Walk around Llantarnam, Llanyrafon or Croesyceiliog and you will see how many homes have a flat-roofed garage, porch or side extension tacked on. These small roofs are easy to forget until the ceiling stains. When a quote for the main roof lands on your doormat, the sensible question is whether the rest should be done at the same visit. Here is how we weigh it up for the house in front of us.
Why the smaller roofs fail differently
A pitched roof sheds water quickly. A flat or near-flat roof holds it, so the covering works harder and ponds form in any dip. Felt and older bituminous coverings crack at the edges and upstands long before the middle looks tired. That is why a garage can leak while the house above it stays perfectly dry. Edges and corners suffer most.
The case for doing them together
Scaffold, skip and labour are already on site, so adding a garage or porch costs far less effort than a separate visit later. The junction where a porch roof meets the house wall also needs new flashing when the main roof is redone. Doing both means one set of leadwork, one tidy finish and no old roof left to fail beside a new one.
- Scaffold is already up and can reach the lower roof
- Wall flashings can be renewed in one continuous job
- Gutters and fascias can be matched across the whole property
When it makes sense to wait
If the garage roof was recovered recently and is holding, there is no need to touch it. We would rather tell you that than add work for the sake of it. The same goes for a structure with a bigger problem, such as rotten joists or a failing wall plate. That needs sorting properly first, and we will say so plainly. Condition decides it, not age on its own.
Pitched or flat for the replacement
Where the structure allows it, a small pitched roof in matching tiles looks more at home on a house of this age. It also sheds water better. Many garages, though, are too shallow or too wide for that without extra work. In those cases we fit a modern single-layer flat roof system with proper falls, edge trims and upstands, rather than another layer of felt on top of the old. We explain both routes before you choose.
Getting the junctions right
Most leaks we trace on small roofs come from the junction with the house wall, the gutter edge or the door head, not the middle of the surface. We cut a proper chase, dress the flashing into it and finish with a clean drip edge. Please do not try to patch these with sealant from a ladder. Call us and we will survey it safely first.
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