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Clarke Roofing recovered the main flat roof on a purpose-built block in Meads, built circa 1970. The felt had aged out and water was ponding across the timber deck. We overlaid it with a Bauder torch on system, levelled the low spots and re-established falls to the outlets, upgraded the parapet and abutment details, fitted three rooflights and repaired the mansard tiling and leadwork. The roof carries a minimum 20 year insurance backed manufacturer warranty.
Clarke Roofing recovered the main flat roof at Rustington Court, a purpose-built residential block in the Meads area of Eastbourne, and carried out the associated external repairs at the same time. The original covering had reached the end of its useful life, so we overlaid it with a Bauder torch on waterproofing system, corrected the areas where water had been sitting, upgraded the parapet and abutment details, fitted three new rooflights and repaired the adjoining mansard tiling and leadwork. The completed roof carries a minimum 20 year insurance backed manufacturer warranty, and no resident had to give us access to a single apartment.
Rustington Court was built circa 1970. Its main roof is a large flat area laid over a timber deck, framed by low perimeter parapets, with a pitched and tiled mansard roof running alongside it. It is the classic Sussex coast block of flats arrangement, and it fails in a classic way. Eastbourne is full of blocks of this era, and we work on them regularly alongside the older converted buildings such as Highmead Manor.
The felt covering had simply aged out. Water was getting in, and standing water had collected in low spots across the deck. Ponding is what finishes most flat roofs early, because water that never leaves the roof works on every joint until one gives. Repairs at that stage buy months rather than years, which is where a flat roof replacement becomes the cheaper decision.
The brief was to replace the flat roof covering with a high performance waterproofing system, stop the water ingress, and deal with the surrounding details that were feeding the problem rather than treat the field of the roof in isolation. The works covered six areas.
The waterproofing was specified as a Bauder build up, installed by a certified contractor so that the warranty stands behind the whole roof rather than the sheet alone.
Water leaves the roof now. The ponding areas were levelled and falls were re-established towards the rainwater outlets, so the roof drains rather than holds. That is the difference between a covering that lasts its design life and one that starts failing at the low points.
A 20 year warranty behind it. The system carries a minimum 20 year insurance backed manufacturer warranty covering materials, workmanship and consequential losses. For a managing agent, that is a document to put in front of leaseholders, not a verbal assurance.
Thermal performance improved. The design targeted an improved U value of 0.18 W/m²K, in line with current Building Regulations for this type of work. It is the same figure we worked to on the Bauder refurbishment at Eastbourne District General Hospital.
Edges and junctions dealt with, not left. The parapet upstands and perimeter abutments were upgraded, new GRP trims were fitted, and the defective Code 5 leadwork at the flat to pitched junctions was renewed. On a parapet roof these details, not the middle of the deck, are where leaks usually start.
Residents were left alone. The works were designed so that we needed no access to individual apartments or to the internal common areas at any point. Resident access stayed unimpeded throughout. On an occupied block that is a scheduling decision made before the scaffold goes up. We rebuilt two failing flat roofs at The Drive in Hove on the same basis, with residents living there throughout.
Clarke Roofing also handled the Building Regulations application directly and provided the certification on completion, so the client was not left chasing paperwork after the scaffold came down.
Also in Meads, we replaced a flat roof at St John's Meads C of E Primary School inside the summer holidays. Elsewhere in the town we have replaced failed flat roof areas at Eastbourne Crematorium and carried out a full roof and vertical tiling replacement on a seven-bedroom house on Baslow Road. Our flat roofing work across East Sussex runs from small repairs to refurbishments, new builds and green roofs.
We have been roofing across Eastbourne, East Sussex and the wider South East for over 70 years, now in our third generation, working for homeowners, managing agents, architects, local authorities and The National Trust. Alongside flat roofing we cover slating, clay and concrete tiling, lead, copper, zinc and cast iron work, heritage restoration and full construction as main contractor, for both domestic and commercial clients.
We are certified installers for Bauder and accredited by the NFRC, Competent Roofer, Constructionline Gold, CHAS, SafeContractor, TrustMark and the Lead Contractors Association, with ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 certification. New projects and re-roofs carry a minimum 10 year guarantee, and we ask for no deposit in advance. Read our client testimonials.
If a flat roof on a block you own or manage is leaking, ponding or simply past its age, we will survey it and tell you whether it needs recovering or replacing. Get in touch with our team or send us the details and we will arrange a survey.