Leadwork
Lead is the oldest material on a modern roof and it is still there because nothing else does the job as well. It moves with the building instead of fighting it, it can be dressed by hand into a shape no other sheet material will take, and on a roof that is looked after it outlasts the tiles around it. What it will not forgive is being cut too thin, fixed too tight or run too long in one piece. Lead expands and contracts every day of its life, and a sheet that has no room to move will crack along a fold within a few winters. That is why the detail matters more than the material: the right code of lead for the exposure, the right length before a lap or a welt, the right clip and the right fall. Most of the failed leadwork Johnny is called to was not bad lead. It was good lead fitted in lengths that were too long, or dressed over a bed of mortar that gave it nowhere to go.
His own page is the only one on his site that names a standard: rolled lead sheets to comply with the BS EN 12588 standard.
Send a photo of it
Your town, your number, and a picture if you can get one.
Where the lead goes
- Flashing to parapet walls and chimney stacks
- Lead valleys
- Parapet Walls
- Leadsheet Roofs
- Lead side cheeks to dormers
- Leadbox gutters
- Chimney gutters
- Installation of lead slates for flue pipes that penetrate slate, tile or flat roofs
In his own words, from his own /specialistleadwork page.
Stepped flashings
Where a roof runs into a brick wall, the lead is let into the mortar courses in steps and wedged, then dressed down over the tiles. Done properly it is invisible from the ground and it is the single most common place a leak starts.
Valleys and box gutters
A valley carries the water off two roof slopes at once, so it moves more water than anything else up there. A box gutter behind a parapet does the same and has nowhere to overflow except inwards, which is why it gets checked on every leak job.
Codes and laps
Heavier lead for the exposed work, lighter for soakers, and a lap or a welt before the sheet gets long enough to tear itself. That is the whole craft, and it is why lead is priced by the detail rather than by the metre.
Recent jobs
Excellent service from Johnny and his team. Good communication and understanding on the initial survey and quote. Great work by his professional and courteous crew, with constant updates verbally and with photos as the work progressed. They made sure the site was clean and safe each evening and especially on the last day.
David Roulson
Where he works
TN9 · TN10 · TN11 · TN1 · TN2 · TN3 · TN4 · TN12 · ME19