Nathp83 Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Good morning all, Firstly I know very little about flat roofs. I purchased a house last year with a flat roof that covers the garage and utility room. I was aware from visual inspection that the roof covering was coming to the end of its useful life. My initial thoughts were to get the whole lot pulled off and go for a proper fibreglass replacement £1200-£1500 has been quoted for just over 20m2 However following a recommendation of some stuff called All Weather Roofing Compound Bitumen Waterproof ROOF Coating 25 Litre on amazon and a few videos on YouTube, I do wonder if something like this might tide me over for a few years at obviously a significant reduced cost. I’m just not 100% sure it’s suitable for the roof type, I’m not actually sure what the covering is? It looks like it’s in 3 pieces and slightly overlapped looking from the front of the house. I’m guessing it’s some kind of bitumen covering and it will be ok. It looks like the previous owner has painted something similar on part of the roof more recently. Having said this I very much doubt the previous owner preped the roof in any way, given some of the other crap I’ve seen. The roof is waterproof at the moment. I’ve given it a good sweep. My thoughts were to use a bitumen primer, then a very light coat of the compound and a fibreglass mesh on top and then 2 proper coats of the compound. From the photos what are people’s thoughts please? TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Roofers use Acrypol, around £150 for 20l. I've used it on my Mums roof and found it to be good stuff. Just warm up the can by leaving it in hot water or the hot sun for ages 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidFrancis Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Hard to say with much certainty from the pictures, but the roof could have been painted with solar reflective paint that has now worn off in large parts. If it is that paint, it might look OK with a couple more coats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Depends what you want to spend short term, as Vijay said acyprol is good, and there are a few good single part coatings available now, some you roller on and when still wet lay a mesh into and then roller on another coat. I would allow 3-400 quid for a reasonable bodge that will get you 3-4 years of life. Then save up and get the lot ripped of and re boarded with insulation added if it’s a utility room. Obviously all depends on how long you want to stay there, you could bodge and run for £150 and it will look fairly tidy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathp83 Posted May 31, 2020 Author Share Posted May 31, 2020 55 minutes ago, DavidFrancis said: Hard to say with much certainty from the pictures, but the roof could have been painted with solar reflective paint that has now worn off in large parts. If it is that paint, it might look OK with a couple more coats. I’m guessing the silver layer is reflective paint. But it’s the cracks and splits underneath that I’m more concerned with. My question is more around whether a bitumen based compound is the right kind of thing to go for give the surface I have currently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidFrancis Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Don't know enough to answer your question. But in your position and I wanted to keep the cost down, I'd be tempted to fill the cracks with bitumen mastic and then repaint. Probably cost less than £50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathp83 Posted May 31, 2020 Author Share Posted May 31, 2020 10 minutes ago, DavidFrancis said: Don't know enough to answer your question. But in your position and I wanted to keep the cost down, I'd be tempted to fill the cracks with bitumen mastic and then repaint. Probably cost less than £50. Ok thanks for the advise ?? If it was leaking I’d be more inclined to have the whole lot ripped off. But I could really do without both the expense and having the work done now given the current situation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathp83 Posted May 31, 2020 Author Share Posted May 31, 2020 If I was to use some fibreglass mesh, do you think there would be any problem in running this in shorter widths rather than long lengths? I just wonder if doing this might slightly impact water run off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Don’t think this will work on top of bitumen as said above if you are looking for cheap n cheerful, then fill the cracks with a bituminous repair mastic and a couple of coats of bitumen paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathp83 Posted May 31, 2020 Author Share Posted May 31, 2020 I’d seen this Hence the reason for thinking about using this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 You can go anyway you like but must be aware that the lap joint in the scrim will cause a bulge so this needs to allow for water to run off. Most flat roofs don’t have adequate fall so putting a ridge in it will hinder it even more. On your roof I would think you would have 3-4 long strips running from the tiles down to the gutter. Originaly i I thought you meant the fibreglass matting you use for the GRP roofing which is completely a different product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 (edited) Acrypol has fibres in it, it's not just a paint If it was me, I would use a pressure washer to clean the roof and if you still believe it's in good condition, Acrypol it if it's just a few years your after. You could always recoat it in a few years which is exactly what I've done/doing at my Mums Edited May 31, 2020 by Vijay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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