Leaking roof

A friend has a leak through her roof. It is a 3-storey "town house" and acc ess is difficult, so we have not seen the source of the leak. She has recei ved an estimate from the only roofer who turned up. The estimate states tha t a weld on the leadwork has failed, so the leadwork will be resealed and t he whole area covered with bitumen (or as the roofer puts it, "bitchman"). I've never heard of bitumen (or "bitchman") being applied over leadwork, an d it seems to me that once the bitumen is applied there will be no way of t elling whether the leadwork has been sealed properly, or at all. Would anyone like to advise or comment, please?

Reply to
stvlcnc43
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Is it possible there's some confusion about the proposed repair between:

a. welding the lead - the "proper job" but one which requires more skill (far more than I've got - bearing in mind rooves burn!); and

b. hammering the lead flat and then covering it with bitumen backed flashband, with paint over that - the cheap job but not going to last?

Reply to
Robin

When I had to explain something to a customer about their roof-mounted kit, or the fabric of the building, I used to photograph it. Not merely to show them the pic on my phone but to email it to them so they could look at it properly.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Wright

If the diagnosis is correct (it sounds plausible), then she needs a plumber in the traditional sense of the word (lead worker), rather than someone who only knows how to lever the top of a tin of bitumen, as probably no bitumen is required.

Some roofers can do this sort of plumbing, some engage a plumber especially for the leadwork (and some just open a can of bitumen, or use flashband, both of which are to be avoided).

Lead typically has a life of around 70 years on roofs, and fails where repeated heating and cooling cycles in the sun cause it to crease, and fracture in cold weather, particularly larger pieces. (Fortunately, warm weather anneals it, or its life would be much less.) It is likely to need redressing into brickwork a couple of times over this period though, which again is due to movement when being heated and cooled.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

As has been said, a decent roofer will take pics of any problems and allow you to have them. So easy these days there's no excuse not to.

I'd say welding lead is uncommon. Soldering it being so easy. But unless pretty fancy, most joints are of an overlapped type to allow for expansion, etc. But repairing lead with gunge sort of defeats the whole point of it.

Leadwork is usually done by a specialist member of a roofing team. And that would apply to repairs too.

It's all too easy to slap on some gunge as a temporary repair - which can last for some time. Snag being some do just that but charge for a proper repair.

Sadly, with roofs often being inaccessible, cowboys are common.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Know anyone with a drone who can take piccies?

Reply to
Andy Burns

If it really is a joint which cannot be rolled or overlapped then, while soldering may be easier, the Lead Sheet Association deprecate it compared with welding ("burning"):

"Generally solder is only used for soldered dots or where lead welding or bossing is impracticable."

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And impracticable depends on the worker: watching someone weld a overhead joint was a memorable example of craftsmanship. But I've no idea what it cost.

Robin reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

Reply to
Robin

access is difficult, so we have not seen the source of the leak. She has r eceived an estimate from the only roofer who turned up. The estimate states that a weld on the leadwork has failed, so the leadwork will be resealed a nd the whole area covered with bitumen (or as the roofer puts it, "bitchman "). I've never heard of bitumen (or "bitchman") being applied over leadwork , and it seems to me that once the bitumen is applied there will be no way of telling whether the leadwork has been sealed properly, or at all.

Flashband is a good repair on most things. The problem with lead is it expands a lot in hot weather which causes crack s to appear if wrongly installed.

But used intelligently and following instructions flashband makes a repair that lasts for years.

Reply to
harry

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