Leadwork

Where lead is doing the real work

Step flashings and soakers at a chimney, a cover flashing against a rendered wall, a valley between two pitches, a secret gutter behind a parapet, the upstand around a roof window — these are the details that fail when someone has used a short strip of self-adhesive flashing as a substitute, or when an old lead sheet has finally fatigued and split.

Code, thickness and expansion

Lead has to be the right thickness for the size of the piece, and it has to be allowed to move. Over-long trays without expansion joints, or lead that has been dressed too thin over a sharp arris, will crack. We size and joint the work for the detail, rather than stretching a single sheet further than it should go.

Sandwiches, felt substitutes and honest repairs

A temporary flashing can buy time after a storm. It is not a lasting abutment. If a previous repair has layered bitumen, felt and a smear of mastic over a failed lead joint, the lasting job is usually to take that back and put a proper flashing back in. We will say when a short holding repair is justified and when it would only hide the fault.

Working with the rest of the roof

Leadwork is rarely a stand-alone curiosity. It sits with chimney pointing, with a new covering, or with a flat roof upstand. Quotes describe those junctions so you can see what is included.