It is a surprising fact that many flat roofs considered to be at the end of their useful life are not actually that bad! Just because they spring a leak, it doesn’t mean they have failed completely. In fact, our assessment is that most roofs are only in need of a little TLC, with 95% of the covering still in good order.

There is still a common assumption that flat roofs have a limited life, many would say of 10-20 years. This is a fallacy as there have been major advances in roofing technology over the past 30 years and many roofs are expected to perform for 30-50 years. Trouble is, manufacturers cannot guarantee them for that period, whilst much depends on the quality of the roofing contractor.

Unfortunately, many of those who assess them either don’t know enough about the roof in question to assess it fully, or are driven by the need to sell a new roof.

At Thornton Consulting, we have 40 years experience in the flat roofing industry behind us, as well as the latest in electronic test equipment for locating leaks and full assessment of the waterproofing layer. We also use infra red thermography to check the quality of insulation below.

This combination of test, experience and basic understanding of flat roofing has put us at the forefront of roof consulting in the UK. We are truly independent, having no ties to roofing suppliers and contractors. We are, however, associate members of NFRC – National Federation of Roofing Contractors – which sets stringent rules for membership.

Managing Director and principal consultant, Stephen Thornton is widely considered to be one of the UK’s top roofing consultants. He is currently on a committee in the process of setting up the Waterproofing Integrity Test Association – WITA – in association with NFRC, which will assess new members and set test criteria.

Stephen has also lectured widely on roof testing and has contributed technical articles on the subject.

So, if you are considering a new roof, why not give us a call? No hard sell, just technical excellence explained in layman’s terms.

01342 410508

We regret this service is not for small domestic roof situations but does relate to apartment blocks.

The ancient pitch caulking had been replaced with a modern polymer product but even that was letting in water at a few spots and causing problems below.

We employed a revolutionary vacuum test process to identify even the smallest problem points.

This is not our first Olympics involvement, however, as we tested the roof to Hotel Arts in Barcelona for the 1992 Games.  This was built to house the press corps covering the event.

Still out in front  23 years on!

Thornton Consulting was chosen by architects Foster and Partners to test the waterproofing membrane where it was cut through to form structural posts to take the panels.

It very quickly transpired, however, that just as important was to test the entire area of membrane for damage that might have occurred during this process. Given that conventional electronic processes would not work due to the build-up and slope of the roof, a completely new type of test had to be developed and proved in next to no time.  We at Thornton Consulting managed this in just two days, proved it then demonstrated it to the satisfaction of all interested parties over the next week.

The test, which combines a vacuum process with water containing surfactant and special fluorescent markers, is able to identify breaches the size of a pin-hole immediately.

This improves substantially on the electronic test, which relies  on a path of water from surface to the deck.  In this case, the roof was heavily insulated with hydrophobic (water-repellant) Rockwool boards, which act as a barrier to small quantities of water flowing across them and thus preventing the necessary circuit from being formed.

No leak problems have been reported in the 2 years since.  Refer to the article  by Nick Hall-Stride of the London Climate Change Agency (in his official report on the project, P11).

Bath Spa was a Millenium project that went wrong and opened 5 years late!  This was partly due to serious leaks from the whole steam floor in the fitness centre.  We solved that one too!  And we were employed to test the new waterproofing system to ensure the problems would not come back.

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