Flat roofing across Surrey
Flat roofs in Bookhamand across Surrey, built todrain and guaranteed 15 years
Flat roofing is one of our strongest areas. You get a roof laid to the right falls, detailed correctly at every edge and upstand, and a 15 year workmanship guarantee in writing: instead of another three years of patching.
15 year workmanship guarantee on flat roofs. £2m public liability, £10m employers' liability.
30+ years
Matt's experience on Surrey roofs
Guaranteed
Workmanship guarantee in writing
£2m / £10m
Public and employers' liability cover
Bookham based
Local across Surrey, not a call centre
The service
What flat roofing actually involves, and why it is where we are strongest
A flat roof is not flat. It is a low-pitch roof designed to move water in one direction, at a fall steep enough that nothing sits still on the surface. Almost every failed flat roof we are called to has the same root cause: water was never given a route off it. Ponding sits over a joint or a lap, freezes, expands, and works its way in.
Our flat roof work covers the whole job rather than the covering alone. That means lifting the old build-up, inspecting and replacing the decking and timbers where they have gone soft, correcting or forming the falls with firrings, then laying the new covering with the edge details, upstands, drips and outlets finished so the water has nowhere else to go.
Customers keep singling out our flat roof work in reviews, and there is a reason for that; a flat roof rewards care at the edges, which is exactly the part cheap jobs skip. Emma Cox described the work on her flat roof as flawless from start to finish; that outcome comes from detailing, not from the price of the membrane.
We work on extensions, garages, dormers, porches, bay roofs, outbuildings and link roofs across Bookham, Leatherhead, Fetcham, Effingham, Ashtead, Epsom, Cobham, East and West Horsley, Shalford, Woking and Guildford. Whether you need a full replacement or a repair to buy time on a sound deck, you get the same honest assessment of which one your roof genuinely needs.
Homeowners with a leaking extension or dormer
Water marks on a ceiling, a damp patch that returns every winter, or a bubble in the covering that never quite dries out. We find where the water is entering rather than sealing over the symptom.
Anyone with a garage or outbuilding past its life
Old felt roofs reach an age where each repair costs more than the last. If the deck is still sound, a replacement covering is usually cheaper than another two seasons of call-outs.
Extensions being built or refurbished
A new flat roof done at the right stage (correct falls, correct upstand heights, correct outlets) avoids designing a leak into a room you are about to decorate.
Buyers with a survey flagging a flat roof
Surveys often note a flat roof as 'nearing the end of its serviceable life' without saying what that means. Matt will look at it and tell you plainly what it needs and what it does not.
What happens if it waits
A flat roof rarely fails politely: it fails into the room below
Pitched roofs give you warning. Flat roofs do not. Water that gets past the covering is held on the deck by the very thing designed to keep it out, so it spreads sideways across the boards, soaks the timbers and appears in a ceiling several feet from where it went in. By the time you see the stain, the deck has usually been wet for months.
That is the point where the cost changes shape. Recovering a sound deck is one job. Once the boards have delaminated and the joists have gone soft, you are paying for timber, structural repair and often plastering and decorating inside as well. The covering was always the cheap part.
Trapped damp also does not stay in the roof. It moves into the wall head, lifts plaster at the ceiling line, and gives mould a permanent home in a corner nobody can dry out. On a warm roof build-up, wet insulation stops insulating, so the room becomes colder and more expensive to heat while it is quietly rotting above your head.
The other consequence is repeat spend. Patching a covering that has failed because of standing water simply relocates the problem to the next weak lap. Two or three of those repairs, plus the redecoration each time, frequently comes to more than the replacement would have.
Common mistakes we get called out to fix
- Sealing or painting over a failed covering, which traps the water already in the deck instead of removing it.
- Laying a new covering straight over a wet or spongy deck because stripping back looks like an avoidable cost.
- Leaving the original falls alone when the falls are the actual reason water is sitting in one corner.
- Skimping on upstand height where the roof meets a wall, so driving rain simply steps over the top of the detail.
- Blocked or undersized outlets left in place, turning the whole roof into a shallow tank every time it rains hard.
