Garage Roof Replacement: what the job involves and who is registered to do it

How garage and shed roofs works

1. Check what the existing sheet is made of. Corrugated roofing on a garage built before 2000 is very often asbestos cement. It is not dangerous while it is sound and undisturbed, but breaking it up is regulated work, and this is a question to answer before anyone climbs on it.
2. Test the deck. A felt garage roof usually fails because the boards below it went soft years earlier. Standing on a spongy deck is both the diagnosis and the safety problem, so a quote should say whether the boarding is being renewed.
3. Pick a covering the span suits. A rubber membrane in one piece suits a small rectangular garage. A reinforced bitumen system suits an awkward one with several upstands. A box profile sheet suits a long open span where appearance matters less than shedding water.
4. Get the edges right. Outbuilding roofs almost always fail at the perimeter rather than in the field, so the drip trims, the upstand against the house wall and the flashing into the brickwork are where the money should go.
5. Deal with the water. A new garage roof with the old undersized gutter still on it will run down the wall in heavy rain. Replacing the rainwater goods at the same time is cheap while the access is there.

Insurance and paperwork

Common questions

Can I replace a garage roof myself?

Physically, often yes on a single-storey outbuilding. The two things that stop people are the deck condition, which is a working-at-height risk over a soft surface, and asbestos cement sheeting, which is regulated waste.

Does a garage roof need building regulations approval?

Replacing a covering like for like on a detached garage normally does not. Changing the structure, converting the garage into a room, or replacing more than a quarter of the covering of an attached garage can.

What is the longest lasting garage roof covering?

On a small simple roof, a single-piece rubber membrane laid on a sound new deck with proper trims is the option that most often reaches twenty years without attention. The deck below it matters as much as the sheet.

Registered contractors by region

• Registered roofers in the East Midlands postcode area
• Registered roofers in the East of England postcode area
• Registered roofers in the London postcode area
• Registered roofers in the North East postcode area
• Registered roofers in the North West postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Scotland postcode area
• Registered roofers in the South East postcode area
• Registered roofers in the South West postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Wales postcode area
• Registered roofers in the West Midlands postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Yorkshire and The Humber postcode area