EPDM rubber, GRP fibreglass, torch-on felt and single-ply, specified for the span and the traffic.
One tap, then a name and number. Tom calls you back within 1 working hour, Mon to Sat.
Tom calls you back himself. Not a call centre, not a sales rep. Usually within 1 working hour, Mon to Sat.
9.88/10
From 16 verified reviewsCheck it at source →
Google Guaranteed Screened by Google. Licence and insurance checked.
4.9/5
Verified member, independently listedCheck it at source →
Accreditations checked 9 August 2026. Every claim on this page links to where you can verify it.
More flat roofing in Stowmarket reaches us as an end-of-life replacement than as a repair, because IP14 holds a very large stock of 1990s pour-and-roll felt now arriving at the same age together. Combs Ford and the estates around it were built with attached and detached garages, and nearly every one has a felt deck. Add the single-storey rear extensions bolted onto those houses through the 80s and 90s, the box dormers cut into the 1930s semis along Bury Road and Ipswich Road, and the flat-roofed porches on the newer Cedars Park and Chilton Leys phases, and flat work takes a bigger share of our Stowmarket diary than of anywhere else we cover.
IP14 · Suffolk
Almost every flat roof we replace failed for one of three reasons: the wrong system for the span, no fall designed into the deck, or a detail at the upstand that was never going to work. The covering usually gets the blame.
Pour-and-roll felt splits at the upstand, not in the field, and on a Combs Ford garage the split runs along the wall abutment where the felt was turned up and held with a bead of mastic. Once that goes, water tracks across the top of the deck and the chipboard swells from the edge inwards. A single sheet of EPDM is our default replacement on those spans and will outlast the felt several times over on the same area. On the wider extension roofs out towards Onehouse and Stowupland we often specify torch-on in two layers instead, because the span is past a sensible sheet size. Mid-Suffolk exposure counts for more than people expect. With open arable on the fetch, a verge on the edge of Cedars Park takes real wind load, so trims are mechanically fixed and the perimeter is detailed before the field.
We lift a corner before quoting. The deck is what decides the job: chipboard that has been wet is scrap, and no covering laid over a soft deck will last regardless of the guarantee on the membrane. We check the falls, the outlets and the upstand heights, and if the original had no fall we build one in with tapered insulation or firrings rather than laying a new membrane into the same puddle.
Flat roofs fail at the edges, not in the middle. Upstands under 150mm, an outlet that sits proud of the finished level, a trim that was face-fixed through the membrane, an abutment dressed onto render instead of chased in. We detail the perimeter first and the field second, because the field is the easy part.
What moves the price. Price is driven by the deck condition, the insulation specification and the perimeter detail, not by the square metres alone. A quote that prices only the membrane area is a quote that has not looked at the roof.
| Postcodes | IP14 |
|---|---|
| County | Suffolk |
| Planning | Mid Suffolk District Council |
| Emergency | 24 hours, 7 days |
System reference
Tom has not photographed one of our own flat roofs yet, so these images illustrate the systems described above rather than our installations. Every photograph on the rest of the site, and all of /gallery, is our own work.
24 hours, 7 days
Active leak or storm damage right now? Stowmarket is roughly 25 minutes up the A14, so IP14 is inside the same-day survey area and storm call-outs are usually attended within two hours in daylight.
Verified reviews
Reproduced word for word from the Checkatrade profile. Job type, area and date on every one, so you can check them.
“Tommy and his team were excellent workers, they replaced my flat roof on my extension, removed spray foam from my loft, and replaced my roof with a new one, also releaded a chimney and removed a chimney. Very friendly team, cleaned up after themselves every day.”
“Within 3 days I had a new dry ridge system installed and a new tiled porch roof. I am very pleased with the work. The team were very professional, very friendly and explained how they planned to complete the work.”
“Responded quickly to my request, arrived to fix the problem early morning the day after my request. Dealt with it quickly and efficiently.”
Work booked through Checkatrade is backed by their £1,000 guarantee, T&Cs apply. See all 16 reviews.
How it works
Whether it is one slipped tile or a full re-roof.
Also in Stowmarket
Straight answers
Press the deck. If it gives underfoot, or a dip holds water for hours after rain, the boards have gone and no covering will rescue them. If the felt is otherwise intact and the split is a short run at one upstand, a repair is honest. On most IP14 garages built in the 1990s the deck has failed alongside the felt.
If the room below is heated, yes. Cold-deck extensions on the Combs Ford and Chilton Leys stock are where we find damp insulation and blackened joists, because condensation forms inside the build-up rather than coming through the covering. Moving insulation above the deck removes that, and it alters upstand heights, so it gets designed in at survey.
There is no single best. EPDM for most domestic garages, dormers and extensions; GRP where there is foot traffic or a crisp edge detail is wanted; torch-on felt on larger spans; single-ply on commercial decks. We recommend against the ones that do not suit your deck as clearly as we recommend the one that does.
A correctly specified EPDM or GRP roof on a sound deck should give 30 years or more. The failures we attend at 8 to 12 years are almost always a detailing or deck problem rather than the membrane wearing out.
Free, no obligation
Tell us what is going on. Tom calls you back within 1 working hour, Mon to Sat with honest advice and a fixed written quote. If it is a five-minute fix he will tell you that too.
Prefer to talk? 01473 200566 · 24-hour emergency line, seven days a week.
Two taps and a phone number. That is the whole form.
Tom calls you back himself. Not a call centre, not a sales rep. Usually within 1 working hour, Mon to Sat.
