Flat Roof Repairs · Kirkby-in-Ashfield NG17
Flat Roof Repairs In Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Has the felt on your Kirkby extension been up there longer than you have?
Repairs, overlays and full re-covers for kitchen extensions, porches and garages across Kirkby, Annesley and Nuncargate
Kirkby's big post-war estates came with garages and porches, and later on with kitchen extensions, and a lot of them are still under felt that went down decades ago. Add the trees that have grown up along the town's disused railway cuttings, dropping leaves into outlets every autumn, and you have most of the reasons people ask about flat roof repairs in Kirkby-in-Ashfield. Sometimes a split or a blocked outlet is all that's wrong. Often the felt is simply worn out, and the real question is whether it can be covered over or needs stripping back to the boards so the deck can be checked.
Free flat roof repairs survey in Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Leave your details and we'll ring you back to arrange a survey. The visit is free, you're under no obligation once we've been, and a roof that doesn't need work gets called a roof that doesn't need work.
Fully insured
Free Kirkby-in-Ashfield surveys
Itemised fixed prices
about 15 minutes from base
Who does the work
Doing a flat roof once, and doing it right
Chris, who runs the roofing at Roof Repairs Mansfield, has been in the trade since he was a teenager, more than 20 years now. He's local. He runs his jobs efficiently, but never by cutting corners, and on a flat roof the corners are exactly where the leaks start.
No flat roof gets left until it's watertight, and Chris has never minded the long hours that sometimes takes. His team are the same. They work hard, they're proud to work for a business that cares about the customer more than money or short days, and quality and reliability come first whether anyone's watching or not.
1,000+
Repairs carried out
10 years
Workmanship guarantee, on paper
Free
Surveys, quotes and honest bad news
No upselling
A patch that will hold gets recommended as a patch
Signs your Kirkby flat roof needs attention
Old felt on the estates and leaf litter from nearby trees produce a familiar set of problems. This is what they usually mean.
Felt that's crazed, cracked or bare of its chippings
It's reached the end of its life. Felt typically lasts 15 to 20 years, and many roofs on Kirkby's post-war estates are well beyond that.
Water backing up after a downpour
An outlet, or the gutter it feeds, is blocked, often by leaves from trees along the old railway lines. The water sits on the roof and finds any weak lap.
Moss and green staining across the surface
Shade and damp debris are keeping the roof wet. Moss holds moisture against the felt and speeds up its decay.
A ceiling sagging slightly under the extension roof
The boards above have been wet for some time and may be rotting. That needs opening up, not covering over.
How we deal with flat roofs around Kirkby
Strip or overlay decided on evidence
We test whether the old felt and the deck are dry before suggesting an overlay. If they aren't, we strip back to the boards.
Rotten boards replaced, not buried
Any soft decking we find is cut out and replaced before the new covering goes on, and you'll see photos of it.
Outlets and gutters cleared and checked
Where trees overhang, we clear the outlets and gutters and make sure water can leave the roof freely. It's a cheap step that heads off a lot of trouble.
Coverings chosen for shade and leaf fall
We'll explain how felt, EPDM and GRP each cope with moss and debris on your particular roof, and which one we'd pick.
Proper upstands at the wall
Where an extension meets the house, it gets a correct upstand and a lead flashing chased into the brick, not a smear of sealant.
Advice on keeping it clear
Shaded roofs need the odd clear-out. We'll tell you roughly how often yours will need one, so the new covering lasts as long as it should.
Post-war estates, old felt and the trees on the railway lines
Kirkby's population grew with its pits and its railways, and after the war the town spread into large estates beyond the Victorian core. Those houses, and the extensions people added to them later, account for most of the flat roofs here: garages, porches and kitchen extensions. Plenty are still on felt from decades back, or on an overlay laid on top of it. Meanwhile, the three railway lines that once ran through the town had all closed by 1964, and their cuttings and embankments have since filled with trees. Houses nearby get the shade, the leaf litter and the moss on any low roof. Neither problem is dramatic on its own, but together they wear felt out early. While we have access, it's sensible to get the chimney stack looked at too, since older stacks on these houses tend to need attention at around the same time.
"Kirkby callers tend to ring about a single leak on an extension or garage, and the felt on those roofs often turns out to be well past the age it was meant to reach."
