Flat Roof Repairs · South Croydon CR2
Flat Roof Repairs In South Croydon
Is the flat roof at the back of your South Croydon house holding water again?
Felt, rubber, fibreglass and lead repairs to back additions, extensions, dormers and blocks of flats in CR2
From the pavement, most of South Croydon is slate and chimney pots. Go round the back of a villa on Croham Road or The Waldrons and it looks different. There is a flat-roofed back addition, a kitchen extension from whichever decade the last owners chose, and quite possibly a dormer with a flat top. Down along the Brighton Road and Selsdon Road, a fair few of the later blocks of flats are flat from one end to the other. Nobody sees these roofs from the street, so they tend to get ignored until a ceiling marks. We are based on Penwortham Road, which puts most of them a short drive away. The first job is always the same one: work out where the water gets in before anyone mentions materials.
Flat Roof Repairs quote in South Croydon
Four details and somebody will come and look at it. There is no charge for the visit, no obligation afterwards, and if the answer is that your roof is fine, that is what you will be told.
The people behind it
Two brothers and the flat roof behind the villa
John and Mark run Roof Repairs Croydon, and they're brothers. It's a family firm based here in South Croydon, and the pair have always worked together without falling out. They reckon they do their best work side by side, and a flat roof over a back addition is no different.
Before a price goes out, they'll often go over the figures together. That leaves you with two people who both know what's happening on your extension. If John's up a ladder when you ring, Mark will usually answer, and you won't have to start the story again.
1,000+
Roofs put right
10 year
Written workmanship guarantee
£0
To have somebody come and look
Repair first
Replacement is the last resort
What a failing flat roof in CR2 usually looks like
You often can't see the roof at all. These are the things people notice first, from a back bedroom window or from the room underneath.
A brown ring on the extension ceiling
Water has got past the covering or the edge and soaked into the plasterboard. The ring tends to sit a little way from the real fault, because water runs along the deck before it drops.
Moss and grit piling up in one corner
That corner is the low point and water hangs about there after rain. On roofs under the trees near Croham Hurst the moss gets going quickly and holds damp against the covering.
Felt peeling back at the front edge
The drip trim, or the felt dressed over it, has come loose, usually where wind gets underneath. Once the edge is open, rain gets blown back under the covering.
A damp stripe on the old back wall inside
The joint between the flat roof and the main house. The flashing over the upstand has cracked, or it was only ever a bead of sealant, and water is running down behind the covering.
What you get when the roofer is based up the road
No long trip to price
We work from Penwortham Road in CR2. A back addition in South Croydon is close by, which keeps the travel side of a small repair small.
The leak found first
We go up, see where the grit and staining sit, then check the ceiling below. You hear the cause before you hear about any covering.
Edges checked every time
Drip trims, upstands and the flashing into the old brick get looked at on every visit. On a villa back addition those are the parts that give up first.
Old lead left as lead
Some villas still have small lead flats over bays or behind parapets. Those get mended in sheet lead with proper rolls and drips, not painted over with a liquid coating.
Shared roofs put in writing
On a converted villa or a block off the Brighton Road, the flat roof may belong to the freeholder. Photos and a written note help whoever is responsible decide.
A guarantee you can file
Ten years on our workmanship, written down and handed over when the job is finished.
Flat roofs behind the villas, and under the trees
Most of South Croydon's flat roofs are hidden at the back. The Victorian villas on the older roads were built with back additions, and plenty have since grown a kitchen or garden-room extension, most of them flat. Converted villas often add one more: a flat-topped dormer that went in when the loft became a flat of its own. Then there are the blocks along the Brighton Road corridor, where the whole roof can be one big flat area shared by everyone living under it.
The hill and the trees do the rest. The ground rises as you head south from the town centre, so a flat roof tucked against a tall villa sits in the wind that curls off the main wall, and that is what peels edges and lifts loose laps. Around Croham Hurst the trouble is shade. A north-facing extension there can stay damp from October until spring. Moss takes hold, leaf blocks the outlet and the low corner never quite dries. A covering that would do well in open sun wears out sooner in those conditions.
"The South Croydon flat roofs we get asked to look at have usually been leaking for longer than the owner realises, because the back of a villa is the side nobody checks."
From flat roof repairs enquiries in South Croydon handled by Roof Repairs Croydon
How we repair a flat roof in South Croydon
Look from above and below
We get on the roof and we look at the ceiling underneath. Stains, soft patches in the deck and where the grit has washed to all show where water sits and where it gets in.
