By Chris Cooke, director, Prefix Systems.

The emergence of the solid roof market has been in response to the fact that there are over 2 million conservatories in the UK that are in urgent need of upgrade.

The replacement of a roof gifts homeowners the opportunity to re-ignite the enjoyment of an additional room all year round. And yet, we’re also seeing strong sales of new installations too as the glazing industry further moves into the realms of the single-story extension market.

While ‘warm roof’ design is accepted as the best standard for roof construction in the UK and indeed for local authority building inspectors, we’re seeing some adoption of timber cold roofs, which are already suffering from condensation nine months of the year (Google search ‘dew points’). Some of the cold roof samples we have are shocking too with the timber cassettes loosely fitting in between the rafters.

These ‘cold roofs’ are being marketed incorrectly as ‘warm roofs’. Simply Google ‘cold roof vs warm roof’ to check the roof you are being supplied is a true warm roof. Alternatively email us or tag us on social media and we’ll happily help out.

The solid roof replacement sector is still gathering pace and we’ve assisted several trade partners and consumers with our award-winning Warmroof, to replace a failing cold roof. The perils of these inferior roof types is considerable with the threat of condensation, emergence of mold and even rotting timbers over time. Surely as an industry we must focus on the supply of roofs that are ‘warm’ by definition and not just in name.

Because if we fail to do this, we are failing the trade and ultimately the consumer with roof solutions that could be deemed not fit for purpose.

So, if anyone’s in any doubt a ‘warm roof’ enjoys full insulation above the rafters and not just loosely in between as defined by the wider construction and roofing sectors. You have been warned!