Commercial roofing for Norfolk businesses, from flat roof replacement to pitched roof repairs on warehouses, offices and retail units. We work on a wide range of commercial properties in Fakenham and the surrounding area, keeping disruption to a minimum.
Photo from one of our recent jobs
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
A failing commercial roof costs money in more ways than one. Water ingress damages stock, equipment and interiors; it can force you to close part of a building, disrupt staff, and trigger landlord or tenant disputes. Whether you run a small retail unit in the town centre, manage a light industrial unit on the edge of Fakenham, or own a rural farm building that needs a complete re-roof, getting the right contractor matters from the first visit.
Commercial roofing covers a broad range of building types and roof systems. Flat roofs are the most common on commercial premises, and they come in several forms: traditional built-up felt, torch-on felt, and EPDM rubber membrane. Pitched roofs on commercial buildings often use fibre cement slates, concrete or clay tiles, or metal sheet systems depending on the age and use of the building. We assess what you have before recommending anything.
Flat roofs on commercial buildings tend to fail at the edges, flashings and upstands before the main field of the roof gives way. Poor drainage is another common problem: ponding water sits on felt and eventually works through any crack or split. On older buildings, it is not unusual to find several layers of felt laid over one another across the years, which adds weight and hides the condition of the deck beneath.
Pitched roofs on warehouses and agricultural buildings in this part of Norfolk are often covered in profiled fibre cement or older asbestos cement sheets. Asbestos cement sheets require careful handling and licensed removal before any new covering goes on. We can advise you on what you have and what the correct process involves, including the notification requirements before work starts.
Before any work starts, a proper inspection of the roof deck and structure is essential. On flat roofs, the deck is often plywood or chipboard, and if it has been wet for any length of time it may be soft, delaminated or rotten in patches. Replacing a membrane over a failing deck is a short-term fix. A thorough job means stripping back to sound material, replacing defective decking boards, and then laying the new system correctly.
On a torch-on felt job, the base layer is mechanically fixed to the deck and the cap sheet is applied with a gas torch, bonding the layers together. On an EPDM rubber installation, the membrane is bonded or mechanically fixed and the seams are taped or bonded with contact adhesive. Both systems need careful detailing at edges, upstands, outlets and any penetrations through the roof. This is where most failures start on a poorly finished job.
For pitched commercial roofs, the process depends on the existing structure. If purlins and rafters are sound, a new covering can go straight onto them with the right fixings for the sheet profile chosen. If the structure needs attention, that work happens before the new covering goes on. We carry out a structural check at survey stage so there are no surprises once work begins.
Access is a practical consideration on any commercial site. We can work with scaffold, mobile elevated work platforms or fixed access equipment depending on the building, the roof height and what is practical for your site. We discuss access arrangements with you before pricing so the method is agreed and costed from the start.
On a domestic roof, a mistake costs hundreds to put right. On a large commercial building, a specification error or a poorly detailed flashing can lead to thousands of pounds of water damage before anyone realises where the leak is coming from. Getting the membrane weight, the insulation thickness and the drainage layout right at the design stage saves money over the life of the roof.
Current building regulations require flat roofs on commercial buildings to meet minimum thermal performance standards when more than 25% of the roof area is replaced. That usually means adding or upgrading insulation as part of the job. The usual approach is a warm-roof build-up, where insulation sits above the deck and below the membrane, keeping the deck at a stable temperature and reducing condensation risk. A cold-roof layout, where insulation sits between the joists below the deck, is still encountered on older buildings but creates more condensation management challenges.
A common problem on commercial flat roofs is inadequate falls. Water that cannot drain off a flat roof will sit on the membrane, and standing water shortens the life of any system. Where falls cannot be improved structurally, tapered insulation can be used to create drainage channels within the build-up. This adds cost but extends the working life of the finished roof significantly.
If you are buying or leasing a commercial property in or around Fakenham, a roof survey before exchange is money well spent. A visual inspection from ground level tells you very little about the condition of a flat roof. We can carry out a close-up survey, report on what we find, and give you an honest view of what remedial work is likely to be needed and roughly what it would cost.
Landlords arranging planned maintenance programmes also find a condition report useful. Knowing which sections of roof are approaching the end of their serviceable life allows maintenance budgets to be planned ahead rather than reacting to emergencies. A typical EPDM membrane, when correctly installed and detailed, has a serviceable life of several decades. Torch-on felt systems vary: the quality of the felt specified and the standard of the installation both affect longevity.
Fakenham and the surrounding area have a mix of commercial property that presents the same roofing challenges. Wind and rain place real demands on commercial roof coverings, particularly on flat or low-pitch roofs where water has less natural assistance in draining away. Frost in winter can also open up cracks in aged felt membranes that were not obvious in dry weather.
We cover commercial roofing work across the Fakenham area and into the wider north Norfolk market. If you are not sure whether your premises fall within our working area, call us and we can confirm.
Commercial roofing in Fakenham and north Norfolk is typically priced per square metre for the main field of the roof, with additional costs for edge details, outlets, flashings and access. As a general guide, a torch-on felt replacement on a commercial flat roof runs from around £50 to £90 per square metre depending on the specification; EPDM systems are comparable in range. Larger areas of plain roof tend to attract a lower per-metre cost than small, complex areas with many details. These figures are for the finished installed system and include stripping the old covering, preparing the deck and completing the edge detailing.
To get an accurate figure for your building, we need to see the roof. Call us to arrange a survey of your commercial premises and we will give you a written breakdown of what the work involves and what it will cost.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
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