How Much Does it Cost to Replace a Garage Roof in the UK?
A leaking garage roof presents a massive danger to the structure of the garage itself and any items stored inside. Depending on the size of your garage and the material you choose, a full replacement can cost anywhere from £800 to over £3,000. Use our calculator above for an instant estimate, or read on to understand exactly where those costs come from.
1. Size of the Garage
The most obvious cost factor is the area of the roof. Roofers price jobs per square metre (m²).
- Single Garage: Usually around 3 metres by 5 metres (15m²).
- Double Garage: Usually around 6 metres by 5 metres (30m²).
2. Choosing the Right Roofing Material
The material you choose will heavily dictate the final invoice:
- Traditional Felt: The most common flat roofing material in the UK for older garages. It is applied in layers with hot bitumen or torched on. While cheap initially, it is prone to blistering in the sun and cracking in the winter. Life expectancy: 10–15 years.
- EPDM (Rubber Roofing): EPDM has rapidly replaced felt as the go-to flat roof product. It's often installed as one single, seamless sheet which drastically cuts down the risk of leaks at joints. It handles UK weather brilliantly. Life expectancy: 40–50 years.
- GRP (Fibreglass): Glass Reinforced Plastic is extremely tough (you can safely walk on it) and has no seams. It involves painting resins and laying fibreglass matting. It looks the smartest but requires dry weather to cure properly, and costs the most. Life expectancy: 30+ years.
3. The Danger (and Cost) of Asbestos
If your garage was built before the year 2000, there is a very high chance the corrugated roof sheets contain white asbestos (chrysotile).
You cannot just throw asbestos sheets into a standard skip. They must be carefully dismantled (without breaking them), double-wrapped in heavy-duty polythene, and transported to a licensed hazardous waste facility. Because of the PPE, breathing apparatus, and legal disposal fees required, removing an asbestos garage roof will easily add £750 to £2000 to your overall bill. Do not attempt to strip an asbestos roof yourself.
Do I Need Planning Permission?
In almost all cases in the UK, simply replacing the existing roof on a standalone garage falls under Permitted Development, meaning you do not need planning permission. However, if you are significantly increasing the height of the roof (for example, converting a flat roof into a pitched roof), you should check with your local council's planning portal.