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Alex Shepherd Roofing
Roofing service

Leadwork and lead flashing

Most roof leaks aren't holes in the roof. They're failures where the roof meets something else: a chimney, a wall, a valley, a bay. Those junctions are what lead is for, and lead done properly outlasts almost everything around it.

Done badly, or replaced with cement because it was quicker, those same junctions become the thing that ruins the ceiling below.

Covering
East Lancashire & Craven
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07840 031508

What we do

Chimney flashings,
including stepped flashing, back gutters and soakers
Valleys,
both open lead valleys and secret gutters
Abutment flashings
where a roof meets a wall, as on extensions and dormers
Box gutters and parapet gutters,
common on the terraces round here
Bay window roofs,
which on Victorian property are frequently lead
Dormer cheeks and tops
Soakers and cover flashings
on any junction
Lead slates
around pipes and vents

Why cement isn't a substitute

Walk round any terraced street locally and you'll see chimneys with a wedge of cement where the flashing should be. It's quick, it's cheap, and it fails.

Cement is rigid. Lead moves, and a roof moves constantly with temperature. A cement fillet cracks within a few years, then holds water in the crack rather than shedding it, which is worse than nothing at all. Once it's cracked, water runs behind it and straight down the chimney breast.

If you've got damp on a chimney breast, a cracked cement fillet is the most likely cause on this housing stock.

Doing lead properly

Lead is specified by code, from Code 3 up to Code 8, which is simply how thick the sheet is. Heavier code goes where there's more exposure or more movement.

Two rules matter more than anything else, and both get broken constantly.

Lead has to be allowed to move.
Individual pieces have maximum lengths for exactly this reason. One long continuous run instead of properly lapped shorter pieces will split, because lead expands and contracts and something has to give.
It has to be fixed and dressed, not stuck.
Wedged into a raked joint, pointed, and dressed to shape with the right tools. Mastic holding lead in place means it was fitted by somebody in a hurry.

Signs your leadwork has failed

  • Damp on a chimney breast, particularly after driving rain
  • Staining down an internal wall where an extension meets the house
  • Visible cracks in cement fillets around a chimney or abutment
  • Lead that's lifted, rippled, or split along its length
  • Water in the room below a bay window
  • Green or white staining on a wall beneath a flashing
Common questions

The things people ask us

Longer than most roofs. Properly fitted lead on a chimney will outlive the covering around it, which is why it's worth doing once rather than three times in cement.

Splits can sometimes be lead-welded, and a lifted flashing can be re-dressed and re-fixed. If it's split because it was one long piece with nowhere to move, it needs replacing correctly or it'll do exactly the same thing again.

Surface oxidation, and it's normal. It's the lead protecting itself. It's not a fault and it doesn't need cleaning off.

Realistically yes. Anyone proposing to re-flash a stack off a ladder is taking a risk with their own safety and with the quality of the work, because you can't dress lead properly one-handed.

Reviews

What people said about the work

Read the reviews, then ring us and see if we match up.

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