From flat roof repairs enquiries Roof Repairs Mansfield handles in Kirkby-in-Ashfield
What happens when you call us about a Kirkby flat roof
Free survey, outside and in
We check the covering, outlets, edges and wall junction, then look at the ceiling or loft space below for damp and sagging.
Findings in photos
We send pictures of anything we've found and tell you whether the roof suits a repair, an overlay or a full strip.
An itemised written quote
Each part of the work is priced separately, with access on its own line so you can see what it adds.
The job done as quoted
We carry out exactly what you agreed to. If stripping the felt reveals more rot than expected, we show you before going any further.
Photos, a clean site and the guarantee
We take away the old felt and timber, send photos of the finished roof and give you a written 10 year workmanship guarantee.
Ten years, in writing, before we leave the drive
Every roofer in Nottinghamshire will tell you their work is guaranteed. Ask to see the paper and the conversation often changes. Ours doesn't: work booked through Roof Repairs Mansfield carries a 10 year workmanship guarantee as a physical document, dated, signed and handed over with the completion photos - not a line in an email you'll never find again. Materials sit on top of that with their manufacturers' own cover, which differs product to product, so your paperwork names the cover that actually applies to your job.
A guarantee that long only makes commercial sense if repairs are done in a way that doesn't invite a return visit. Around Mansfield that means respecting what the housing actually is: coverings and fixings from the colliery era that fail as systems, not as single tiles, and mortar that has been quietly powdering since the pits shut. So failed material gets stripped back to something sound before new goes on, mortar gets matched to the age of the brick, and anything we can't make right on the day gets said out loud rather than covered over.
The blunt version: if water we were paid to stop finds its way back through our work inside 10 years, we return and put it right at our own cost. That promise has to be cheap to honour - and it is, because of how the work gets done the first time.
10 yrs
Written workmanship cover
1,000+
Repairs carried out
Insured
Public liability held
Named
Manufacturer cover per job
Questions to ask before anyone touches your Kirkby flat roof
Flat roofs are where corners get cut most easily. Three questions help you spot it.
How do you know the deck is dry?
An overlay on damp boards traps the moisture. A roofer should explain how they've checked, not just say it looks fine.
What will you do about the trees?
If leaves are blocking your outlets, a new covering won't fix that by itself. Ask how the outlets and gutters will be cleared and protected.
Which covering, and why?
There's no single right answer for every roof. A good roofer will explain why felt, EPDM or GRP suits yours, including how it copes with shade.
Overlay The Old Felt Or Strip It Off?
Overlaying is cheaper and quicker. Stripping costs more but shows you what's underneath. On Kirkby's older extension and garage roofs, here's how they compare.
| Comparison point | Strip to the deck | Overlay the existing felt |
|---|---|---|
| Suitable when | The old roof is wet or blistered, or the deck feels soft. | The old felt and boards are dry and sound. |
| Cost | Higher, because of removal, disposal and any new boards. | Lower, as the old layer stays put. |
| Hidden problems | Rot and old faults are found and fixed. | Whatever is under the old felt stays there. |
| Roof height | Stays the same, or rises only with added insulation. | Goes up with every layer, which can affect trims and door thresholds. |
| How long it lasts | Whatever the new covering is rated for, in full. | Can be good on a dry base and short on a damp one. |
| Insulation | A good moment to upgrade to a warm roof. | Little scope to add any. |
What decides the price of a Kirkby flat roof job
A small repair on sound felt usually sits in the low hundreds, and a full re-cover costs more depending on the material. These four things set where a Kirkby job lands.
Strip or overlay
Stripping adds labour and disposal but saves paying twice. We test the old roof first and price whichever it actually needs.
Deck condition
Rotten boards near the outlets or along the wall edge add cost. We price them from the survey, so they're on the quote from the start.
Trees and outlets
Overhanging branches can make clearing and access slower, and a roof that needs new outlets or a gutter sorting has more work in it than one that drains well.
Old Kirkby settings
A flat-roofed outbuilding or extension in Old Kirkby, inside the Kirkby Cross conservation area, may need a covering that suits its setting, and agreeing that with Ashfield can add time before work starts.
Flat roof questions from Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Do I need planning permission to re-cover a flat roof in Kirkby?
Not for like-for-like work. Kirkby is in Ashfield District, whose council is based on Urban Road, and re-covering an extension or garage counts as maintenance. If the building is listed, or sits inside the Kirkby Cross conservation area in Old Kirkby, talk to Ashfield before changing the covering or how the roof looks. A thicker warm roof that raises the height noticeably can also need checking.
