Is my grey corrugated garage roof asbestos?
It may be. A garage built or refurbished before 2000 is treated as containing asbestos until a laboratory sample shows otherwise.
Garage roof replacement in Swindon
A new covering for a flat, pitched or sheeted garage roof, and a careful plan for any corrugated sheets that may contain asbestos. You get survey photographs of your own garage and a written quote.
- Straight answers
- Photos of your own roof
- Written quote
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
Three garage roof questions before the survey
Can a leaking flat garage roof just be patched?
A patch suits a small split in felt that is otherwise sound. Soft boards, standing water or widespread cracking point to a full replacement.
What do garage roofs cost to replace?
National guides put a single flat garage roof at £700 to £1,000 and a pitched one at £2,500 to £4,500. The survey sets yours.
What a garage roof replacement typically costs
| Job | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Single flat garage roof, replaced | £700 to £1,000 |
| Double flat garage roof, replaced | £900 to £1,400 |
| Pitched garage roof, replaced | £2,500 to £4,500 |
| Garage roof re-felted | £1,000 to £2,000 |
| Asbestos sheet removal, single garage | £350 to £1,295 |
Guide numbers from national sources, not a quote from us. Size, covering, access and any asbestos sheets all shift the total, so your own price follows the survey photographs, on paper.
MyBuilder garage roof replacement and asbestos removal cost guides (updated August 2026); Checkatrade roof replacement guide (October 2026, ex VAT).
See all costsWhat we do on garage roofs
Flat garage roofsOld felt and tired boards stripped back, then a new deck, falls and a felt, EPDM or GRP covering laid for water to leave the roof.
Pitched and tiled garagesSlipped tiles, rotten battens and failed felt put right, or the whole slope relaid where the timbers underneath have given up.
Corrugated sheet roofsFibre-cement and box-profile steel sheets replaced with new sheeting, fixed through the correct purlins and sealed at every lap.
Asbestos cement sheetsTested first, then planned: how the sheets come off whole, how they are wrapped, and who carries them away with the paperwork.- Edges, gutters and abutmentsDrips, fascias, rainwater goods and the flashing where a garage meets the house wall, renewed with the roof so nothing old is left to fail.
Sheds, carports and outbuildingsFelt, sheet or membrane coverings on workshops, stores, carports and garden rooms that share a roof problem with the garage.
How a garage roof job runs
- Describe the garageTell us the size, the covering you can see, roughly when it was built, and whether the roof drips inside.
- Survey and testWe photograph the roof and deck, and arrange a laboratory sample first where the sheets could contain asbestos.
- Written quoteThe covering, the deck repairs, the edge details and the sheet disposal plan, covered by one written price.
- Replace and clearOld covering stripped, deck made good, new covering laid, and the drive and garden left tidy.
Garage roofs explained chapter by chapter
Six decisions that shape a garage roof job
From the sheet you suspect is asbestos to the felt that has outlived its welcome, the points that decide the job.
Q1
Could my garage roof contain asbestos?
The short answer
If the garage was built or refurbished before 2000, the Health and Safety Executive says to assume asbestos is present. Grey corrugated cement sheets are the usual suspect. Looks cannot settle it, so a small sample goes to a laboratory before anyone plans the work.
Plenty of Swindon garages date from the decades when the town spread outward with new estates, and many of them were roofed with grey corrugated cement sheets because the sheets were light, cheap and quick to fix. Asbestos was a common ingredient in those sheets. The Health and Safety Executive's advice for any building is blunt: where it went up or was refurbished before 2000, presume asbestos is somewhere in it.
What can the garage roof itself tell me about asbestos?
Age is the first clue. Next comes the material. Large grey sheets with a wavy profile, a chalky surface, patches of moss and edges that have crumbled away fit the pattern, as do sectional concrete garages with a sheeted roof bolted across the top. A flat roof of felt on boards is a different case: the felt itself is not the worry, though a sheet of old board product beneath a soffit can be. The Executive points out that insulating board sometimes sits in external soffits and is hard to tell apart from board that contains none.
