Can Leadwork Be Used on Modern Homes?

Modern roof coverings are made to repeat. Concrete tiles interlock, ridge and verge systems clip on, and a plain slope goes up quickly. The trouble starts at the edges, where the roof runs into something upright. Those junctions are never the same twice, and a factory part cannot always be made for them.

What does lead do that other materials cannot?

It bends cold, takes the shape of whatever it is pressed against, and stays that way. A roofer can dress it into the profile of an interlocking tile, fold it round a corner and tuck it into a groove cut in brick. It is heavy enough to stay put in the wind and soft enough to be worked on site, with simple hand tools, to fit a wall that is a few millimetres out of true.

That mix of weight, flexibility and long life explains why lead is still specified. Royston Lead's brochure puts its Code 4 sheet to work on soakers, flashings, valleys and dormers, so a single material can cover several jobs on the same house. That adaptability is why it still turns up beside factory-made parts on streets of recent houses.

Look at the roofline of a recent estate house and you can find lead without climbing a ladder. It sits at the points where water would otherwise get in.

Which parts of a new house carry lead?

Chimney stacks are the first. Water running down a slope meets the stack, so the stack needs flashings round its base, a back gutter on the uphill side and aprons at the front. Our pages on the chimney apron flashing and the chimney back gutter describe those parts.

Abutments come next. That is the line where a slope butts up to masonry, as it does beside an extension or a taller neighbour. Any new extension to an older house adds one, and every one needs its own run of lead. Dormers have cheeks, a flat or pitched top and small valleys to line, and the cheeks and sills are very often lead. Bay windows with small roofs, porches and flat roofs between two pitches complete the picture.

New builds also use soakers, the small folded pieces slid in between each tile course at a wall. Soakers are one of the oldest ways of keeping a slope tight against masonry, and they are still made from lead.

Lead does not replace new products. It finishes them. A dry-fix verge keeps rain out of a gable end without mortar, and a dry ridge holds its tiles down with clips and screws, but neither one deals with a wall at the side of a slope.

Can lead be combined with dry-fix and concrete tiles?

Yes, and it is done every day. The lead goes in as a flashing or soaker, dressed over the tile profile and tucked into the wall, while the dry-fix parts take care of the ridge and verge. The two systems work together. A good fit means the lead lies flat on the tile and ends cleanly at the wall, with no gap for wind to lift it.

What matters is that the lead is the right weight for the position. A flashing on an exposed gable needs more substance than a soaker hidden deep in a slope. Our page on lead codes lists each weight and what it is used for.

If you own a newer house, the lead on it may be only a few years old, but it still deserves a look. New estates are built at speed and the detail at a chimney or wall is where corners get cut.

What should I look for after moving in?

Check from the ground for flashings that stand away from the wall, gaps between lead and masonry, and sheet that has slipped down. Inside, look at the ceilings under chimneys and walls for stains after heavy rain. New estates are built at speed, and a flashing that looks neat on the day of the sale can still have an edge that was never pointed in properly.

If you find something, remember that a new home may still be covered by NHBC cover or by what the builder owes you. NHBC's pattern is the builder in years 1 and 2, then insurance for years 3 to 10, so check your paperwork first. For anything outside that, a survey comes first, we photograph the junctions for you, and one total price is put in writing. The full service is on our lead work page.