Looking for advice on lead flashing for conservatory please

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Hello,

I was hoping to get some advice about a leak in my conservatory. We moved into our house about six months ago and the conservatory started leaking shortly afterwards.

I've had a conservatory specialist come to fix the leak and after replacing some parts and removing some previous owner bodge-job silicone sealant, it is in better shape (but one outstanding leak from a mounting bar still to be sorted).

In addition, recently we had new leaks from the back of the conservatory where it meets the main house. I suspect this is mostly caused by the crummy lead flashing, which is again covered in various sealants, and looks like it has been fiddled with a lot over the years.

I've attached some photos to my profile.

//www.diynot.com/network/leakyconservatory/albums/19103

1. Picture taken from the end of the conservatory.
The lead is in two pieces, the white horizontal line going along most of the lead apart from the right end, is silicone, following the join between the two pieces of lead.
(Originally there was some other kind of sealant in here that has worn away over time, so the silicone was added recently as a temporary measure to seal up the gap.)
The lead with the white silicone line is along our living room wall, the wall to the left of the photo is the kitchen wall.

2. Photo showing left corner where it meets the kitchen wall and where worst leak is.
The lead doesn't extend around the corner, instead there is some sort of sealant (rubbery or bitumen stuff?) against the wall.

3. Photo showing the right hand side. Where the two pieces of lead meet hasn't been filled with silicone and there is a leak below this area in the conservatory from an air vent when it's raining and the wind is blowing hard. I guess it is getting through the lead at the failed join?

4. Picture of left corner from above, you can see the black sealant that has failed, under the temporary trail of silicone.

5. Photo of the edge along the kitchen wall. We get no leaks from this side and you can see the lead has been recessed into the wall along that edge. This is in contrast to the (leaking) lead against the living room wall. It doesn't appear to have been chased into the wall but rather stuck on and then sealed around the top with some black sealant.

I'm still employing the original chap who replaced parts of the conservatory to cure the remaining leak from the mounting bar. I've asked him to assist a roofer with his conservatory ladders, to repair the flashing.

Roofer hasn't seen it yet but after having the problem described has recommended replacing the lead flashing completely. Charge will be £250, will take half a day's work.

I wanted to get some advice from more experienced people:

I figure it would be simpler and cheaper to just reseal the two existing lead pieces, and add new lead flashing to go "around the corner" where we have the leak, with lead. But is that a good idea? Can you ever seal two lead pieces properly?

So instead, should it all be ripped off, chased into the wall properly, and continued around the corner?

Can any problems arise from chasing it into the wall? Why would it not have been done like that originally?

Is this a reasonable price, and is there anything else I should ask the roofer to look at?

Thank you
(Edit to add: the leaking lead flashing along the living room wall is about 2m in length).
 
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Wow, thanks for a quick reply!

So should it also extend "around the corner" somehow too? Is there any special knack to that?

The wall of the house is covered in rendering. Sorry for a naive question but how do they find the join in the brick work in which to chase in the lead without making a right mess of the rendering? Or should they just make good the render afterwards?
 
They won't have to find the brick work joints, they will use an angle gringer to cut a slot to fit the lead into. Let the rooerf have a look and make sure his £250 price is a fixed quote.

Andy
 
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the roofer hasn`t seen it so he`s given a ball park price for removing and reinstation of a cover flashing . I`ve seen the pics and I can see a ball ache cover flashing that needs to follow the profile of the cons. glazing bars ;) It looks too thin to be able to dress it any sense - I would want to fabricate sections and fit them possibly using some of the original flashing , as a cover flashing just hanging down the wall over the fabricated bits . That`s a bit more than half a day
 
Hmmm. Thanks for that. Roofer is not due to arrive until lunch time so I was wondering if he'd really have time to do a proper job of it in just half a day (less than four hours of daylight...). Maybe once he gets here and I explain that I want it doing properly (chased into the wall etc.) for a lasting solution, he'll decide he needs to come back another day.
 
He may be a perfectly competent roofer - but I would ask how he`s going to detail the lead over the glazing bars . If he does lead welding that`s fine ;) not all roofers do .
 
Do you mean make it go up and down neatly around the glazing bars, rather than the current frilly looking arrangement that's just sitting loosely along the glass and bars?
 
ive drawn on the pic to highlight
if A is where one piece of lead finishes and another begins, this could be a leak point, the lead should have been wider so there are no joins horizontaly. i think the fitter has lifted the wallplate to giver a better pitch and packed behind it with wood, but this has given the need for longer lead. also B looks to me like a white headed nail (polytop) that shouldnt be there. the whole top piece needs ripping off and chasing in with wider lead. anyone whos done leadwork can do this. as for beating the lead down, you could get it a lot better than that definately.
 
All, thanks for your replies! Based on what you've said and what I read elsewhere on the web I questioned the roofer quite a lot yesterday.

He said it was not possible to have a single piece of lead go "around the inner corner" in a L-shape. Rather he would have to put in two separate pieces to cover the inner corner. Problem was cutting the chase into the corner?

But with two separate pieces, I can't see how that will stop rain being driven into the gap in the middle of the "L".

Also I found various diagrams e.g. see p12 of this pdf
http://slateroofers.org/downloads/lead_flashing_guide.pdf
or p3 of this one:
http://www.wickes.co.uk/content/ebiz/wickes/resources/images/gil/22.pdf

which show how to work the lead into an inner corner to form an L shape. So surely, it *is* possible?

On the other hand, he agreed that it should be in one piece instead of two with the horizontal join.

He's going to send me a quote for replacing it all but I'm just not sure it'll work without the L-shaped piece in the inner corner?

Or am I wrong...?
 
Do you mean make it go up and down neatly around the glazing bars, rather than the current frilly looking arrangement that's just sitting loosely along the glass and bars?
indeed - leadwelding is the key to your job - it`s always good to get 2 or 3 quotes - see if you can find a leadwork specialist to quote too :idea:
 
With respect you are wasting a lot of time and energy here. Just get a leadworker to do the job and he will do it properly. You wouldnt get a butcher to bake you a cake, so why get a roofer to do your leadwork?
I appreciate that many roofers can make a perfectly good job of some leadwork but not many can leadburn.
 
My advice to you is to make sure the existing lead is removed, a new chase cut into the render and a new lead flashing fixed with hall clips (not lead plugs as these can damage the render if they are too big) into the chase and for it to finish just past the glazing bar on the side. Each piece of lead should be no more than 1.5 m in length. Then the apron flashing, to the back of the glazing, should be fixed in a chase with again hall clips and dressed down the face of the wall and onto the glass by at least 100mm. The ends of the apron should be returned with sufficient cover and should also be welded together so there would be no open sections which would allow water to ingress. All chases to the walls should be pointed with lead mastic to allow for movement without the pointing falling out. The mastic should be smoothed down to a neat finish then the lead should be coated on top and underneath with patination oil which will stop any staining on the glass when the lead becomes wet. I have to deal with these situations day in day out as these conservatory companies refuse to pay to have a leadworker flash their conservatories and allow the fitters to do it and the majority of them haven't got a clue what they are doing. The amount of call backs these companies must have it astounds me that they don't pay the extra to have it done properly in the first place. Yes we are expensive but there is a reason for that. We know what we are doing. £250 is cheap considering the materials will probably come to around £150. The picture you show of the corner where the mastic is on the lead this joint should of been welded to give it a chance.
Good luck and I hope this helps you.
 
nearly a year late :LOL: but a good effort - would it be worth my while coming out of retirement and up to the smoke with my burning torch ? I want scaffold to work off , not too much H+S bull and about 5 hrs. a day :mrgreen:
 

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