Test the deck
We press along the boards, especially by the outlet and the house wall. Timber that gives gets cut out and replaced before anything goes over it.
Price it in writing
The quote says whether it is a repair or a re-cover, which material, and whether the falls need changing. Nothing is left as something to sort out on the day.
Cut back to sound covering
Around the fault we trim back to covering that is still bonded and dry, so the repair joins onto something that will hold.
Rebuild the edges and wall joint
New drip trims where they are needed, the covering turned properly up the wall, and a flashing let into the brick joint above it.
Clear the outlet, then hand over
The outlet, hopper and gutter below are cleared so water can leave the roof. You get photos of the finished work and the guarantee on paper.
The 10 year guarantee, and why it is safe to offer
Promising a roof will stay dry is easy. What counts is what happens if it does not. Work booked through Roof Repairs Croydon carries a 10 year workmanship guarantee, on paper, handed to you on the day and written in language you can actually read. The slates, tiles, lead, mortar, membranes and rainwater goods carry their own manufacturer cover on top of that. It varies by product, so you get told which cover applies to your job rather than one headline number that would be wrong on most of them.
Here is the reason a guarantee like that is not a risk. Repairs come back for one reason above all others: the fault was never found in the first place. Somebody went up, saw a stain on the ceiling below, mended whatever looked worst directly above it, and left. Water does not cooperate with that approach. It lands on a slate, runs under it, drops onto a rafter and travels along the rafter before it finds anywhere to fall. On a wide hipped roof in Sanderstead or Shirley that can be five metres from where it came in.
Find the entry point and the repair holds for years. Miss it and no amount of guarantee wording helps anybody. That is why the survey happens before the price, and it is why, if the same water finds its way back into your house inside the guarantee period, putting it right costs you nothing.
10 year
Workmanship guarantee
1,000+
Roofs put right
Covered
Public liability insurance
Per product
Maker's own warranty
Before anyone works on your flat roof, ask these
Will they actually get on it?
A price called up from the garden is a guess. Anyone taking it seriously will want to stand on the roof, press the deck and look at the outlet.
Do they say why it failed?
A quote that just names a material has skipped the main question. You want to know whether it was the falls, an edge, the wall joint or plain age, because that decides the fix.
Have they asked who owns the roof?
On converted villas and blocks of flats, a decent roofer asks early. If the roof is the freeholder's, starting work for one leaseholder can cause a row nobody needs.
Repair the covering or re-cover the roof?
On most South Croydon extensions the real choice is between fixing what is there and replacing it. This is how the two stack up.
| Comparison point | Repair the existing covering | Strip and re-cover |
|---|---|---|
| Makes sense when | One split, one bad edge or a failed wall joint on a roof that is otherwise sound. | Blisters everywhere, standing water, a soft deck or a roof that is already mostly patches. |
| What gets disturbed | The faulty area and a margin around it. | Everything down to the deck, then the deck itself if it needs it. |
| Time on site | Often a single day. | A few days on a typical back addition, more for a block. |
| Rough cost | Usually hundreds rather than thousands. | Into the low thousands for an extension-sized roof. |
| Falls | Unchanged. Water drains the way it did before. | Can be corrected with firrings or tapered boards. |
| Insulation | Left as it is. | Can be improved, and building regulations may insist on it. |
The stack above the extension
On many villas the back addition sits right under a tall chimney, and water off a cracked stack can look exactly like a flat roof leak from the kitchen. If that could be your house, our page on chimney repairs in South Croydon covers what we check at the top.
What sets the price of a flat roof repair in South Croydon
A flat roof repair is mostly labour, so the price follows access, size and the state of the deck once it is opened up. These three matter most here.
Getting round the back
Villas on The Waldrons and Croham Road often have long side passages, steps or a sloping garden between the road and the back addition. Materials get carried in by hand, and that time goes on the quote.
Shade, moss and the boards below
Under the trees around Croham Hurst a north-facing roof can stay wet all winter, and that is when deck boards rot. Replacing boards is the line that most often moves a price.
Big shared roofs on flats
On the blocks and conversions along the Brighton Road the area can be large and the decision may sit with a freeholder or agent. More roof costs more, though the rate per square metre usually drops.
Flat Roof Repairs in South Croydon: questions
Do I need permission to repair a flat roof on The Waldrons?
South Croydon falls under the London Borough of Croydon for planning. Re-covering a flat roof like for like generally needs no permission. The Waldrons is a conservation area, though, so anything that changes how a roof looks, such as a different material on a visible roof or a raised edge, is worth checking with Croydon Council first. The Article 4 direction on numbers 5 to 23 only removes rights over hard surfaces and boundary walls, gates and fences, so it is the conservation area that governs the roof. Separately, if more than a quarter of the roof is being replaced, building regulations under Approved Document L usually expect the insulation to be brought up to current standards.
