heating systems have made homes hotter than they have ever been. What happens to all that heat though? In older buildings the inadequate fitting windows and doors allowed for better ventilation but colder rooms so temperatures where more constant in homes. The better insulated homes of today however contain lots of heat that travels up into the roof void. When it meets the outside air temperature which is usually colder, especially in the winter it clashes with the warm air in the house and causes thermal movement which cracks solid concrete flashings eventually or inadequately fitted lead or flat roof flashings.
These pictures show a badly fitted
stepped flashing that allowed water into
the building for years, the new
step flashings is going over the tiles instead
of under.
Victorian timbers are more flexible than post 1950 timber work in your roof which means that older roofs leak mainly at wall or chimney abutments. All roof abutments should be flashed with lead soakers and stepped or straight lead flashings on slate and tiled roofs. This is because lead is a flexible material and therefore the constant movement in the timber and outer roof surface are at odds with one another so have to be weather proofed with a non rigid movable flashing at this very important junction.
In a recent Which magazine report about customer experience, roofing was cited as the second worst service industry after plumbing. When a roofing problem occurs, it is rarely caused by a manufacturing error. It is most likely to be in the way those materials, skylight’s windows,tiles, slates etc have been fitted on the roof. Most of protek-roofing.co.uk’s work consists of repairing or renewing roofs before they should ever need to be fixed.
