What you need to know before you decide on having a EPDM roof or a green living roof.
EPDM Systems.
EPDM Roof.
A single ply membrane rubber roof that is a replacement for your old felt roof, purely for the protection of contents, looks, and of course a twenty year guarantee.
Techniques Green or LivingRoof.
As EPDM but instead of the normal ballast we replace the stones with a wonderful living planted area, this can be designed by us or by you, green roofs can be all green or can be planted with a range of colourful plants depending on your own wishes, many people ask us why we are so enthusiastic about living roofs, we always say it brings our work to life, something so simple as a few plants transforms what we all see as just a block of concrete into a realms of natural beauty.
Fibreglass Roof System.
Fibreglass Strands of glass fibre mat bonded together with a resin, can only be bonded to new decking or with Techniques composite panel. Roofs can be finished in a wide variety of colours unlike the EPDM that only comes in black. There are many benefits for the fibreglass roofs but also many down sides. If you are unsure what system you want or prefer then we can always advise you on what can be done or better still what would look good. After all this it is your home we are talking about and using the wrong system is like buying a car without a driving licence.
How many quotations should I get?
Many people say to get three quotations. We say get as many as you want, very often people are unsure of who to call or what they really want from companies so they tend to get all sorts of quotations, cheap ones to the rediculous. The problem here is that many times the quotes you get are for very differant things so its wise to make a list of excatly what you want them to quote for, so all the people you have tramping around your home will at some point be on the same page of the book.
You now will have the knowledge and all the prices to compare at this point, you can decide who you want to place an order with. However, so many companies pay commission to their sales staff, this is a good idea for the company as they don't have wage bills at the end of each week, but the salespeople have to earn a living, so they adopt the view that you will sign up there and then by hook or by crook or some other salesperson will take their money. So now you have high pressure sales. We have a much better system we deliver you the home owner with a full price and time scale on the day, we give you our best price the first time, we do not show off samples unless you ask to see them, we do not pay our sales people commission, we have found that one price only works very well. Feedback we get from our customers tells us that our positive approach and direct pricing system gives them confidence to place an order with Techniques, even if we are more expensive than some other quotations, this makes us a first choice when it comes to your roofing needs, after all its the quality you deserve at the price you can afford. :)
Green roof & Plants
Green roofing requires plants that have been specifically chosen to withstand the harsh roof environment from drought conditions, frost, snow, to our Cornish coastal sea winds etc. Our horticultural experts, who happen to be our main supplier of sedum plants, lead this field in the UK are able to offer a wide selection of plants which have been proven to withstand the worst effects of the British climate.
Sedums which are commonly known as Stonecrops are the core species for BHC green roof systems in the UK. They are a versatile and attractive ground cover plant belonging to the Crassulacaea family. Sedums are evergreen, self-generating, drought resistant and capable of with standing extremes of climate. They flower from early summer through to autumn in shades of pink, purple, yellow and white. Needing very little attention and no mowing or cutting back, they give excellent foliage colour and texture and are attractive to all kinds of insects and birds. Sedums are generally pest and disease free but, like most plants, can suffer from aphids, mealy bugs, thripsor and vine weevil which can be controlled by biological means.
Other succulents, grasses, herbaceous perennials and bulbs are also used depending on the project.
Young plug plants are available in a wide variety of species or can be grown to order.
What you need to know before you decide on having a EPDM roof or a green living roof.
