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Q&As
Q. What is a rubber roof?
A. Well, years ago the traditional way to waterproof a flat roof was to use a product called felt. Chances are you already have some version of a felt roof installed at the moment and it has failed. There are many reasons for this. The main one is that a felt roof mainly consists of metre wide strips of felt seamed together on your roof leaving you with lots of joins. The second is that a felt roof usually needs some variation of stone chippings to hide the base layer of bitumen from the sun. When the bitumen base layer heats up it begins to melt, and when the sun goes away it cools. Over time this causes the bitumen to crack and break down causing leaks.
A rubber roof gets away from all this. How? Well for starters a rubber roof comes in ONE sheet already pre-cut to the size of your roof; this means there are no seams required during the installation. A rubber roof does not require stones or aggregate of any kind to conceal it from the sun as it is a U.V stable product.
Q. If it does not use bitumen to stick it down like a felt roof, how do you fix it to my roof?
A. Nine times out of ten a rubber roof is basically fully stuck down using the manufacturers own adhesives. There are only two kinds of adhesive that get used. The other method would be to ballast your roof by sticking it around the perimeter and then placing either paving stones or pea gravel in the centre of the roof to weigh it down, however this method is rarely ever used and is not very cost effective.
Q. When my current roof was installed, they were using a blow torch to heat up the felt? Do you have to do the same?
A. NO. A rubber roof is fully cold applied, meaning there is absolutely no need for heat of any kind at anytime during the roof installation. The two types of adhesive used to bond your roof are commonly installed using a decorators roller.
Q. When my current roof was installed, I was told it would last over 15 years? How long does a rubber roof last?
A. A rubber roof typically carries a 20 year guarantee on the membrane only. The same technology offered here is the basically the same as it was when it came out 40 years ago. The adhesive technology has moved on since then making it a better product. The first rubber roof was installed over forty years ago, and is still in place today and has only required basic standard maintenance. Your rubber membrane has a life expectancy of over forty years.
Q. It’s great having a membrane guarantee that lasts 20 years, but what about an installation guarantee?
A. A Truseal installed rubber roof carries a 20 year installation guarantee, alongside the 20 year manufacturers membrane warranty. If you require an insurance backed installation guarantee we can offer a 15 year guarantee.
Q. What if my roof deck is rotten? Do you replace it?
A. A comprehensive survey of your flat roof is undertaken before you are given a quotation. If it is necessary to remove and replace some or all of your existing roof deck it will be included in your quotation. Any other salient factors will also be picked up during the survey and you will be notified there and then of the best course of action. If your insulation needs replacing, it will be replaced in line with current building regulation U-Values. If you have any questions you want to ask the surveyor during the free call out, please feel free.
Q. All this sounds very expensive, just how much am I looking at?
A. A lot of potential clients believe that having a modern roofing material like EPDM rubber fitted is that it is going to cost a fortune. Well we can safely say it simply doesn’t. A typical rubber roof installation is often around the same if not cheaper then an equivalent felt roof installation.
Q. What parts of the country do you cover?
A. Truseal is a nationwide contractor, but we also have our own network of trained roofing contractors who we may pass your enquiry onto. You can rest assured that our contractors have received some of the very best training, and they all share our commitment to quality. Truseal actively carries out stringent quality checks on all its authorised contractors to ensure the finest service. We may contact you after your survey/installation should you decide to have one, where we will ask your feedback on your Truseal authorised contractor.
Truseal prides itself on it’s level of customer service. Our courteous and proficient staff are all roofers and are here to advise you as to the best course of action for your roofing problems.
Feel free to call us today with any questions you may have regarding your flat roof problems.