- Ignoring the drip edge and trim, letting water track back under the covering along the fascia line.
How the job runs
Five stages, so you know what you are paying for before anyone climbs a ladder
Step 1
Inspection
Matt looks at the covering, the falls, the outlets, the upstands and the deck, and checks inside for where the water is actually appearing. You get shown what he has found.
Step 2
Diagnosis
You get told which part has failed and why (covering, falls, detailing or deck) plus whether a repair is honestly worth doing or whether it only postpones the same bill.
Step 3
Detailed written quote
The work is itemised so you can see the strip, the deck repairs, the falls, the covering and the trims separately. What we quote is what you pay.
Step 4
Strip, repair and lay
The old build-up comes off, soft decking and timbers are replaced, falls are corrected, then the new covering is laid and every edge, upstand and outlet is detailed properly.
Step 5
Water test and verification
We check the roof drains where it is supposed to, with no ponding left standing on the finished surface, and walk you round the completed work.
Step 6
Clear down and guarantee
The site is cleared, the old material is taken away, gutters are left clear, and your 15 year workmanship guarantee is confirmed in writing.
What you get out of it
What a properly laid flat roof gives you
Longevity you can put a number on
Our flat roof workmanship is guaranteed for 15 years. That figure exists because the falls and details are corrected as part of the job, not left as they were.
The leak actually stops
We repair the cause rather than the stain. If water is entering at an upstand or an outlet, sealing the middle of the roof was never going to fix it.
No repeat repair spend
One correct job instead of a patch every other winter, plus the redecorating that follows each one. Cheap repairs on a failed covering are the expensive route.
Structure protected
Getting water off the deck stops soft boards and rotting joists, which is where a roof problem turns into a building problem.
A warmer, drier room below
Dry insulation insulates. Fixing a wet flat roof usually improves the comfort of the room underneath as well as its ceiling.
A tidy site each day
Driveways, gardens and gutters are cleared at the end of every working day, the thing customers mention in reviews most often after the work itself.
In detail
Coverings, build-ups and the situations flat roofing has to handle
Flat roofs vary far more than people expect. Below is what we work with, how the build-ups differ, and the situations that change the specification for your roof.
New flat roofs and full replacements
A replacement starts with removing everything down to the deck so the timber can be seen. Boards that have delaminated or gone soft are cut out and replaced, and joists are checked where the water has been sitting longest.
Falls are then formed or corrected using firrings so the surface drains towards the outlet rather than towards the middle. This is the single most important part of the job and the part most often left untouched on a cheap re-cover.
The new covering goes on with proper laps, then the perimeter is finished with drip trims, edge trims and upstands taken high enough to keep wind-driven rain out. Outlets are set at the low point and left clear.
Extensions, garages, dormers and porches
Extension roofs usually meet the house at an abutment, so the junction between flat roof and wall matters as much as the field of the roof. We dress that detail properly, often with leadwork, rather than relying on mastic.
Dormer roofs are small, awkward and heavily exposed, with cheek junctions and window details in a very small area. They need patient detailing rather than speed.
Garage and outbuilding roofs are simpler but often the oldest coverings on a property. Where the deck is sound, they are among the most cost-effective roofs to bring back to a long life.
Bay and porch roofs are small enough that the trims and the junction with the main wall are effectively the whole job.
Repair versus replacement
Not every flat roof needs replacing, and we will say so. A local failure on an otherwise sound deck with correct falls is a genuine repair, and it will hold.
Where the covering has reached the end of its life, the falls are wrong, or the deck has been wet long enough to soften, a repair buys months and costs money that would have gone towards the replacement.
Matt gives you the honest version of which situation you are in, including when doing nothing yet is the sensible answer. Anything we would recommend against gets said out loud.
Drainage, outlets and the parts nobody looks at
Outlets and rainwater pipes are the drain for the entire roof area, and they are the first thing to silt up with moss, grit and leaves. A blocked outlet turns a well-laid roof into a pond within one storm.
Where a flat roof discharges into guttering, that guttering has to be able to take it. We look at both together, which is why flat roof and guttering work often happen on the same visit.
