Haverhill Roofers fits and repairs lead flashings, valleys and soakers for homeowners in Clare and the villages nearby.
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Lead is the standard material for sealing the joints where your roof meets a chimney, a wall, a dormer or another roof slope. Step flashings climb the side of a chimney in a staircase pattern. The front apron covers the low side. Soakers slot in under each tile or slate alongside the flashing. Valley linings channel water from the junction of two roof slopes safely to the gutter. When any of these fail, the result is a leak - and the water rarely shows itself immediately at the point of entry.
A properly fitted lead flashing, in the correct code of lead for the application, is one of the most durable things on a roof. Code 4 lead (1.80 mm) on a chimney flashing can last 50 years or more in good conditions. The weak points are the mortar joints that hold it into the brickwork, the laps between sections, and any point where the lead has been bent too sharply and begins to crack from thermal fatigue over time.
Good lead work starts with removing the old flashing and cleaning out the raggle grooves - the horizontal mortar joints cut into the brickwork. The new lead is cut to size, dressed to the profile of the roof surface, folded into the raggle groove and secured with lead wedges at regular intervals. The groove is then pointed with fresh mortar, pressed firmly behind the lead. Laps between sections are made with an adequate overlap and fixed correctly so they cannot be lifted by wind.
On valleys, the tiles or slates either side are lifted, the old valley material is removed, the new lead is laid in the correct code and dressed carefully at the edges before the tiles are relaid. Cutting corners here - leaving old felt or lead beneath the new sheet, or failing to lift enough tiles to dress the edges properly - stores up problems.
A straightforward re-pointing of existing lead flashings around a chimney, where the lead is sound but the mortar has failed, typically costs £150 to £350. A full chimney re-flash - removing the old lead and fitting new Code 4 lead on all four sides - generally runs £500 to £1,200 depending on the stack size and the access method needed. Lead valley replacement on a standard house typically costs £450 to £950. These figures reflect honest UK market rates and will vary with access difficulty, the size of the area being worked on, and whether tile or slate work is needed alongside.
Most homeowners do nothing to their lead flashings between the day they are fitted and the day they fail. A small amount of straightforward maintenance extends their life considerably and avoids the cost of emergency repairs or internal damage from a leak that has been building undetected.
You do not need to go on the roof to spot early signs of trouble. With a pair of binoculars and a dry day, look at the line where each flashing sits against the brickwork. You are checking for: visible lifting or gaps between the lead and the wall, cracks or splits along the surface of the lead, mortar that looks crumbled or missing from the raggle joint, and any brown or grey sealant that was applied as a previous temporary repair. A flashing that has been sealed with mastic is telling you that something was wrong and has not been properly fixed.
Also check your valleys after heavy rain or autumn leaf fall. Leaves and debris pack into valleys and hold moisture against the lead, accelerating the corrosion of the underside. Water that cannot drain freely can also back up under the edges of the tiles.
Debris in a valley does not just sit there - it builds up season by season, retains moisture and eventually creates a dam that forces water sideways under the tiles. Clearing a valley does not mean walking on the lead; it means removing debris carefully using a soft brush or a gloved hand from the edge, or having a roofer do it properly during an annual check. Never use a pressure washer on lead - the force lifts the dressed edges and drives water behind the flashing.
Blocked gutters cause water to back up to the eaves and, in severe cases, to run back up under the lowest tiles. While this is not a lead work problem directly, it adds to the moisture burden on everything at low roof level, including any apron flashings and soakers near the eaves.
The mortar that points the raggle groove degrades faster than the lead it secures. On exposed properties, pointing that was sound five years ago may have started to open. A small hairline crack in the pointing lets water in behind the flashing and begins to work the lead loose. Catching this at the pointing stage - before the lead has started to lift - means a simple re-point rather than a full re-flash. A roofer can re-point the raggle groove around a chimney for a fraction of the cost of removing and replacing the lead.
If you notice the pointing around your chimney flashings has gone soft or is dropping out in pieces, have it looked at before the next winter. The work is straightforward when caught early.
Aerial and satellite fitters, solar panel installers and anyone else working at roof level can disturb lead flashings without realising it. Lead is soft and distorts under foot pressure if someone stands on it without boards. If any trade has been on your roof recently, it is worth checking the flashings visually, or asking a roofer to do so, especially around any chimney or dormer where someone would have needed to pass close to a flashing joint.
Similarly, after any repointing work to a chimney stack, check that the flashings have been re-dressed properly. It is not unheard of for builders to disturb step flashings while working on the brickwork above and not reset them correctly.
A damp patch on a chimney breast wall, a tide mark on a ceiling below a valley or dormer, or a smell of damp in a room that did not exist before are all worth investigating quickly. Water travels through a roof structure before it shows itself inside, which means a small visible patch often represents a leak that has been running for some time. Dealing with it promptly limits the damage to the roof structure, the insulation and the plaster.
Lead work does not sit in isolation. If the flashings on your chimney are failing, the ridge mortar on the same chimney may be in a similar condition. If a valley is deteriorating, the tiles around it are worth checking for slipped or cracked pieces. Haverhill Roofers carries out the full range of related work - tile and slate repairs, ridge re-bedding, and flat roof maintenance - for homeowners in Clare and the surrounding area including nearby Sudbury and Haverhill itself. If there is more than one issue to address, having it all looked at in one visit saves time and, if scaffold is involved, can save a significant amount of money.
Call us to arrange a roof inspection in Clare and we will give you a clear picture of what the lead work needs and what, if anything, else is worth attention at the same time.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
