Leadwork · Chelmsford & Essex
Lead Flashings, Valleysand Chimney WeatheringAcross Chelmsford & Essex
Most roof leaks are not tile leaks, they are lead leaks. Code-correct flashings formed and fixed properly at every junction, with a free inspection and a fixed written price before anything starts.
Seven years of hands-on Essex roofing · £1m public liability insured · Free inspections, fixed prices
7 years
Hands-on roofing experience
£1m
Public liability insurance
3 years
Workmanship guarantee on new roofs
Free
Quotes and roof inspections
Fixed
Written prices, never a day rate
The service
Where the Roof Stopsand the Detail Takes Over
Tiles and slates handle the open field of a roof. Everywhere the roof is interrupted, a chimney, an abutting wall, a valley between two slopes, a dormer cheek, a soil pipe, the covering cannot do the waterproofing on its own, and lead takes over. Get the lead right and those junctions outlive the covering. Get it wrong and the roof leaks at exactly those points, which is why the vast majority of leaks we trace end at a piece of lead rather than a piece of tile.
Leadwork covers chimney weathering (front apron, side step and cover flashings, back gutter), abutment flashings where an extension or lean-to roof meets a wall, lead valleys between slopes, soakers interleaved with slates and plain tiles, dormer and bay weathering, and small details like pipe collars and hip and ridge dressings.
Lead lasts an extremely long time when it is installed correctly. It fails when it is used in the wrong thickness, in lengths that are too long, or fixed so it cannot move. Lead expands and contracts a great deal with temperature, so a run that is too long or pinned at both ends will fatigue-crack along a fold, often within a few years, no matter how neat it looked on day one.
Who this is for
- Persistent leaks around a chimney stack or where an extension meets the house wall
- Cracked, split or lifted flashings on an otherwise sound roof
- Valleys that have been patched with mortar, sealant or bitumen paint by somebody else
- Dormer and bay roofs staining the ceiling or wall below
- Re-roofs and extensions needing all new details formed correctly from the start
The cost of waiting
Why Sealant NeverFixes a Lead Problem
The standard response to a failed flashing is a bead of mastic. It looks like a repair, it works for a season, and then the lead moves with the next temperature swing and the sealant lets go, usually invisibly, so water carries on entering while the roof looks like it has been dealt with.
Water entering at the highest point
Chimney and abutment leaks put water in at the top of the roof, so it travels the length of the slope inside the structure. The damage is spread across timbers and insulation well away from the actual fault.
Fatigue cracks that reopen
Over-long lead sheets split along the same fold repeatedly. Every patch is temporary because the underlying cause, thermal movement with nowhere to go, has not been addressed.
Mortar and sealant hiding the fault
Cement fillets and mastic beds crack and hold water behind them. They make the leak intermittent and harder to trace, which is why leaks like these often get 'fixed' three or four times.
Wall head and internal damage
Flashings at an abutment protect the wall junction. When they fail, water gets into the wall head and shows up as damp on internal walls and ceilings, taking plaster and decoration with it.
Common mistakes we get called in to undo
- Running mastic along the top edge of a flashing instead of chasing and wedging it into a mortar joint.
- Forming a cement fillet where a proper apron flashing should be.
- Using lead that is too thin for the exposure, or single lengths far longer than they should be.
- Fixing lead at both ends so thermal movement has nowhere to go, guaranteeing a split.
- Painting bitumen over a failing valley, which makes the eventual proper repair harder and messier.
Our process
Five Steps From First Call
to Guaranteed Finish
01
Free inspection
We get up to the detail and look at the lead itself, code, lap, fixing, condition and how it is terminated, rather than assuming the nearest visible crack is the source.
02
Trace the leak properly
Water travels. We work back from where it shows inside to where it is actually entering, checking the loft side where access allows, so the repair happens at the cause.
03
Fixed written quote
One price for the leadwork, including access, materials and removing whatever mortar or sealant has been applied previously. No day rates.
04
Form and fix the lead
Correct code lead, cut to sensible lengths with proper laps, dressed to shape, chased into a mortar joint and wedged, then pointed, with the covering re-laid over it in the right order.
05
Test, patinate and clear
We check the detail with water where practical, treat new lead to reduce staining on the surfaces below, clear the area and leave the junction watertight.
What you get
The Difference It Makes
to Your Property
Leaks fixed at the cause
Tracing water rather than guessing from the ceiling stain means you pay once for the right repair instead of three times for the wrong one.
Detail work that lasts
Correct code, correct lap and correct fixing lets lead move as it needs to, so the junction stops being the weak point of the roof.
No mastic dependency
Flashings are chased and wedged into the masonry, not stuck on the surface, so their life is not limited by a tube of sealant.
Protects everything downstream
Sound details keep water out of timbers, insulation, plaster and decoration, the items that actually make roof leaks expensive.
Neat, appropriate finish
Properly dressed lead sits tight to the brick and the covering, which matters on period properties where a cement fillet looks as wrong as it performs.
Insured and accountable
£1m public liability cover, a three-person team, and the owner on the tools, the person who quoted the detail is the person who forms it.
In detail
Lead Codes, Detailsand Where Each One Is Used
Lead is specified by code, its thickness, and by the length of individual pieces. Both are dictated by where it sits on the roof and how much movement and weather it takes. Here is how the main details are built.
