Roofing

Balcony / flat roof surface

Anonymous user 28/02/2024 - 3.48 PM

Our balcony was covered in artificial turf by previous residents. This became extremely mouldy and dirty, so we removed it. The surface underneath is a hard, asphalt-grey substance (I don't know if it's actually asphalt or something else). This surface has tiny stones bedded in, some of which were swept up when we cleaned the balcony. The turf had been laid straight onto the roof, and I couldn't see evidence of it being attached to the roof in any way - if it was glued, I couldn't tell. The balcony has no roof. We would like to use to balcony, so I'm keep to know how best to use it - can we go ahead and sit on it as it is? Should we install something on top of the surface to protect it? Would some extra gravel suffice? We were thinking of having composite decking tiles laid over it, but a) these aren't easily available because of the lock down, and b) this would leave a small part of the roof uncovered - would this part need additional gravel? Could we re-lay another sheet of artificial turf directly on the surface, or would we need some kind of membrane or support underneath it? Because of the lockdown, we'd love to know what DIY solutions we could go for. We're happy doing the minimum with it for now, but if we need to do something to protect the surface, we will.