Appearance proves nothing in either direction. Modern fibre-cement sheeting made without asbestos looks very similar to the older kind, which is why guessing helps nobody.
How is a garage roof sample tested for asbestos?
A sample is a small piece taken from a sheet by someone trained to do it, wetted, sealed in a bag and sent to a laboratory. The result comes back as a written report that names the fibre found or confirms that none was detected. Keep that report: it is useful to us, to whoever carries the waste and to a buyer if you ever sell the house. A national guide from MyBuilder, updated in August 2026, gives a basic survey starting around £50 and a fuller one at £200 to £245, so the test is a small part of the whole job.
What should I do with the garage roof until I know?
Leave the sheets alone. Do not drill them, brush off the moss, scrub them or use a pressure washer, because each of those breaks the surface and releases fibres. If a sheet has already cracked, keep children and pets away from the area below and read our guidance on a broken asbestos garage roof sheet. For the age rule and the testing step in detail, see how to tell whether your garage roof is asbestos.
An intact sheet that is left undisturbed is a much smaller problem than a disturbed one. The sensible order is to test, then decide, then plan the removal, and we put the test result in front of you before the quote is written.
Q2
What does a garage roof replacement cost?
The short answer
National guides put a single flat garage roof at £700 to £1,000, a double at £900 to £1,400 and a pitched roof at £2,500 to £4,500. Asbestos sheets add removal and disposal, and a single garage's removal is guided at £350 to £1,295 on its own.
Garage roofs look like the cheap end of roofing, and sometimes they are. They also hide big differences, because a single flat roof of boards and felt is a different job from a double garage with a sheeted pitched roof and a lean-to on the side.
What does a garage roof replacement typically cost in the guides?
MyBuilder's garage roof guide, updated in August 2026, gives £700 to £1,000 for a single flat garage roof, £900 to £1,400 for a double and £2,500 to £4,500 for a pitched one. It prices felt at about £75 per m², GRP at about £125 per m² and EPDM at £70 to £100 per m². Checkatrade's October 2026 roof replacement guide puts a garage re-felt at £1,000 to £2,000, averaging £1,500.
How much does asbestos add to a garage roof bill?
If the sheets contain asbestos, removal and disposal join the bill. MyBuilder's asbestos guide puts a single garage roof at £350 to £1,295 and a double at £650 to £1,800, and a full garage removal at £1,100 to £3,750. Checkatrade budgets £950 to £3,750 for asbestos removal and disposal on a garage roof. The wide spread reflects what the job involves: the sheet count, whether they are intact, how easily they can be reached and how far the waste must travel.
Some guides include disposal and others leave it out, so compare like with like. Checkatrade's figures exclude VAT, so check whether any price you are given includes it.
What else moves a garage roof price?
Rot is the big unknown on a flat roof. Boards that have soaked up water for years need replacing, and new boards cost more than patching felt. Access matters too: a garage tucked down a side passage with no drive adds carrying time.
The size of the garage and the covering you pick set the rest. A pitched tiled roof costs more than a flat one for the simple reason that there is more roof, more timber and more material to carry. Our garage roof cost guide lays out the figures in more detail.
How much does it cost to put a new roof on a garage?
Building a new roof, rather than re-covering an old one, is priced as a building job. Turning a flat garage into a pitched one means new timbers as well as a covering, and a conversion adds insulation and airflow to the roof installation. Either may need building control approval. The guide figures above describe replacements, not new structures, so for this kind of work the price written up after our survey is the number to plan around.
When comparing quotes, check that each one names the covering, says whether new boards are included, states what happens to the old material and makes clear whether VAT is in the figure.
