Commercial and industrial roofing across Canterbury and East Kent — flat roofs, industrial units, retail and listed commercial premises. Survey-first, out-of-hours scheduling, planned maintenance.
We carry out commercial roofing across Canterbury and East Kent — flat roofs, industrial units, retail and listed premises. We follow a survey-first asbestos approach, schedule around trading hours, and offer planned maintenance. Priced per project after survey. Call 0122 763 4920.
| Job | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Garage / outbuilding | £1,200–£2,000 | EPDM or GRP |
| Single-storey extension | £2,000–£4,000 | GRP for complex shapes |
| Large / wrap-around | £3,000–£6,000 | GRP seamless |
| Dormer flat roof | £800–£2,000 | Incl. lead junctions |
| Felt strip & deck repair | from £300 | Added if deck wet |
Worked example: A 12m² rear kitchen extension off Wincheap recovered in GRP with a soft-deck patch: about £2,600.
No deposit on small flat-roof repairs. Staged payment on larger recovers, materials on site first.
GRP and EPDM systems carry a 10-year workmanship guarantee and 20–35 year material life — far beyond the felt we replace.
If a fault appears in covered work, we come back and put it right. No quibbling, no re-charge.
Quiet, quick work confined to the flat area — minimal mess and usually done in a day. You do not need to stay home for external work - we just need power and access agreed in advance.
EPDM can go on in most conditions; GRP needs dry, so we watch the forecast. The Stour valley holds humidity, so drying times lengthen in autumn and moss returns fast on north-facing and tree-shaded roofs.
A failing flat roof is usually ageing felt that has cracked, blistered or split at a seam or upstand. Here is how to tell whether yours needs a patch or a recover.
When it is not the answer: If a modern GRP or EPDM roof has a single localised puncture, a patch is enough — you do not need a full recover. Read the full guide.
We locate the failure and check the deck and the falls beneath the covering.
Fixed price for patch or full recover in GRP or EPDM, deck repair included if needed.
Most flat roofs are recovered in one visit; larger areas booked in.
Old covering off, deck repaired, new system laid with proper falls to the outlet.
Site cleared and the roof guaranteed.
| Job | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| Garage / small outbuilding | 1 day |
| Single-storey extension | 1–2 days |
| Dormer flat roof | 1 day |
| Large wrap-around extension | 2–3 days |
GRP needs a dry spell to cure; we schedule around the forecast and never lay onto a wet deck.
Most flat roofs are low and reached from a tower; scaffold only where the flat roof is at height or wraps a two-storey return. Scaffold is specified for: first-floor or wrap-around flat roofs, or where edge protection is needed - always itemised in your written quote, never a hidden extra, and we arrange it.
Canterbury’s medieval core and the Victorian terraces off Wincheap and St Dunstan’s often mean tight frontages, shared rear access and conservation-street constraints, so scaffold and skip placement take planning. Pavement scaffold and skip permits go through Canterbury City Council; allow a few working days on streets like Palace Street, Burgate, St Dunstan’s Street where space is tight.
Commercial roofing covers a wider range of systems than domestic work. Flat commercial roofs are typically finished in single-ply membrane, EPDM or GRP for larger areas; industrial units carry profiled metal or box-profile sheeting; and Canterbury's older commercial buildings — shops, offices and pubs in the historic core — often have traditional pitched tiled or slated roofs with the same conservation constraints as listed homes.
We handle the full range: repairs and leak tracing, full re-covers, gutter-lining systems for large industrial gutters, rooflight replacement, and planned preventative maintenance. The right system depends on the building, its use, the roof area and the budget, which is why every commercial job starts with a survey rather than a standard price.
Asbestos is the critical safety issue on older commercial and industrial roofs. Materials containing asbestos were widely used in roofing — particularly cement sheeting and some flat-roof felts and coatings — right up to the year 2000, and disturbing them without proper precautions is both dangerous and illegal.
The law is clear: before any work that could disturb asbestos, a survey must establish whether it is present. Our approach is survey-first. Where a roof is suspected to contain asbestos, we do not disturb it — we identify it and refer licensed asbestos removal contractors to deal with it safely and legally before roofing work proceeds. This protects your staff, our team and your legal position as the duty-holder.
Canterbury's commercial roofing splits between the historic city centre and the industrial and retail areas on the edges. In the centre, the commercial stock is largely period — shops, offices, restaurants and pubs in listed and conservation-area buildings around the high street, Burgate and St Peter's Street. These need heritage-compliant roofing with matched clay tile, slate or lead and the appropriate consents, exactly as listed homes do, but with the added complexity of trading premises that can't simply close for the work.
On the outskirts, the picture is industrial and retail: the units and warehouses at the Wincheap and Sturry Road trading estates, retail sheds, and the light-industrial premises toward the ring road. These are the flat-roof, single-ply and profiled-metal jobs, and they are where the asbestos question most often arises, because many were built in the decades when asbestos cement sheeting was standard.
The University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church campuses add a further commercial dimension — large institutional buildings, halls of residence and academic blocks with substantial flat and pitched roof areas that need planned maintenance rather than reactive repair.
Across all of these, the commercial priority is minimising disruption. A leaking roof over a shop, a restaurant kitchen or an occupied office can't wait, but nor can the business easily close, so we schedule around trading hours, work out of hours where needed, and provide the documentation facilities managers and property owners need for their records and budgets.
The Health and Safety Executive requires that where asbestos may be present, a survey is carried out before work begins, and that any asbestos removal is handled by licensed contractors — disturbing asbestos-containing materials without controls is a criminal offence.
Source: Health and Safety Executive (HSE) asbestos regulations
Commercial roof problem or planned works? Get a survey-first quote around your trading hours.
📞 Call 0122 763 4920“Re-covered our warehouse flat roof in single-ply over a weekend so we lost no trading time. Surveyed for asbestos first.”
“Sorted a persistent leak over our restaurant kitchen, working evenings so we stayed open.”
“Planned maintenance across our office block roofs — inspections and gutter clearing keep failures away.”
Yes — we work on commercial and industrial roofs across Canterbury and East Kent, including flat roofs, industrial units, retail premises, offices and listed commercial buildings in the city centre. We handle repairs, replacement and planned maintenance.
Flat roofs in GRP, EPDM and single-ply membrane; industrial profiled metal and box-profile roofs; pitched roofs on period commercial buildings; and guttering, rooflights and gutter-lining systems. We survey and recommend the right system for the building and its use.
Yes. Many commercial and industrial roofs built before 2000 contain asbestos, and the law requires a survey before work that could disturb it. We follow a survey-first approach and refer licensed removal where asbestos is present — we never disturb suspected asbestos.
Yes — we can schedule commercial roofing around your opening hours, including evenings and weekends, to minimise disruption to trading or operations.
Yes — planned preventative maintenance, including regular inspections and gutter clearing, extends a commercial roof's life and avoids costly emergency failures. We arrange schedules to suit facilities managers.
Commercial work is priced per project after survey, as roof types and areas vary enormously. We provide detailed itemised quotes and can work to facilities and property-management budgeting requirements.
Yes — much of Canterbury's commercial core is listed or in a conservation area. We carry out heritage-compliant commercial roofing with matched materials and the necessary consents.
Survey-first, out-of-hours scheduling and planned maintenance for commercial premises. Call 0122 763 4920 for a project survey and itemised quote.
0122 763 4920