Blog - London Flat Roofing

Roof inspections for insurance renewals.

Doing reports on roofs for customers whose insurance companies have asked for a condition report or roof inspections on the flat roof before they will renew the insurance on here property is now becoming a big part of your business. Over the last 4 years, we have gone from doing one a year to 8 a week, so much so that I’m ( Steven Dickinson) now solely doing roof inspections. Not only roof condition surveys but serves on roofs for potential house purchases; people wanting to know if the roof is in good condition before purchasing a house; I’m in a unique position to know only know most of the new legislation on roofs but also to be able to give a good indication on costs so they that can go back to the seller and perhaps negotiate on the asking price. Not only is there a demand for roof inspections or roof reports for insurance and for house purchases, but there is another more upsetting trend developing. Roof Surveyor on ladder surveying a roof Roof inspections and reports of new roofs installed badly Unfortunately, every week, I get calls or emails from potential customers with roofs that have been installed incorrectly and need [...]

Buildings Insurance

Roof Surveyor Near Me

Roof surveyor near me is one of the biggest searches on google, we may not be near you but we cover all of London, basically most of inside the M25. More and more I’m being asked to do roof surveys or roof reports for insurance renewals, it’s now becoming normal for the insurance companies to ask for a “Roof Condition Report” before renewing the insurance on a house or flat. Lots of people ask when booking “What’s involved with a Roof Condition Survey” Roof Surveyor getting access to a roof We need to know how many roofs need surveying – you may have more than one roof. We need to know what access is like onto the roof or roofs because it’s always best if we can actually get onto the roofs and have a good walk around. Sometimes we will use a drone if necessary, but inspecting a roof using a drone doesn’t always give you all the information you need. Drone roof inspections need to be booked carefully as we need the weather conditions to be good on the day of the roof inspection. Once we have the address and we know what access is like to the roof, we can then give you [...]

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Lead roof venting

A customer asks about venting a lead roof Spired on by my Youtube vide Lead Roof Venting Lead is beautiful & cross venting vital for a cold deck roofs. Warm deck usually avoids the need for cross venting but I notice that the LSA & other lead sheet groups recommend cross venting even a warm deck flat roof where this should be unnecessary for a warm deck roof. What is your opinion on providing yet another set of counter battens & decking on top pf a warm deck roof when lead sheeting is applied rather them single ply? Have you ever seen or experienced internal sweating of a lead sheeted warm deck roof? Is it an over precaution when using lead? What is your view from the sharp end? Surely if the visqueen FB vapour barrier is applied well under the insulation & sealed to all the abutments, cross venting the top side of a warm deck roof should be totally unnecessary. REPLY The perfect flat roof is a warm deck roof with a cold vented roof over the top. The cold vented roof allows any moister that gets past the warm roof to escape basically you are building in redundancy into the [...]

Lead, Warm Roofs

Hybrid roofs explained

I explain what a hybrid roof is and how to make one I’m frequently asked if I install hybrid roofs and do they work. In this video, I try to explain: what makes a hybrid roof how a hybrid roof differs from the standard cold roof or warm roof constructions, which are widely used in the building industry the different ways you can form a hybrid roof. A hybrid roof is a mixture of a cold roof and a warm roof construction. If you are constructing a cold roof – If you totally fill the void between the joists with insulation, it’s a hybrid roof. You don’t vent the roof, it’s a hybrid roof. Or you don’t use any insulation at all, it’s a hybrid roof. Or a warm roof – I’m often asked if some insulation can be put inside the roof and some outside the roof. If you do, it’s a hybrid roof. However, if you only place a small amount inside and have at least 3/4 outside this will probably work, but it’s still a hybrid roof! You definitely can’t have more insulation inside, and less outside that just won’t work. Having different layers of insulation with air gaps under a warm roof will be a hybrid roof, and [...]

Blog, Videos

OSB Expansion and contraction do I leave a gap?

Expansion and contraction in OSB is not a problem ( I think) As far as I know, no gaps needed in 18mm T+G OSB the expansion is built-in. The lower part of the T+G this doesn’t meet the other side; however, the top use so I don’t understand how that works! I know they are moving over to a new under T+G soon, but that’s all I know. I’ve tried reading the BS EN 1995-1-1:2004+A1:2008 Eurocode 5: ( 145 pages but went to sleep) Tongue and groove do I leave expansion joints The expansion per meter if it gets damp is recorded at.03mm so it’s not much we always leave a perimeter gape of 10 mm and push the bards together lightly; some never go tight as the edges are fragile and brake and bind. I’ve covered roofs over 100 m² and never had a problem, that said we don’t put rigid roofing material on the roof its normally rubber. I get lots of complaints from people that have had GRP glass reinforced plastic flat roofs installed. They constantly complain about the banging noise that comes from the contraction and expansion. Nobody seems to know if this is because of how the boards have [...]

Blog, GRP, Roof Decking

Roof survey near me

When I go to my London flat roofing blog I see lots of people search for roof survey near me if they were only to put in the postcode so I knew what area they were in this would be very helpful. When we are carrying out roof surveys in and around London and enquire comes through we may be on the road doing other roof surveys and the possibility that we can just pop in because you are local then becomes extremely convenient not only for us but for the customer. Mainly the cost of doing roof surveys come from travelling to and from our office and the customer’s property. Inspecting inside a flat roof survey Writing reports on flat roofs Writing the reports for roof surveys and putting all the information together probably takes up 40% of the time spent doing a roof survey. At London flat roofing we not only do roof surveys on flat roofs but we also do roof surveys on pitched tiled roof’s. The insurance companies that insure private properties are now more frequently asking for a report on the condition of any flat roof and also pitched roofs mainly tiled roofs or slate roofs. If [...]

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Flat Roof Condition Report for Insurance

Flat roof condition report for insurance. Insurance companies are now asking for a flat roof condition report before they will renew your household insurance. London Flat Roofing’s surveyors carry out numerous flat roof condition reports over a year. Each condition report gives extensive details as to the type of flat roof and its general condition. Our surveyor will attend the property, gain access to the roof, take photos and video and supply a written report, generally within 48 hours. I have attached a PDF of a flat roof condition report, showing some of the information that you may find in one of our flat roof condition reports. Flat Roof Condition Reports for Insurance. Reports and site surveys. Now that the insurance companies are clamping down on poor maintenance Haveing a report on the condition of your flat roof is becoming more and more necessary. Book a Flat Roof Condition Reports for Insurance now at London Flat Roofing The cost of a flat roof condition report will depend on access to the roof. If access to the roof is easy; the cost could be as low as £150 + VAT. Generally speaking it’s all about access and health and safety; on some roofs we have to erect [...]

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Flat roof reports for renewing your insurance on your house

When did you last have your flat roof report for insurance? In your insurance renew letter it’s becoming common to be asked if you have a flat roof and when was it last inspected. More and more now, I am receiving phone calls from house owners that require a report on their flat roof to give to the insurance company. We attend the property, gain access to the flat roof and take photos video and measurements and compile a report on the condition of the roof. When doing a flat roof survey for insurance, I mostly find that we can give a good bill of health. We can make recommendations and give our opinion on how long we think the flat roof can last if maintained. If you are interested in a flat roof report for your insurance company or even for your peace of mind, please call or email over your details. If you have any other information such as measurements and photos, then please attach. Generally speaking its good practise having a professional roofer to a yearly or by yearly inspection of your flat roof. After the first year or two of inspections, we can normally fall into a routine as we [...]

Blog, Buildings Insurance