Flat Roof Repairs · Ealing W5 & W13
Flat Roof Repairs In Ealing
Should anyone be using a blowtorch on your Ealing roof?
Flat roofs on villas, bays and back additions in Pitshanger, Ealing Common, Northfields and Hanger Hill, repaired without the fire risk
Ealing's Edwardian villas carry a lot of small flat roofs - over the bay windows, on the back additions, above porches and between gables. Underneath many of them is a century of very dry timber: joists, sarking, old roof boards and loft rubbish. Torch-on felt is still a common repair, and it involves a gas flame on top of all that. Most of the time nothing goes wrong. We'd still rather not take the chance on a house like that. Where there's old timber close to the work, we use cold-applied systems, self-adhesive membranes, EPDM or liquid coatings, and leave the blowtorch in the van.
Flat Roof Repairs in Ealing - free survey
Pop your details in and we'll call you back to book the survey. It costs nothing, it obliges you to nothing, and if the honest verdict is that your roof needs no work, that verdict is exactly what you'll get.
Who runs Watertight
Ealing flat roofs and the two people behind Watertight
Behind Ealing's big villas there's often a flat bay, porch or back addition doing the hard work of draining a complicated roof. The brothers who run Watertight, John and Mark, often quote these jobs together and check the figures between them.
Their aims for a job are the same, so you won't get one plan from one brother and a different one from the other. Customers often call that refreshing.
10 years
Written workmanship guarantee
Free
Surveys, quotes and second opinions
Same day
Response aim for active leaks
TW5 based
Minutes from most of the patch
A lot of small roofs, a lot of old timber
A typical double-fronted villa near Ealing Common or in Pitshanger might have five or six flat sections: two bay tops, a porch, the back addition and a valley or two where hipped roofs meet. Each is small, each is fiddly, and most have been repaired by different people over the years. They sit tight against brickwork, timber fascias and the edge of the main roof, often with roof void directly underneath.
In Brentham Garden Suburb, an Article 4 direction since 1976 means even small external changes are controlled, so repairs need to stay in keeping. Ealing's villas also tend to have elaborate stacks with original pots; if yours needs attention, see our chimney repairs in Ealing page.
How we look after Ealing's flat roofs
No naked flame near old timber
Cold-applied and self-adhesive systems where there's dry timber close by, which is most Edwardian bays and porches.
Bay tops to suit the façade
Bay roofs are on the front of the house. We finish them neatly in lead or a lead-coloured system so they suit the street.
Valleys and hidden flats found
We check every flat section on the roof, including the ones you didn't know you had. Hidden valleys are often where the trouble is.
Timber edges repaired
Rotten fascia and edge boards around small flat roofs are replaced in matching profiles before the covering goes on.
Brentham-aware
We know what the Article 4 direction means for roofs in the garden suburb and keep repairs within it.
Guaranteed for ten years
Written workmanship cover, from a firm about fifteen minutes from Ealing.
"Most Ealing villas we survey have more flat roof sections than the owner realised, and the leak is quite often in one they hadn't heard about."
Watertight Roof Repairs Hounslow - Ealing flat roof repairs jobs
How we tackle an Ealing flat roof
Tell us about the house
Villa, semi or cottage, and where the water appears. If you're in Brentham, mention it, as it affects materials.
Every flat section checked
Bays, porch, back addition, valleys and hidden flats inspected and photographed, plus the timber edges around them.
Flame-free where it matters
The quote states which system we'll use on each section and why, with a fixed price for each.
Fixed and finished
Small sections are often all done in a day. You get photos of each one, since most aren't visible from the ground.
The guarantee is a document, not a phrase
"All work guaranteed" costs nothing to say, which is why every van in west London says it. What matters is whether anything gets written down. Work arranged through Watertight Roof Repairs Hounslow comes with a 10 year workmanship guarantee as an actual piece of paper - dated, signed, specific to your job - handed over alongside the completion photos. Materials carry their manufacturers' own cover on top, which varies by product, so your paperwork names what applies to yours instead of waving at a number.
A guarantee that long is only affordable if the repairs don't come back - so it shapes how the work is done. Failed material comes off rather than getting covered over. Replacement tiles and slates go on with fixings specified for a roof that lives under the Heathrow approach, not the minimum the 1930s got away with. Junctions get lead. And anything we find that we can't fix that day gets photographed and said out loud, because surprises kept from you now become our problem within 10 years.
Plainly: if water gets back in through work we've done, we return and put it right at no cost, for a decade. Ask any firm quoting against us to match that in writing - it's an interesting conversation to watch.
10 yrs
Workmanship, in writing
£0
Cost of a return visit under it
Insured
Public liability in place
Named
Manufacturer cover per job
Questions for an Ealing flat roof repair
Will you use a torch?
Ask directly. On an Edwardian roof with old timber close by, there are good flame-free alternatives.
Have you checked all the flats?
A quote for one bay roof when the leak is from a hidden valley fixes the wrong thing.
What will the bay look like?
On the front of a villa, appearance matters. Ask how the edges and finish will look from the pavement.
