cliche flat roof horror

[cookerooby]

Recently moved into a 1933 'Carters' home ( does this mean I am banished for being too modern? ) and am building a flat roofed rear side extension that will be a continuation of garage which will retain its street side facade of small pitched roof with the flat roof emanating from just below the ridge tile height towards the rear of house. Am anxious to avoid the ' white painted fascia, guttering, bit of green felt showing' look on the rear elevation. Any ideas? Flat roof is unavoidable due to height and encroachment onto a feature stained glass window issues.

 

[Lime]

It depends on how much money you are prepared to spend.
I'd avoid modern flat roof material personally and use lead but that is expensive albeit it has a life span of a 100 + years put on properly.
It does look so much better than felt though.
Spend some money on some nice oak and good looking guttering instead of the white paint, facia and usual plastic.

I would also point out that a flat roof works much better if it has some slope towards the guttering.

I have watched the flat roof of a neighbour's garage, which was put on about 15 years ago and some distance away, from my upstairs window get more like an upstair pond every year.
It must be quite deep now as the birds bathing in it in hot weather cannot now be seen in the middle.
It always collected water from the start and I am amazed it has lasted so long.

The flat roof that once adorned nextdoor's extension has not faired so well.
It has been replace 3 time in the last 18 years.
However the last time they changed they replaced it with a sloping tiled roof.

 

[Roger H]

How about a green roof?

Usually your requisite insulation/roof structure, a proprietry waterproof membrane, a thin layer of growing medium or gravel and a plant like sedum. Lots on the web about them. I did a DIY one on the shed that looked very good from upstairs windows.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Lime - congratulations on your recent millenial post!

 

[Ian Bond]

Yes, there should be some sort of reward. Perhaps a discount at the PPUK shop?

Green roof sounds good (as long as you don't have to mow it )

Would it be OK up against an existing house wall though? A conventional tiled, pitched roof extension has lead soakers and flashing at the wall abutment - Is there a special green roof method?

 

[Roger H]

Flashing detail's much the same. Pitch on a green roof can be very low if required and there are a lot of flat roof examples. They don't require mowing as there is usually very little soil/substrate so appropriate plants e.g. sedum, grow but not lush vegetation. Maybe a tethered hamster would suffice. http://www.livingroofs.org

 

[Lime]

Lime - congratulations on your recent millenial post!

Thank you.

 

[chuckey]

At a guess the "ridge line" is about 9' above the deck (6' garage doors + a bit), so your new roof is going to be about this too. So standing in your garden, the rear elevation will look tall and if the gutter is at the back the the " little bit of green felt" will not be visible unless you are 200' away from it (hidden by gutter). If the gutter is at the side, when the man has fitted his bit of green felt over the side boards, nail on some plastic or lead stuff to hide it. Or a nicer way would be to take the rear elevation over the roof by a foot with a tile course and a stretcher course to cap it then flash the felt to this stubby wall with lead on the roof side. It would be nice to try and replicate/echo some of the main structures features, curved woodwork, exposed brickwork etc.
Frank