What it typically costs
- Flat roof, single garage£700 to £1,000
- Flat roof, double garage£900 to £1,400
- Garage roof re-felted£1,000 to £2,000
- Pitched garage roof£2,500 to £4,500
- Asbestos removal, single garage£350 to £1,295
- Asbestos survey, fuller report£200 to £245
Q3
Which covering suits my garage best?
The answer
Flat garages usually get felt, EPDM or GRP, each with a different cost and lifespan. Sheeted garages get new fibre-cement or box-profile steel sheets, and pitched garages get tiles or slates. The right choice depends on the shape of the roof, the deck beneath it and your budget.
Pick the covering to match the garage you have: its roof shape, its use and how long you want the result to last.
Which covering suits a flat garage roof?
Any of the three needs a sound deck beneath it. A flat garage roof is typically boarded over joists, and boards that sag, stain or feel soft underfoot are replaced rather than covered. The covering then needs a fall toward the gutter, since water that cannot leave will find a way in. Felt is the familiar choice and the lowest in cost to lay. Less puts a torch-on felt roof at 10 to 20 years, with a good job lasting toward the top of that range and a poor one failing sooner. EPDM, a synthetic rubber sheet, is laid in one piece with few seams, and GreenSpec gives it an expected service life of 20 to 30 years; Less puts it higher, and manufacturers' warranties of 20 to 25 years are common. GRP, a glass-reinforced plastic often called fibreglass, is laid wet on the deck and cures to a single hard shell. Less gives GRP 25 to 40 years. Our garage roof materials guide and the answer on felt or EPDM for a garage compare them side by side.
What replaces old sheets on a garage roof?
Where the garage has a low-pitched sheet roof, new sheets are the natural replacement. Fibre-cement sheeting made without asbestos is the modern equivalent of the old grey corrugated type. Box-profile steel suits longer spans and is quick to fix, though bare steel can drip with condensation unless it has an anti-condensation backing. We cover the options in our guides to fibre-cement roof sheets and box-profile steel sheets.
Sheets are lapped at their sides and ends, and the laps and fixings are where leaks begin, so the sealing and the number of fixings per sheet matter as much as the material.
How is a pitched garage roof renewed?
A garage with a tiled roof or a slate roof is repaired or relaid in the same way as a house roof. In our experience, the first thing worth checking is whether the battens and felt beneath are sound, since fresh tiles on rotten timber make a short-lived repair. If a flat garage owner wants a pitched look, the question becomes a building job rather than a re-covering, and the answer on turning a flat garage roof into a pitched one sets out what is involved. For the tiled side, see pitched garage roofs.
Are gutters, fascias and soffits replaced with the garage roof?
They should at least be looked at, and renewing them together is usually the sensible order. With the old covering off, a tired timber fascia can be swapped for uPVC, the soffit beneath closed in, and a new drip trim fitted so that water falls cleanly into the guttering. Leave the old roofline in place and a rotten fascia or a back-falling gutter can push water behind a brand new membrane. On an older garage, board under the eaves may be asbestos insulating board, and most removal of that needs a contractor licensed by the Health and Safety Executive, so it is tested before anyone cuts it. The answer on garage roof guttering covers the details.
Whatever the covering, the deck underneath decides how long it lasts. A quality membrane laid over soft boards fails as fast as a cheap one.
| Covering | Typical life | National guide cost | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Torch-on felt | 10 to 20 years | About £75 per m² | Small flat roofs on a tight budget |
| EPDM rubber | 20 to 30 years or more | £70 to £100 per m² | Flat roofs wanting few seams |
| GRP fibreglass | 25 to 40 years | About £125 per m² | Awkward shapes and heavy foot traffic |
| Box-profile steel | Set by product and backing | Priced on survey | Low-pitched sheeted garages |
Q4
How are old asbestos sheets taken away?
The short answer
Sound asbestos cement sheets are removed whole, dampened, wrapped and taken away as hazardous waste under a consignment note. The Health and Safety Executive treats careful removal of intact sheeting as non-licensed work. Badly broken sheets bring extra duties, including notifying the enforcing authority first.
