Repairing a cracked roof - advice please

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swee'pea99

Legendary Member
It's only about five or six years old

upload_2019-6-2_20-40-26.png


but my missus was out there giving it a clean, and she came across a couple of cracks, like this:

upload_2019-6-2_20-41-2.png


She googled about roof cracks, and the front-runner right now seems to be this stuff:

s-l500.jpg


...but she said she'd prefer to know what the roof's actually made of - there are better solutions for some materials apparently. Does anyone have any idea? Can you tell just from looking at that first pic? I haven't a clue, but I thought if anyone might know it might be someone hereabouts.

Thanks in anticipation.
 

midlife

Guru
It should have come with a guarantee?
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
shouldn't it have gravel on it too ?
had a house with a upper parts sticking out from roof with a similar surface, swept the gravel back and resealed with similar coating then put the gravel back over it so it stuck to the sealant .
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
I'm certainly no expert but I hate flat roofs, it doesn't matter how good the system, they will leak one day especially if drains aren't cleared and they flood regularly.

Looks to me as if the roof is a waterproof covering over sand or some kind of self-levelling compound and somebody has put a foot through in an area of weakness. Many materials become brittle after prolonged exposure to UV light. It happens in your car; that grey fog inside the glass is the plasticiser migrating out of the vinyl. Agreed, I think there should be a white gravel to protect it from UV.

You can try patching it but in the end it needs a new covering.
 

Ian H

Ancient randonneur
From the photo of the crack, it looks like zinc. But your eyes & fingers should tell you pretty much what it actually is.
 
OP
OP
swee'pea99

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
It should have come with a guarantee?
Thanks. That would be the ideal solution, but unfortunately it didn't. The company that did the work has since changed hands, and we have nothing on paper, so I suspect DIY is realistically our only option.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
And guess what? J Bloggs Roofing Ltd has been wound up and replaced by a different company, Bloggs Roofing Contractors Ltd.
 

Slick

Guru
Looks like poor quality mineral felt, although I could be wrong. Fibreglass would be considered old school now but it was a solution most people were turning to before I became aware of these guys.

http://www.icopal.co.uk/Products.aspx

Most of the people offering 25 year guarantee did so in the knowledge they would restructure every couple of years or so.
 
OP
OP
swee'pea99

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
OP sent the wife out.... :ohmy::ohmy::ohmy::ohmy::ohmy::ohmy:

Patch it as best now, then phone company - it should be a long g-tee...
Encouraged by some of your posts I've checked out the company and it turns out they're members of the FMB, so there may be some prospect of a guarantee after all. I'll look into that first, tomorrow. Many thanks. (Oh, and my missus was doing the business because I'm still recovering from a broken hip, and couldn't even get out there.)
 
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