Maintaining shed and garage roofs

A leaky roof on a shed or garage is a headache for homeowners and the task of replacing what is usually a flat roof is costly and difficult for people to repair themselves. Flat roofs are renown for leaking in and if not addressed problems and damage escalate requiring even more remedial work to be carried out.

Most people choose to repair or replace the roof with felt as this is usually the cheapest option but in recent years as a wider variety of roofing materials have become available the options are more varied. Re-felting is still a popular option and is seen as a good, relatively cheap, solution to the problem of a leaking roof but the downside to using this material is that it deteriorates over time as it is affected by the elements and so it will probably need replacing in about ten years.

 A newer roofing material that many people are choosing is rubber roofing. The old felt is taken off and the wooden roof joists are check for rot before the sheets of rubberised material are glued to the stripped roof of the garage and edged appropriately to ensure it is watertight. This is inevitably a more expensive choice but the life of this type of roof is in excess of twenty-five years so for many people it will only need to be done once.