Asbestos cement is a different animal from the loose, crumbling asbestos people picture. The fibres are locked into the cement, which is why a sheet left alone is a small risk. The danger comes from breaking the sheet, which is why the way it comes off matters more than anything else on the job.
How are intact asbestos cement garage sheets removed?
The Health and Safety Executive lists the removal of asbestos cement items such as roofing sheets as non-licensed work, provided the material is carefully handled and removed without breaking up. That includes sheets that have weathered but are not badly damaged. Whole sheets are unscrewed or unbolted rather than smashed, kept damp so that dust does not lift, lowered rather than dropped, then wrapped in heavy polythene and secured for transport. Workers wear the right protective clothing and the area below is cleared and sheeted.
What changes when garage sheets are broken or crumbling?
If a sheet is substantially damaged, or the method of removal would break it up, the work becomes notifiable non-licensed work. The employer must notify the relevant enforcing authority before the work begins, arrange medical examinations at least every three years for those doing it and keep health records for 40 years. Dropping an asbestos cement roof is one of the Executive's own examples. Our guides on what the law says about asbestos garage roof removal and the removal process step by step go through both routes.
Until the work is done, broken pieces on the ground or in the gutter are left where they lie and covered, not swept up with a brush.
Where does asbestos garage roof waste go?
Asbestos waste does not go in a general skip. At a domestic property, the contractor who produces or collects it must consign it and complete the consignment note as the waste producer. The firm carrying it away needs to be registered as a waste carrier, and the public register lets you check. Ask to see the registration, and keep your copy of the consignment note, which records where the waste went. Our answer on how asbestos waste is disposed of explains the trail from your garage to the tip.
Ask any firm you are considering to explain the removal method, the wrapping, the waste carrier and the paperwork you will receive.
How a sheet comes off matters more than what it is.
MythOld garage roof sheets can be broken up and put in a normal skip.
FactAsbestos cement is taken off whole, wrapped, and sent away as hazardous waste with a consignment note.
Q5
Does a new garage roof need approval?
The short answer
A repeat of the existing covering, tile for tile or sheet for sheet, is rarely a planning matter, yet listed status or an Article 4 direction can alter that. Building Regulations can still apply to some garage work, especially a conversion. Ask the council's building control team, or a registered approver, before work starts.
People often assume that a roof on a small outbuilding needs no thought about rules. For a plain re-cover that is largely right, but a few situations change the answer, and it is worth knowing which one you are in before the quote is signed.
Does a garage roof replacement need planning permission?
Re-laying the same type of covering seldom needs a planning application. Two cases need care. Listed status changes the picture: alterations that affect a listed house's character call for listed building consent, and that reach can include garages and other outbuildings in the grounds. An Article 4 direction removes some permitted development rights: Swindon's Railway Village has one, adopted in 1980, covering alterations and garden structures. If your garage stands in a conservation area, or you want a different look, check with Swindon Borough Council's planning team before changing the roof's appearance.
Anything that raises or reshapes the roof, such as a new pitch on a flat garage, is a design change rather than a re-cover, and the council is the one to ask about it.
Does a garage roof replacement need Building Regulations approval?
Simple re-covering of a detached garage is the sort of work that seldom triggers an application. A garage that is being converted into living space is another matter, because insulation, ventilation and moisture control for the roof then become building control questions. Our guides on garage roofs and Building Regulations and garage conversion roofs go through the triggers. If an application is needed, we explain it, and we deal with the Building Regulations notification ourselves.
The Planning Portal's re-roofing thresholds, under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof, are written for houses, so a freestanding garage is best settled with building control rather than assumed.
Who do I ask about garage roof approval in my area?
