EPDM Rubber Roofing in Basingstoke
Roof repairs, new roofs and roofline work across north Hampshire. Free surveys, fixed written quotes, tidy workmanship.
Basingstoke Roofing Company fits EPDM rubber roofing across Basingstoke — garages, extensions, dormers and porches covered in a single sheet of synthetic rubber with no seams across the field. It is what we put on most flat roofs now, and on the estate-era felt this town is full of it is usually the obvious answer.
EPDM is not new — it has been on commercial roofs since the 1960s, and domestic products like Firestone RubberCover are the same material in thinner gauges. What changed is the price, now close enough to good felt that choosing felt on cost alone rarely makes sense.
What rubber does that the old felt never did
The felt on a 1970s Basingstoke garage is three layers bonded in bitumen, with a lap every metre or so. Every lap is a joint, every joint is a potential failure, and bitumen hardens with age until it can no longer take the movement the deck gives it in summer heat.
An EPDM membrane arrives cut to size, so on almost any domestic garage or extension there is one piece and no field joints at all. It stays flexible from roughly -40°C to +120°C, so it moves with the deck rather than cracking against it, and UV does not degrade it the way it destroys bitumen. The trade-off: it is single-ply, so puncture resistance depends on the deck under it.
What goes on the roof, in order
Deck
18mm OSB3 laid with a 2–3mm expansion gap. Chipboard is never re-used — it is why most of these roofs failed.
Firrings and fall
Tapered firrings give a genuine fall of at least 1:80 after deflection, so water leaves the roof rather than sitting on it.
Insulation, where it is a warm roof
PIR board above the deck over a vapour control layer, then an overlay board for the membrane. What Part L expects on a full replacement.
The membrane
A single 1.2mm EPDM sheet, water-based deck adhesive across the field and contact adhesive at perimeters and upstands.
Trims and outlets
Aluminium drip and gutter trims mechanically fixed, corners formed with preformed pieces, outlets bonded and clamped rather than sealed with mastic.
Upstands and terminations
Taken 150mm above finished roof level and closed under a lead or trim detail, never just stuck to a brick face.
What rubber roofing costs here
| Roof | Size guide | Fitted price |
|---|---|---|
| Porch or bay canopy | 3–6 m² | £650 – £1,200 |
| Single garage | 15–18 m² | £1,500 – £2,600 |
| Double garage | 30–36 m² | £2,500 – £4,300 |
| Kitchen or utility extension, cold deck | 18–25 m² | £1,900 – £3,400 |
| Extension as a warm roof with PIR | 18–25 m² | £2,600 – £4,600 |
| Dormer top and cheeks | 6–12 m² | £1,100 – £2,400 |
2026 installed prices including strip, disposal, new OSB3 deck where needed, trims and a gutter. Free survey, then a fixed written figure.
When we would talk you out of rubber
EPDM is not the right answer everywhere. A roof that gets walked on regularly — a balcony, a terrace, a route to something — is better in GRP, which takes foot traffic without a protective layer. Roofs with lots of small intersecting shapes, tight kerbs and multiple upstands take so many bonded corner details that GRP's wet-laid finish is neater and quicker, and it wraps a rooflight kerb in one continuous laminate.
The other limitation is appearance: EPDM is matt black and stays matt black. On a garage nobody looks at, irrelevant. Overlooked from a bedroom window, some people prefer grey GRP. Neither is a reason to put felt back on.
One thing we do not do is bond new rubber over old felt. It can work on a young, dry deck, but on a fifty-year-old garage it means covering a deck you have not seen — and the deck is the part that fails.
Garage roofs specifically
Decks, courts and prices for Basingstoke garages.
Systems compared
EPDM against GRP and felt on cost and lifespan.
Frequently asked questions
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