Trees overhang my garage roof. Is that why it keeps leaking?
Quite possibly. Leaves block the outlet, water ponds, and moss keeps the felt damp, all of which shortens its life. Cutting branches back where you can, clearing the outlet each autumn and choosing a covering that copes with shade will all help.
How old is too old for a flat roof in Kirkby-in-Ashfield?
Felt is usually good for 15 to 20 years, so a roof laid when an extension on one of Kirkby's post-war estates was new may be living on borrowed time. Age alone isn't the test, though. We look at whether it's cracked, blistered or soft underfoot before recommending anything.
Is EPDM better than felt for an extension?
EPDM is commonly rated for 30 to 50 years against roughly 15 to 20 for felt, and one sheet usually covers a domestic extension with no seams. Felt is cheaper to lay. On a shaded roof that collects debris, EPDM's longer life often justifies the difference, but we'll give you both prices.
What happens to the old felt?
If we strip it, it leaves with us and the site is left clear. If an overlay is the right answer, the old layer stays where it is, but only after we've tested it and told you why it's fit to stay.
What to do in Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Kirkby has a few good places to stretch your legs, two of them on land the town once worked.
Portland Park
The Quarries, as most of Kirkby knows it, was once a magnesian limestone quarry. Since being filled in during the 1950s it has become a local nature reserve with ponds, meadows, woodland and a café.
Find it on Google Maps : Portland Park
Kingsway Park
Catherine Hodgkinson of Kirkby House sold the council the field that became this park in 1930. Today it holds a Green Flag, along with a bandstand, a bowling green, sports pitches and a café.
Find it on Google Maps : Kingsway Park
Annesley Old Church
Just south of Kirkby, next to Annesley Hall, stand the Grade I listed remains of a fourteenth-century church linked to Mary Chaworth, whom Byron fell for as a young man. Heritage Lottery money helped make it safe for visitors by 2012.
Find it on Google Maps : Annesley Old ChurchFinding Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Kirkby is roughly a 15 minute drive from our base on Sandy Lane. For planning matters the council to contact is Ashfield District, not Mansfield.
Word from around the town
What homeowners across the Mansfield patch made of the work, in their own words.
"The back bedroom ceiling had a mark that came and went for two years and I'd stopped even noticing it. When Babet hit it turned into a proper leak overnight. They came out two days later, found a split flashing round the chimney - nowhere near where the stain was - and had it done in a morning. Showed me photos of the fault before and after. The quote and the invoice were the same number, which I'm told is rarer than it should be."
"Ours is one of the old colliery houses and the ridge had been shedding bits of mortar onto the path for months. I expected to be told we needed a new roof - the bloke next door had been quoted for exactly that by someone else. Instead they rebedded the ridge, refixed four tiles and told me the rest of the roof was fine for years yet. Charged a fraction of what I'd braced myself for."
"Water was streaming down the front of the house whenever it rained hard and I assumed the worst about the roof. Turned out the gutter had lost its fall and was tipping everything over the edge in one spot. They reset the brackets, sorted a joint, checked the gully at the bottom and were gone within a couple of hours. Also pointed out a slate that wants watching next year rather than fixing now - appreciated that."
"Bought a 1900s terrace near the town centre and the survey flagged the chimney. Two other firms quoted to take it down entirely. These lads went up, told me the stack itself was sound and it just needed repointing with the right mortar, new flaunching and a cap on the dead flue. Three years on the chimney breast is bone dry. Kept the chimney, saved about two grand."
"The extension roof had ponded for years and every couple of winters someone would patch it and it would come back. They were the first to explain the actual problem - no fall on the deck - and quoted to sort that rather than just laying another layer of felt over it. New rubber roof, water actually runs off it now. You get told the truth, which is worth paying for on its own."
Been a customer?
A short review is the most useful thing you can give a local firm - it tells the next household in Mansfield with a dripping ceiling who they can trust with it.
Areas we cover
Here's every town and village we cover around Mansfield. Pick one to read about the roofs we work on there.
Old felt on your Kirkby extension or garage?
Get a free flat roof survey. We'll find out whether it needs a repair, an overlay or a full strip, show you photos, and give you a fixed written price first.