Torch-on felt or a cold-applied system in Ealing
Both can give a good, long-lasting roof. On older Ealing houses the difference is mainly about risk and detail.
| Comparison point | Cold-applied or self-adhesive | Torch-on felt |
|---|---|---|
| Heat on site | None - bonded with adhesive or laid as a liquid. | A gas torch melts each layer onto the last. |
| Fire risk near dry timber | Effectively none. | Low with care, but never zero. |
| Small, fiddly roofs | Liquid systems wrap complex shapes easily. | Fine on simple shapes, awkward around detail. |
| Weather sensitivity | Some products need dry, mild conditions. | Can be laid in cooler weather. |
| Our preference here | Bays, porches and anything near old timber. | Only on open sections well away from timber. |
Flat roof repair prices in Ealing
A repair to a single bay top or porch roof is usually a few hundred pounds. Recovering a back addition or several sections together runs into the low thousands. In Ealing, these make the difference:
Number of small sections
Five small roofs take longer than one large one of the same total area, because each has its own edges and upstands.
Edge timber
Edwardian fascias and edge boards often need replacing in matching profiles before the covering goes back on.
Brentham materials
Inside the garden suburb, matching original materials can cost more than a modern equivalent. We price both where both are allowed.
Around Ealing between jobs
Ealing is a good place to spend a day. Three places we'd send anyone.
Pitzhanger Manor & Walpole Park
Learn more about Pitzhanger Manor & Walpole Park on Google Maps
Gunnersbury Park & Museum
Learn more about Gunnersbury Park & Museum on Google Maps
Ealing Common & the avenues
Learn more about Ealing Common & the avenues on Google MapsEaling, W5 & W13
about 15 minutes from base. Planning authority: Ealing Council.
Flat Roof Repairs in Ealing: your questions
Is torch-on felt safe on my Ealing house?
In skilled hands it's usually fine, but the risk is never zero, and Edwardian houses have a lot of dry timber close to their flat roofs. We use flame-free systems on bays, porches and anywhere old timber is close, and only use a torch on open sections where it's genuinely safe.
My Ealing bay window roof is leaking. Is it the roof or the window?
It can be either. Water can come through the bay roof covering, the junction with the wall above or the top of the window frame. We test and inspect all three before quoting, so you're not paying for a new roof when the problem is a failed seal.
Do I need permission to repair a flat roof in Ealing?
Most repairs need no permission. Brentham Garden Suburb is the exception: Ealing Council's Article 4 direction there since 1976 removes most permitted development rights, so even small external changes may need consent and repairs should keep original materials. Ealing's other conservation areas are less strict but still expect visible repairs to suit the house.
Can lead bay roofs be replaced with something else?
On many houses, yes, and there are lead-look membranes that suit a period façade. In Brentham or on a listed building, you'll probably need to stay with lead. We'll advise before you decide.
How long do small flat roof repairs take?
A bay or porch is often done in half a day. Several sections or a full back addition might take one to three days, depending on timber repairs and the weather.
What the patch says about us
Homeowners from Cranford to Hayes on how their jobs actually went.
"Woke up to tiles all over the front garden and not a breath of wind - couldn't work it out. They came the same morning, made it safe, and were the ones who told us it looked like vortex damage from the planes and that Heathrow has a scheme for exactly this. Helped us photograph everything properly for the claim. Could easily have just charged us for a repair and said nothing. That honesty is why I'm writing this."
"Our loft conversion started leaking around the dormer two winters after the conversion company vanished. Two roofers quoted big money to strip the whole dormer roof. These guys traced it to one badly-lapped flashing on the cheek, showed me the photo, fixed it in half a day. It's been through every storm since bone dry. The difference was they looked before they priced."
"Called them expecting to be told the roof needed doing - the house is 1936 and the ridge had been dropping mortar crumbs for a while. Survey verdict: re-bed the ridge, replace five tiles, and the rest is good for years yet. They even marked two tiles to keep an eye on. Quote was a fifth of what I'd braced for. When the roof does eventually need doing, they've earned that job."
"Water started coming through the back bedroom ceiling at 7am on a Sunday. Rang around - one lot quoted a £180 call-out before they'd even start. This firm answered, talked me through switching off the lights circuit and where to put the buckets, and was here by half nine. Told me the Sunday rate up front, made it dry, came back Tuesday and did the proper repair for a very fair price. Kept every promise they made on the phone."
"Had the fascias, soffits and gutters done on our terrace. What sold me was the survey - they pushed a screwdriver into the old boards to show me which were actually rotten and which were fine, then quoted to replace only what needed it. Other quotes were for capping over the lot, which they explained the problem with. Work was neat, gutters run properly for the first time in years, and the guarantee arrived as a proper document."
Had us out to your roof?
Two minutes writing a review does more for a small local firm than any advert we could buy - and it helps the next west London household with a drip find someone straight.
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Book a flame-free flat roof survey in Ealing
We'll check every flat section on your roof, tell you which needs work and how we'll do it safely, and give you a fixed price for each.