Felt is a widely-used roofing material for flat roofs. It’s usually found on shed and garage roofs.
Felt used to be laid on roofs using hot bitumen. This procedure was time-consuming and produced roofs that weren’t particularly long-lasting. Now torch-on felt is the product to use. You lay it in sheets using a blow torch to make one side sticky and put multiple sheets on.
Lots of people opt to use felt to cover their flat roofs due to the fact that it’s budget-friendly and lightweight. To help you work out if felt is the best roofing material for you, we have made a list of its benefits and drawbacks.
Benefits
Light
An advantage to felt is that it doesn’t weigh very much. This means that it is appropriate for smaller, weaker buildings like sheds, as well as stronger structures.
Affordable
Another plus to felt is that it’s budget friendly. It’s significantly cheaper than other roofing products like asphalt, rubber, fibreglass and PVC.
Repairable
Felt is also desirable because it’s repairable. If it ends up getting worn or torn, a brand-new felt patch can be torched over the damaged part.
Versatile
A big benefit to felt is that it’s versatile. It can be cut or joined together to fit any shape or size of roof. It’s also available in many different colours, including green, brown, purple and grey.
Drawbacks
Short life expectancy
Felt has a fairly short life expectancy compared with other roofing products. Felt roofs generally last about 10 years, whereas asphalt, rubber, fibreglass and PVC can last for more than 25 years.
Not particularly weather-resistant
Felt can get damaged by the weather. In hot temperatures it can get soft and warp out of shape. Winter can make it fragile and prolonged sunshine will cause it to fade and deteriorate.
Doesn’t repair well
Although felt is repairable, the results can look irregular. So while you can keep your roof water resistant by torching patches over repairs, it will look better if you spend more money and get the whole thing redone.
So felt has numerous benefits and drawbacks. If you’d like to fit a felt flat roof, fill in our online form. We’ll put you in touch with up to 4 roofers in your local area.