Codes and sheet lengths
Lower codes suit soakers and small dressings; heavier codes are used for valleys, aprons, back gutters and anything taking significant water or exposure. Using thin lead in a valley is a false economy because it fatigues and splits at the fold within a handful of years.
Just as important is length. Lead expands and contracts significantly with temperature, so pieces are kept to recommended maximum lengths with laps between them, fixed along one edge and free elsewhere. A long, rigidly fixed sheet will crack in a straight line regardless of how good the material is, that single mistake accounts for a large share of the split flashings we replace.
Chimney weathering
A chimney stack in a pitched roof needs four separate details working together: a front apron on the downslope face, step and cover flashings up each side, and a back gutter on the upslope face where water is deflected around the stack. Soakers are interleaved with the covering on each side where the roof is slate or plain tile.
Each piece is chased into a mortar joint and secured with lead wedges before pointing. Where a previous repair has left a cement fillet, that comes off and gets replaced with proper flashings, a fillet cannot accommodate movement, so it always cracks and always leaks.
Valleys, abutments and dormers
Valleys carry the concentrated run-off of two slopes, so they are formed in heavier code lead over a valley board with tilting fillets, laid in sensible lengths with generous laps and proper welts at the edges. A valley is not a place for patching or for painted-on repairs.
Abutments, extensions, lean-tos and conservatory roofs meeting a house wall, use apron or step-and-cover flashings with the upstand carried high enough to work in driving rain. Dormers add cheeks, window heads and small awkward junctions, which is where soakers and carefully dressed corners earn their keep.
Residential, period and light commercial
On period Essex properties, correct leadwork is often both the performance answer and the appearance answer: sharp, well-dressed lead reads as original, while a cement fillet or a strip of flashband does not. On modern houses and extensions the same details apply, just usually in simpler geometry.
Leadwork rarely stands alone. It is normally part of a re-roof, an extension tie-in or a chimney job, and doing it at the same time as the surrounding covering means the lead is built into the roof in the correct sequence rather than added on top of finished work. See our pitched roof and chimney removal pages for the jobs it most often accompanies.
Common questions
Leadwork Questions
People Ask First
How much does lead flashing replacement cost?
It depends on the detail, a short apron flashing is a very different job to a full chimney weathering or a valley renewal, plus access and the amount of old mortar or sealant to remove. Inspections and quotes are free and the price is fixed in writing.
How long does leadwork take?
Most single details, such as a chimney re-flash or an abutment flashing, are short jobs measured in a day or so. Valley renewal takes longer because the covering either side has to be lifted and re-laid.
Why does my chimney keep leaking after repairs?
Almost always because the repair was sealant or a cement fillet rather than proper flashings, or because the lead is too long and keeps fatigue-cracking. Both need the detail forming correctly, not patching again.
How long does lead last?
Correctly specified and fixed lead is one of the longest-lived materials on a roof and routinely outlasts the covering around it. Poorly specified lead, too thin, too long, rigidly fixed, can fail within a few years.
Can you repair lead or does it need replacing?
Small damage can sometimes be lead-welded or dressed back, but where a piece has fatigue-cracked along a fold the cause is its length and fixing, so replacing it correctly is the only repair that holds.
Do you do leadwork on its own, or only with a roof job?
Both. We are regularly called out purely to trace a leak and renew a flashing, and we also form all the leadwork as part of re-roofs, extensions and chimney work.
Will new lead stain my brickwork or tiles?
New lead can wash a white carbonate stain onto surfaces below during its first weeks. We treat new work with a patination oil to reduce it.
Is the work guaranteed?
New roofs carry our written 3-year workmanship guarantee. Repairs, including standalone leadwork repairs, are not sold with a workmanship guarantee, and we will tell you which applies before you commit.
Which areas do you cover?
Chelmsford, Witham, Southend-on-Sea, Braintree, Maldon, Billericay, Basildon, Brentwood, Wickford, Rayleigh, South Woodham Ferrers and the surrounding Essex villages.
How do I pay?
Card, cash or bank transfer, against the fixed written price agreed beforehand.
Request your free quote
Tell us what is happening. We will arrange a free inspection and come back with a fixed written price, £1m public liability insured, no day rates.
Related work
Other Services That Often Go With This
Chimney Removals
Redundant stacks taken down and the roof made good and watertight.
View servicePitched Roofs
Tile and slate pitched roofing, from single-slope repairs to complete re-roofs.
View serviceRoofing
Full roof installations and replacements, stripped, felted, battened and finished to last.
View serviceLeadwork Across Essex
- Leadwork in Chelmsford
- Leadwork in Witham
- Leadwork in Southend-on-Sea
- Leadwork in Braintree
- Leadwork in Maldon
- Leadwork in Billericay
- Leadwork in Basildon
- Leadwork in Brentwood
- Leadwork in Wickford
- Leadwork in Rayleigh
- Leadwork in South Woodham Ferrers
More: roofers in Chelmsford & Essex · all roofing services · areas we cover · about the team · contact us
Find the Leak.Fix It at the Detail.
Free inspection, the leak traced to where water is actually entering, and a fixed written price for the leadwork that ends it. £1m insured.
Free inspections · Fixed written prices, never a day rate · £1m public liability insurance · 3-year workmanship guarantee on new roofs