Leaking flat roof, July 2018

We completed Wetsuit with thermal insulation to the roof.

This flat roof had bitumen installed but had rain coming through the roof and and damaging the ceilings of the apartments below.

Unfortunately the roof was communal and this client was forced to pay for the full roof works alone as the other owners were not as affected and were prepared to put up with the damage.

The building was in excess of 20 years old and the roof has been repaired on an annual basis.

The roof had defects with the falls which is very common with properties here  and the rain was not running to the various drainage holes – further to this the drain pipes were far blocked.

The bitumen seams had failed and many patched areas were also allowing the rains through.

In addition to this – 10 cold water tanks were situated on the communal roof and 4 that were continuously leaking.

Bitumen rolls cannot withstand standing/pooling  water for too long before it becomes saturated and given the age of the building and the rusting of the iron inside the concrete roof beam was evident and as it expands will eventually lead to a structural failure .

The client opted to thermally insulate the roof with 80mm thermal boards on his section of roof.

Wetsuit was applied over the thermal boards which formed a permanent waterproof seal.

Wetsuit is designed to withstand pooling water and this does not affect the warranty in any form.

The falls were left defective although slightly improved using the thermal boards.

A 20 year warranty was issued.