Swindon Borough Council runs its own building control team. In Wiltshire, ask Wiltshire Council's building control team. Vale of White Horse homes go through the shared Southvale service, Cotswold District has its own team, and West Berkshire is served by Building Control Solutions. A registered building control approver is the private route, a regime that began on 6 April 2024.
Do you replace garage block and commercial garage roofs?
Yes, alongside domestic garages. A row of lock-ups, a block owned by a landlord or a management company, and the sheeted roof of a commercial workshop are the same roofing problem on a larger scale. The first question is who owns the roof. A tenant renting one bay has no say over the block, and the Health and Safety Executive puts a duty to manage asbestos on whoever is responsible for non-domestic premises. The answer on garage block roofs and who repairs them sets out the responsibilities, and larger sheeted buildings come under our commercial roofing service. Get the owner's agreement in writing first.
If you are unsure which rule applies, send us the address and a photograph. We can say which questions to put to the council before you decide.
Check before you start
Simple re-covers rarely need consent, but a conversion, a listed building or an Article 4 area deserves a call first.
Q6
How long will a new garage roof last?
The answer
A flat garage roof is typically guided at 15 to 30 years overall, with the covering deciding where yours falls: felt at the shorter end, EPDM and GRP longer. The deck and the falls matter as much as the membrane, and our 10-year workmanship guarantee comes in writing.
Lifespan turns on how the roof is built, how it is used and whether anyone looks at it, so the guides give ranges rather than one figure.
How long do garage roof coverings last, according to the guides?
MyBuilder describes a flat roof as typically lasting between 15 and 30 years. Within that, torch-on felt is put at 10 to 20 years by Less, EPDM at 20 to 30 years by GreenSpec, and GRP at 25 to 40 years by Less. Treat these as typical spans rather than promises; a manufacturer's warranty is a separate matter from lifespan. Our answer on how long a garage roof lasts explains the differences by covering.
What cuts short the working life of a garage roof?
Standing water is the main enemy of a flat roof. The recommended design fall, quoted by IKO from BS 6229, is 1:40, so that the finished roof still achieves a minimum of 1:80 after tolerances and deflection. A roof laid dead level will pond however good the membrane. A leaf-clogged gutter, a branch scraping the surface and foot traffic on a membrane that was never meant for it all take their toll.
How do I look after a new garage roof?
Twice a year, clear leaves and debris from the surface and the gutter, and look for blisters, splits and lifted edges. That routine maintenance matters, because a small garage roof repair made early costs a fraction of one made after a winter of seepage. Our answer on repairing a felt garage roof explains what a patch can and cannot do.
Moss and lichen on a pitched or sheeted garage hold moisture against the covering. Soft brushing in dry weather is gentler than a pressure washer, and if the sheets might be asbestos cement, neither is safe until a test result is in.
What if a storm damages the garage roof?
Stay out from under any cracked or fallen section, and move the car or stored goods away from the drips only if that is safe. A lifted felt or EPDM roof can usually take a tarpaulin held down with weights along its edges, never nailed through, until a roofer arrives. Grey cement sheets are different. Assume they hold asbestos until a laboratory has said no: the Health and Safety Executive warns that these roofs are always fragile and cannot bear weight, so nobody climbs on them, nothing is fixed through them, and broken pieces are left where they fell rather than swept up. Removing sheets that have broken up becomes notifiable non-licensed work, as the removal chapter explains. Our emergency roof repairs service puts leaks and storm damage first and makes the roof safe before anything else. Take dated photographs before anything is moved, as your insurer will want to see the damage, and the answer on garage roofs and home insurance covers the claim side.
What guarantee comes with a garage roof, and what happens on the day?
Our work carries a 10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing. It covers what we did, not any part of the garage we did not touch. A single garage roof is a job measured in days, not weeks, weather allowing, and we leave the site clear and take the waste with us. If the contract was signed at your home, you have 14 days to cancel, and any start inside that window needs a request from you in writing, whether paper or email.
