On Tuesday, 30 August 2016 12:50:12 UTC+1, Robin wrote:
On 30/08/2016 11:19, wrote:
A friend has a leak through her roof. It is a 3-storey "town house" and access is difficult, so we have not seen the source of the leak. She has received 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 and 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.
Would anyone like to advise or comment, please?


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?


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

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