Elizabeth Court Undergoes Single Ply Transformation

Elizabeth Court, built in 1976, is a sheltered housing scheme situated in a rural area of Dartford, which urgently needed a new roof. The original synthetic roofing tiles had exceeded their life expectancy and the building had been experiencing serious water ingress.

The client, Dartford Borough Council, wanted the new roof covering to modernise the ageing building and for the installation to cause as little disruption as possible to the Elizabeth Court residents. Aesthetics were also a priority, as most of the roofing areas are pitched at a 20° slope facing inwards towards the central courtyard.

Bauder’s Thermofol single ply membrane was specified for the new building’s 1,800m² roof because it is long lasting, visually appealing and allows for no physical penetrations of the roof, minimising disturbance to the residents below. Due to the building’s exposed location, robust wind uplift calculations were performed prior to the installation, ensuring that the new roof could resist the weather conditions it is likely to experience in its lifetime.

The installation began with the removal of the roofing tiles, followed by the stripping of the original decking and insulation. Roofing contractor, Breyer Roofing, then installed a new plywood deck along with the anthracite coloured PVC system, which incorporated welded roof profiles to give the appearance of a standing seam metal roof. Because the roofing areas are so visible, all aspects of the job were under a high level of scrutiny. The roof profiles had to be lined up perfectly along the hips and valleys of the roof, requiring a high degree of skill and workmanship with which Breyer Roofing well and truly delivered on.

The housing scheme remained open throughout the works, which did cause a logistical challenge for the project team, however all deliveries were timed as not to conflict with vehicles moving in and out of the facility. Despite the challenges encountered throughout the project, the work at Elizabeth Court was completed on time and to budget providing the client with a single ply roof of the absolute highest quality, transforming the building in terms of both appearance and performance.

The main contractor, Breyer Group PLC, stated their satisfaction with the finished result, “Elizabeth Court is a project that boasts top quality workmanship and roofing products, delivering real value to the residents and local community. The single ply roof truly serves as an industry benchmark for best practice with the roofing team demonstrating an extraordinary level of attention to detail when installing the Bauder system. We experienced various challenges during the project but all of them were solved promptly and efficiently with the client and their residents’ best interests in mind. The finished roof has made a significant visual impact on the building and most importantly offered a long lasting solution to the problems that had previously been occurring.”