Leadwork in Powys and Ceredigion

Lead is what keeps the water out where a roof changes direction or meets something else: a chimney, a wall, a dormer, a valley, a parapet. The Georgian townhouses of Brecon, Montgomery and Aberaeron and the Victorian villas of Llandrindod Wells carry a great deal of it, and most of the leaks in those buildings start where the lead has cracked, crept or been replaced with cement. Tell us where the water is coming in and we pass it to a roofer who works in lead.

What leadwork involves

Flashings and soakers

Stepped flashings up a chimney or wall, soakers under each course of slate, and a front apron: cut, dressed and wedged into the joints, then pointed. Code 4 for flashings, code 5 where the lead is walked on or takes a lot of water.

Valleys

An open lead valley carries the water from two slopes and is the hardest-working piece of lead on the house. It is laid in short lengths with laps so it can move, and a valley laid in one long piece will crack within a few winters.

Parapet and hidden gutters

The Georgian houses on the coast have gutters behind parapets that nobody sees until the ceiling below stains. Re-lining them in lead with proper drips and outlets is skilled work and stops a leak that no amount of roof repair will find.

Lead flat roofs and dormers

Bay windows, porches and dormer tops are often lead-covered, and a properly formed lead roof with welted joints and rolls lasts far longer than felt.

How it works through us

Describe where the leak shows and what the roof looks like above it. We pass it to one local roofer with leadwork experience, who quotes the job in writing. Free to use.

Standards

Leadwork is specified by code (thickness) and the Lead Sheet Training Academy publishes the sizes and fixing details a roofer should be working to. Ask which code is being used and why; a quote that says only "new lead flashings" is not a specification.