Ely Roofers provides commercial roofing for warehouses, offices, retail units and agricultural buildings in Burwell and across Cambridgeshire.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
A commercial roof rarely fails overnight. Problems build up gradually, often in places that are hard to see from ground level. By the time a leak appears inside the building, water has usually been tracking through the roof structure for weeks or months. Catching the warning signs early is the difference between a repair and a full replacement.
The most telling sign is water staining on internal ceilings or walls - brown tide marks, bubbling paint or damp patches that seem to move around after heavy rain. On flat roofs, ponding water that sits for more than 48 hours after rainfall tells you the falls are wrong or the drainage outlets are blocked. Left alone, that standing water adds dead weight to the deck and accelerates membrane deterioration.
Felt and EPDM rubber flat roofs show their age in specific ways. Felt roofs develop blisters - raised bubbles where moisture has become trapped beneath the surface layer. When those blisters crack open, water gets in directly. Splits along laps (the overlapping joins between sheets) are another common failure point, particularly where the felt has become brittle after years of UV exposure.
EPDM membranes are more flexible, but they are not immune to problems. Perimeter edges where the membrane is bonded to upstands or parapet walls are a frequent source of failure. If the adhesive bond breaks down, the membrane lifts at the edge and rainwater tracks underneath. You may not see any obvious tear in the membrane itself, which is why leaks on EPDM roofs can be difficult to trace without a proper inspection.
On any flat roof, look for visible cracking or crazing of the surface, areas where the surface layer is coming away in strips, and any point where the membrane has pulled away from a pipe, vent or skylight penetration. Each of these is a water entry point waiting to happen.
The most visible sign of trouble on metal roofs is rust - either surface rust on older steel sheets or, more seriously, rust holes that have eaten through the sheet entirely. Once a sheet has a hole, every rain shower becomes a problem.
Fixings are a less obvious but equally important failure point. The rubber-washer screws used to secure metal sheets degrade over time. The washer hardens and cracks, the seal around the fixing hole fails, and water runs down the screw shank into the building below. This kind of slow, dripping leak is easy to miss because the water entry point on the roof may be some distance from where the damp appears internally.
On single-ply membrane roofs - typically used on modern commercial flat or low-pitch roofs - look for any sign of the seams lifting. These membranes are either mechanically fastened or fully adhered, and the seams are welded. If a weld fails, that seam becomes an open joint. This is most likely at penetrations, at rooflights and at the edges where the membrane terminates against a wall or parapet.
Age is the most straightforward cause. Felt flat roofs typically perform for 10 to 20 years depending on specification; EPDM membranes can last considerably longer when correctly installed and maintained. Metal sheet roofs vary widely - a well-maintained steel roof can last 30 or 40 years, but one that has been neglected will deteriorate much faster.
Poor original installation is behind a significant proportion of premature failures. Inadequate falls on flat roofs, insufficient overlap on felt laps, unsealed penetrations and poorly detailed edges all create problems that show up years after the work was done. This is why the history of a roof matters when you are trying to understand why it is leaking.
Blocked gutters and outlets cause more roof damage than many building owners realise. When water cannot drain away freely, it backs up across the roof surface, finds any weakness in the membrane or flashing and pushes through. Clearing outlets and keeping gutters flowing is the simplest form of commercial roof maintenance there is.
Thermal movement is a factor that is easy to overlook. Commercial roofs cover large areas, and the surface temperature swings considerably between a cold winter night and a warm summer day. That repeated expansion and contraction stresses joints, fixings and edge details over time. It is one of the reasons that areas around penetrations and perimeter flashings fail disproportionately often.
Foot traffic and roof-mounted equipment also cause damage. Engineers accessing plant on the roof can puncture membranes or dislodge flashings. Any work carried out on or near the roof by other trades should be checked afterwards.
Do not wait to see whether a small leak gets worse. In a commercial building, a persistent drip can damage stock, equipment, electrics and insulation before the structural implications even become relevant. The sooner a problem is assessed, the more options you have.
When you call us, we will arrange a site survey so we can assess the roof properly before giving you any advice. We will tell you honestly whether a repair is the right call or whether the roof has reached the point where patching it is throwing good money after bad. Some roofs can be repaired economically; others are at an age or condition where a full system replacement is the more sensible investment.
We work on commercial roofing across Burwell and the wider Ely area, covering warehouses, offices, retail premises and farm buildings. Call us to book a site survey and we will give you a clear picture of what is happening with your roof and what your options are.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