Why does the flat roof under the trees near Croham Hurst keep going green?
Shade. A roof that gets little sun stays wet for long spells, moss and algae grow on it, and falling leaf blocks the outlet. The covering underneath may still be sound. Clearing it, dealing with the low spots and keeping the outlet free often gets you far more years than a new covering would.
Is it worth repairing the old felt on my South Croydon extension?
Sometimes. If the felt is still stuck to the deck, the boards are firm and water runs off, a repair at the failed spot can keep it going for a good while. If it is blistered all over, holding water or already carrying three or four patches, you are paying to put off the inevitable. We will tell you which at the visit and put it in writing.
My flat is in a converted villa off Selsdon Road. Who pays for the flat roof?
Your lease decides that. In many conversions the freeholder is responsible for the roof and the cost goes through the service charge. In others the top-floor lease takes it on. Read the lease before agreeing to anything. We can give a written report with photos to whoever ends up paying.
Can you lay EPDM straight over the old felt?
Not as a rule. Rubber laid over old felt traps whatever damp is already in the felt and hides any soft boards. We strip back to the deck, replace bad timber and bond the membrane to a clean, dry surface.
Will a flat roof repair mean coming through the house?
Usually not. Most back additions can be reached from the garden with a ladder or a small tower. On some villas the only way round is through the house. If so, we cover the floors and agree it with you at the survey.
What Croydon homeowners say
From roads across the borough, once the ladders had gone.
"Damp patch on our landing ceiling for about three years. Two roofers had been out and both mended the tiles directly above it, and neither made the slightest difference. This chap spent twenty minutes in the loft with a torch before he even went outside, then showed me a photo of a split in the lead in the valley about four metres away from the stain. Fixed it in a morning. Three winters on and nothing."
"Water was coming down the front bedroom wall every time it rained hard and I had convinced myself the roof was finished. It was the gutter. Half of it had dropped so the water was sitting in the middle and going over the front rather than down the pipe. He reset the brackets and cleared the gully, charged me a fraction of what I had budgeted for, and told me the roof itself had years left. Could easily have sold me a new one."
"Ours is in the Chatsworth Road conservation area and I had no idea the rules on roof work here are stricter than the rest of Croydon. He knew straight away, explained what I could and could not do without an application, and did the repair in matching slate. That saved me a very awkward conversation with the council later on."
"Lost most of the ridge tiles along the back in a February gale. Rang in the morning, sheeted the same afternoon so the weather could not get in, came back the following week when it was dry and rebedded the whole ridge properly. Sent me photos of everything for the insurance without me even asking. The bill was exactly what the quote said it would be."
"Gutters had been overflowing under the trees for years and the fascia behind them had gone soft. What I appreciated was that he explained why the timber had rotted rather than just quoting to replace it, and pointed out the new soffits needed vents or I would end up with condensation in the loft instead. Nobody had ever mentioned that to me before."
Had us out to your roof?
Two minutes writing a review does more for a small local firm than any amount of advertising, and it helps the next person in Croydon work out who to ring.
Things to do in South Croydon
Our own corner of Croydon has a few good places for a dry afternoon, if the roof leaves you one.
Croham Hurst
Climb Croham Hurst for oak, beech and hazel woodland protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, with a Bronze Age burial mound close to the summit.
View on Google Maps - Croham Hurst
Lloyd Park
Roughly 114 acres of open grass off Coombe Road, given to Croydon by the family of newspaper owner Frank Lloyd. There is room for a run, a game or a long dog walk.
View on Google Maps - Lloyd Park
Coombe Wood
Gardens laid out as separate rooms with woodland behind them, close to where Coombe Lane meets Conduit Lane. The old stable block is now a cafe.
View on Google Maps - Coombe WoodSouth Croydon on the map
We are based on Penwortham Road, so South Croydon is on our doorstep. Planning here is handled by Croydon Council.
Areas we cover
From CR2 we cover the rest of the borough as well, from Norbury and Thornton Heath down to Purley, Coulsdon and Kenley, plus Caterham, Warlingham, Wallington and West Wickham just over the boundary.
Flat Roof Repairs by town
Flat roof at the back letting water in? We're just up the road
Send a photo from an upstairs window, or tell us which ceiling has marked. The visit is free, and you get a written explanation of what failed before you see a price.