Keep the guarantee paperwork and a few photographs of the finished roof. They show what was done if a question ever comes up.
Garage roof guides, answers and options
Further reading on asbestos, coverings, costs, leaks and the odd roofs found on garages, sheds, carports and outbuildings.
Guides
- What should a new garage roof cost?
- Asbestos garage roof removal: what the law says
- What is the best material for a garage roof?
- Asbestos sheet removal: the process step by step
- Pitched garage roofs: tiles, slates and sheets
- Box profile roof sheets: profiles, backing and fixings
- Shed roof felt, shingles and sheets: choosing and fitting
- Why is my garage roof leaking?
- Garage conversion roofs
- Overcladding an asbestos roof: encapsulation and new sheets compared
- Do garage roofs come under the building regulations?
- Fibre-cement roof sheets: modern non-asbestos sheeting
Quick answers
- Is my garage roof made of asbestos?
- Does removing an asbestos garage roof need a licence?
- How much does an asbestos test cost for a garage roof?
- How long does a garage roof last?
- Felt or EPDM for a garage roof?
- Is a garage roof covered by home insurance?
- Broken asbestos garage roof sheet: what to do
- How long to replace a garage roof, start to finish?
- Can you replace a garage roof in winter?
- Concrete sectional garage roofs
- Why does a metal garage roof drip with condensation?
- How is asbestos from a garage roof disposed of?
- Can you turn a flat garage roof into a pitched one?
- Can a felt garage roof be repaired?
- Are felt shingles good for a shed?
- Do you need guttering on a garage roof?
- Can you put a skylight in a garage roof?
- Carport roof options
- Can I sell a house with an asbestos garage roof?
- Garage block roofs: who repairs them?
Garage roof FAQs
Can new sheets simply be fixed over sound asbestos ones?
Overcladding is sometimes discussed because it avoids disturbing the old sheets. It leaves the material in place, adds weight and brings its own fixing questions, so we set out the trade-offs in the survey and you decide.
My garage is attached to the house. Does that change the job?
It adds the junction with the house wall, or with an extension, where a lead or membrane upstand must be formed properly so that water cannot track in. A pitched garage roof can also meet the house roof in a valley, the internal angle where two slopes join, which needs its own lining. Both details are checked on the survey and covered in the written price.
Is there a grant for a new garage roof?
Almost never. The schemes listed on gov.uk are about keeping homes warm: the Warm Homes: Local Grant, for example, lets councils in England insulate homes and fit heating or solar panels for lower-income households, and an unheated garage is not part of that. A council may also choose to assist with repairs to a home, at times as a repayable loan, so Swindon Borough Council or your Wiltshire council is the one to ask for advice about the house itself.
How do I check a roofer before they touch my garage roof?
Felt, EPDM and tiles are everyday work for a roofer, while cement sheets call for a professional team trained in asbestos work rather than a specialist licence. Ask for photographs of your own garage roof, and for an asbestos test result before any price on old cement sheets. A customer should receive one written total price, the firm's trading address in writing and a written guarantee, plus the waste carrier registration and a copy of the consignment note where asbestos is taken away. Walk away from cash-only deals, doorstep pressure or a firm keen to start that afternoon. If things go wrong, Citizens Advice can refer you on to Trading Standards. Read real reviews on Google too, where you can find us.
Send a photo of the garage roof
Send a photograph of the garage roof from the ground, when the garage went up, as near as you can say, and where the drips appear. If the sheets are grey and corrugated, say so, and do not touch or clean them. We will arrange a survey and, where asbestos is possible, a laboratory sample before any price is written. We cover Swindon, Royal Wootton Bassett, Highworth and the Wiltshire villages, out to the Gloucestershire edge at Cirencester, South Cerney and Lechlade.
Ask us about your roof
Tell us what’s happening and we’ll call you back.
- Photos of what we find
- A written quote
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
Or call 01793 626096