Garage roof replacement in Bognor Regis

The right garage roof covering depends on the shape, the deck, the budget and how long you plan to keep the building.

No single material suits every garage, and a reliable roofer explains the options instead of pushing one. The choice should follow the roof's shape, the state of the deck, your budget and how many years you expect to keep the building. Our guide to the best garage roof material goes through the decision in full; here are the main contenders and the quality points that separate a good job from a poor one.

2.1 Torch-on felt

Felt for flat roofs is bitumen membrane laid in layers, the top one melted onto the layer below with a gas torch. The cost guide Less, last updated March 2026, gives it a life of 10 to 20 years, adding that careful work can reach 20 years but a poor job might not last ten. The difference between those two outcomes is craftsmanship: how the laps are made, how the upstands are turned up the wall and how the edges are finished. Felt is familiar, easy to repair and sensible for a small, simple roof, which is why so many garages around Bognor still wear it.

2.2 EPDM and GRP

EPDM is a rubber membrane delivered as one large sheet, so a garage roof may have almost no joins to leak. GreenSpec lists 20 to 30 years as its expected service life, whereas Less quotes a longer range, which tells you that published lifespans vary and none is a promise. GRP is a fibreglass and resin laminate that Less puts at 25 to 40 years. It is formed in place and copes with awkward edges, but the deck must be dry and firm, because resin does not take to damp boards. Our spoke on EPDM garage roofs looks at the rubber option more closely.

2.3 Metal and profiled sheets

Some pitched and lean-to garages take profiled metal or coated sheets. They are light and quick to fix, but need the right fixings, correct laps and a plan for condensation underneath. Our comparison of felt against metal for a garage roof sets the trade-offs side by side, and the finish at every edge tells you who did the work with care. Weight and span matter as well. Heavy coverings need a deck and walls that can carry them, and a light, old garage may call for a lighter material than the one you first had in mind.

Whichever material wins, look past its name to the detail. Check the laps, the upstands against the wall and the trims along each edge. A neat edge that sends water cleanly into the gutter tells you the same hands paid attention to the parts you cannot see from the ground. We photograph those details when the job is finished, so you have a record of what sits under the finished surface.

Corrugated cement sheets were widely used on garages, sheds and outbuildings, and plenty of them are still in place. The Health and Safety Executive advises that if a building was built or refurbished before 2000, you should assume asbestos is present until it has been checked. We do not guess from the garden: we survey the sheets, photograph their markings and condition and tell you what we have found before the quote is written. The Victoria County History records interwar houses with asbestos walls on estates at Elmer and Middleton-on-Sea, a reminder of how common these materials once were on this coast, though it says nothing about any named house.

4.1 Is it asbestos cement?

Our guide on how to tell if a garage roof is asbestos lists what to look for, but only a sample analysed in a laboratory can confirm it. Do not drill, scrub, pressure-wash or break the sheets to find out. Asbestos cement is generally harmless while it stays whole and undisturbed, and the hazard comes from the dust released when it breaks up.

4.2 How the work is classed

HSE treats the careful removal of asbestos cement sheeting as non-licensed work, provided the material is handled and taken off without being broken up, and that includes sheets which are weathered but not otherwise substantially damaged. If the sheets are substantially damaged or have broken up, the work becomes notifiable non-licensed work: notice has to be given before it starts, with no minimum notice period, and health records are kept for 40 years. HSE guidance also calls asbestos cement roofs fragile, so nobody should walk on one, and large pieces are lowered to the ground, never dropped or sent down a rubble chute.

4.3 Waste and the new roof

HSE guidance on waste says to double-wrap and label it, use a lockable skip for the sheets and never mix it with ordinary waste. For household asbestos waste, the contractor completes the hazardous waste consignment note as the waste producer. The detail is in our spokes on asbestos garage roof removal, and once the sheets are gone the new roof goes on a deck that has been checked rather than assumed. Where the rafters or purlins under the old sheets have rotted, they are replaced at that stage, before the new covering goes anywhere near them.

Some owners ask whether the old sheets can simply be covered over. Overcladding leaves the asbestos in place; it is a separate decision with its own limits, and we do not want it chosen for convenience. Whichever route suits your garage, ask any contractor to explain in writing how the sheets will be handled, who will carry them away and where they will go. If a contractor cannot answer that, you have learned something useful before a single sheet is moved.

What you plan to do inside the garage affects the roof above it, so say so before the covering is chosen.

A garage roof is often asked to do more than keep rain off. Some garages become workshops, studios or gyms, and some are converted into living space. Others stay as they are, holding a car, a freezer and a lawnmower. Tell us the plan at the survey, because it changes what goes on the roof. Our guide to the roof of a garage conversion covers the main choices.

6.1 Insulation and condensation

Warm, damp air meeting a cold surface leaves water on it, and a garage ceiling or the underside of metal sheets is a cold surface. Condensation can look exactly like a leak, so we work out which one you have before replacing anything. Where insulation goes above or below a roof, ventilation has to be planned with it. If spray foam has been applied to a garage roof, the RICS consumer guide of March 2023 notes that incorrectly installed insulation can lead to dampness, and by November 2024 some lenders said they would not lend on homes with spray foam, while others assess case by case.

6.2 Rules, permission and wildlife

Re-covering a garage roof in matching materials is generally not development needing planning permission, though a listed building or an Article 4 area can differ, so check with Arun District Council's planning team or your own council. For Building Regulations, the Planning Portal says building control approval is normally not required while under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is affected. Ask your building control body about your own garage, and especially about any conversion. Bats and nesting birds are protected, and we check for roosts and nests before any stripping begins.

6.3 Looking after the new roof

Maintenance is cheap compared with replacement. Clear leaves and moss from the roof and gutters each autumn, keep an eye on the outlet and have the edges and upstands checked after a hard gale. We also replace roofs on commercial garage blocks, lock-ups and carports for landlords and managing agents. For the wider picture, see our flat roofing service, which covers extension and outbuilding roofs of the same kind. Ask what the new roof will be asked to carry later, such as solar panels or a rooflight, because upstands and falls are easier to plan before the covering is laid. A roof that is simply left alone for years is the one that tends to fail without warning.