Moss and debris from an adjoining pitched roof will keep arriving on a flat roof below it. Clearing the pitched roof and the gutters is part of keeping the flat one working.
Working on Surrey properties
Surrey housing stock mixes 1930s semis, post-war extensions, converted outbuildings and newer garden rooms, and each generation of flat roof was built to a different standard. We work across all of them.
Older extensions frequently have shallow or reversed falls that were never right, alongside upstands that are too low. Correcting those is what turns a recurring leak into a finished job.
Because we are based in Bookham, coming back to check something is straightforward. You are dealing with the same person who quoted the work, not a subcontractor passing through.
Where we work
Covering Bookham
and the towns around it
We are based at The Manse, Eastwick Road, Bookham, Surrey and work across these Surrey towns and villages.
- Flat Roofs in Bookham
- Flat Roofs in Great Bookham
- Flat Roofs in Leatherhead
- Flat Roofs in Fetcham
- Flat Roofs in Effingham
- Flat Roofs in Ashtead
- Flat Roofs in Epsom
- Flat Roofs in Cobham
- Flat Roofs in East Horsley
- Flat Roofs in West Horsley
- Flat Roofs in Shalford
- Flat Roofs in Woking
- Flat Roofs in Guildford
Not sure whether you are in range? Call 07877 013968 and we will tell you straight away.
Related work
Often done at the same time
See every roofing service we offer or go back to the homepage.
Questions
Straight answers
before you commit
Anything not covered here, ask Matt directly on 07877 013968.
How much does a new flat roof cost in Surrey?
It depends on the area of the roof, how much decking and timber needs replacing, whether the falls have to be corrected and how many upstands, outlets and trims are involved. We do not give guessed figures over the phone; Matt looks at the roof and gives you a detailed written quote itemising each part, and what we quote is what you pay.
How long does a flat roof replacement take?
Most domestic flat roofs (a garage, porch, dormer or single-storey extension) are a short job measured in days rather than weeks, provided the weather holds. Extra time is only needed where decking or joists have to be replaced. You will be told the expected timescale before the work is booked in.
What guarantee do you give on flat roofing?
Flat roof work carries a 15 year workmanship guarantee. It is a guarantee on the way the roof has been built and detailed by us, confirmed in writing when the job is finished.
How long should a flat roof last?
A flat roof laid with correct falls, sound decking and properly finished edges lasts decades rather than a handful of years. What shortens that life is standing water, weak upstands and blocked outlets, which is why we correct those as part of the job rather than covering over them.
Can you repair my flat roof instead of replacing it?
Often, yes. If the deck is sound, the falls are right and the failure is local, a repair is genuine value and we will do it. If the covering has reached the end of its life or the deck is wet, we will tell you that a repair only postpones the same cost.
Do you deal with urgent leaks?
We do, and calling is quicker than the form for anything actively coming through a ceiling. Our hours are Monday to Saturday 8am to 6:30pm and Sunday 9am to 4pm; ring 07877 013968 and we will tell you honestly when we can get to you.
Will you need to get inside the house?
Usually only briefly, to see where the water is appearing internally. That view often identifies the entry point far faster than looking at the surface alone.
Do you work on my part of Surrey?
We are based in Bookham and cover Great and Little Bookham, Leatherhead, Fetcham, Effingham, Ashtead, Epsom, Cobham, East and West Horsley, Shalford, Woking and Guildford. If you are close to the edge of that, call and ask.
Are you insured to do this work?
Yes: £2m public liability and £10m employers' liability cover.
Can you sort the guttering while the roof is done?
Yes, and it is often sensible. A new flat roof draining into blocked or sagging guttering is only half a solution, and doing both at once saves a second set-up.
Next step
Get a straight answeron your flat roof
Send the form and Matt will arrange to look at the roof, tell you whether it needs a repair or a replacement, and put a detailed quote in writing. If water is coming in now, calling is quicker.
Call 07877 013968The Manse, Eastwick Road, Bookham, Surrey, KT23 3BE
Mon–Sat 8am–6:30pm · Sun 9am–4pm