EPDM (rubber) roof

We ordered the rubber for the upstairs roof in December, but only now in a position to fit it.

Last week, on the Wednesday, we noticed that some clear weather was coming in for the weekend and decided we should take advantage and complete the upstairs roof. We had a few final things to order and prep.

On Saturday morning we arrived at 8am. We were not quite as prepared as we usually are, as I had been in London for the previous few days with work. We had to move 24 insulation boards up to the lower roof, move 150kg of rubber (thankfully split in two) and more time consumingly - dry the roof! We used a brush, then towels, then industrial wipes and then let the sun dry of any residue - it is critical no moisture is trapped.

The first step was to lay the insulation. I had calculated exactly how the boards would lie and the optimum pattern to minimise waste and cutting.

The insulation is Kingspan R27, which is designed for flat roofs/warm roof build ups. This is tissue faced to ensure it can be adhered to the VCL and the rubber. Also, having spoken to a few different roofing companies, the consensus was very much that mechanically adhered systems are less popular now with the advance in adhered systems.

1.5mm Firestone EPDM (bitumen faced insulation is not being used btw)

And so we began...

To stick the insulation to the roof, we used Instastik for Roofing. It comes with a special gun to apply - each can does about 14m2.

Once we laid all the insulation, we then prepared the rubber. Listing it up the final stage onto the roof was...challenging to say the least, but we managed! We laid the rubber out over the roof and went for lunch. This allowed it to relax, as per installation guidelines, and get warmed up to make it slightly more flexible. 

Ready to stick!

We have already laid a small amount of EPDM on the terrace, so were fairly confident on how to lay the rubber. We just had to take our time and make sure the contact adhesive was properly 'flashed off' before rolling the rubber.

We finished off laying the main part of the roof and retired at half 7 for a good nights rest. The weather forecast indicated 50mph winds due on Monday, so we were back bright and early on Sunday to finish the detailing. 

Because of the exposed location, we have fitted mechanical fixings round the perimeter of the roof (RUSS strips). These are screwed into the roof/joists and bonded to the rubber. 

RUSS strips

We managed to get two of the most expose edges complete, but need to finish the fascia on one gable (we need to put up scaffolding) and get the gutter trims ordered for the lower edge. 

All in all, we're pretty pleased with the resulted. No major creases anywhere and very few bubbles on the rubber, jsut a couple of very small ones. The edge detail looks great and no loose edges. As I write this, we're at the end of a day with very strong winds from ENE and nothing has moved :)

So, 104m2 of rubber laid - only 200m2 left downstairs....oh joy!