Flat Roofing in Exeter
Garage roofs, kitchen extensions, dormers, porches and bay windows. Most houses in Exeter have at least one flat roof somewhere, and most of them were felted decades ago and have been quietly failing since. Tell us which one is giving trouble and we will pass it to a roofing firm that covers your area.
Repair or Replace
A flat roof can usually be patched once. It can rarely be patched three times.
Repair makes sense when the covering is broadly sound and the problem is a single split, a lifted lap, a failed upstand against the house wall, or a blocked outlet that has left water standing. Those are small jobs.
Replacement makes sense when the felt has blistered across the whole surface, the deck feels soft underfoot, water is ponding because the fall has gone, or you are on the second or third patch. At that point a new covering costs less than another year of chasing leaks, and it comes with a guarantee the patches never had.
The honest test is age. Traditional felt is generally quoted at fifteen to twenty years. If yours went on before the millennium and has never been replaced, it has done its job.
EPDM, Felt or Fibreglass
Three coverings dominate flat roofing in Exeter, and the right one depends on the roof rather than on fashion.
EPDM rubber. A single sheet of synthetic rubber, glued down with no joins on most domestic roofs. Quoted lifespans run to fifty years. It handles movement well, which suits timber-decked garage roofs, and it is the usual recommendation where nobody will walk on the roof.
Torch-on felt. The modern version of the traditional covering, in three layers with a mineral cap sheet. Cheaper than the alternatives and still a sound choice for a garage or a shed roof on a budget, though it is the shortest-lived of the three.
GRP fibreglass. Laid wet as resin and mat over a new deck, then cured into a single rigid skin. It is the one to choose where the roof will be walked on, for a balcony or a terrace, and where there are a lot of awkward details to seal.
Whichever it is, the deck underneath matters as much as the covering. New OSB or plywood over sound joists, laid to a proper fall so water reaches the outlet, is what the guarantee actually rests on.
What Changes the Price of a Flat Roof
Area. A porch, a single garage and a full-width rear extension are three sizes of job.
The covering. Felt, EPDM and GRP sit at clearly different points, and the difference is mostly material rather than labour.
What is under it. If the old deck is rotten it comes out, and the new one is a line on the quote. Ask whether the price assumes the deck is sound and what happens if it is not.
Insulation. Building regulations can require a flat roof to be insulated when it is replaced. A warm-deck build-up adds material but also cuts the condensation that killed the old roof.
Details. Every upstand, outlet, rooflight and pipe is a place to seal. A plain garage roof is quick; an extension with a lantern, two outlets and a parapet is not.
Access. Most garage roofs are reached from a ladder. A dormer on a three-storey terrace in St Leonard's is not.
Our flat roof replacement cost guide sets out researched 2026 UK ranges by size and covering.
Flat Roofs Around Exeter
Garages on the estates. The post-war semis across Whipton, Wonford, Beacon Heath and Countess Wear came with flat-roofed garages, and most were felted. They are the single most common flat roof enquiry we see.
Rear extensions. Kitchen extensions on the Victorian terraces of Heavitree, St Thomas and Newtown are almost always flat-roofed, and the junction where the flat roof meets the old back wall is the usual leak.
Dormers. Loft conversions across the city added flat-topped dormers, often with the cheapest covering the builder could find. They fail early and they are awkward to reach.
New-build. Even at Cranbrook and Alphington, a porch or a single-storey side extension is likely to have a flat roof, and a ten-year-old felt roof on a new house is not unusual.
How It Works
Tell us which roof it is and what it is doing. We pass the enquiry to a roofing firm covering your area and they arrange to look and quote. We do not do the work and we do not inspect or approve the firm that does. Free, no obligation, and outside working hours you will hear back the next working day.
Related Services
Where the flat roof meets a pitched one, or a lead flashing has failed at the wall, see roof repairs. If the whole house is due, see roof replacement. Overflowing gutters on a flat-roofed extension are covered under guttering, fascias and soffits.
Areas We Cover
Flat roofing across Exeter, Heavitree, St Thomas, Whipton, Wonford, Beacon Heath, Countess Wear, Alphington, Cranbrook, Topsham, Exmouth and Newton Abbot. see all service areas
Common Questions
How long does a flat roof last?
Felt is generally quoted at fifteen to twenty years, GRP at twenty-five to forty and EPDM at up to fifty. The deck and the drainage underneath decide whether the covering reaches those figures.
Can a flat roof be replaced in winter?
Felt and EPDM can go on in cool dry weather. GRP needs a dry surface and a minimum temperature to cure, so a roofer may wait for a settled spell. In a storm, expect a temporary cover first.
Why does my flat roof hold water?
The fall has gone, usually because the deck has sagged between joists or the outlet is blocked. Standing water shortens the life of any covering. It is worth fixing the fall when the covering is replaced rather than laying new material over the same dip.
Get a Free Quote for Flat Roofing
Describe the job and we will hand it to a roofing firm covering your area.