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?

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?





--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

When I had to explain something to a customer about their roof-mounted
kit, or the fabric of the building, I used to photograph it. Not merely
to show them the pic on my phone but to email it to them so they could
look at it properly.

Bill

In article ,
Robin writes:
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?

If the diagnosis is correct (it sounds plausible), then she needs
a plumber in the traditional sense of the word (lead worker), rather
than someone who only knows how to lever the top of a tin of bitumen,
as probably no bitumen is required.

Some roofers can do this sort of plumbing, some engage a plumber
especially for the leadwork (and some just open a can of bitumen,
or use flashband, both of which are to be avoided).

Lead typically has a life of around 70 years on roofs, and fails
where repeated heating and cooling cycles in the sun cause it to
crease, and fracture in cold weather, particularly larger pieces.
(Fortunately, warm weather anneals it, or its life would be much
less.) It is likely to need redressing into brickwork a couple of
times over this period though, which again is due to movement when
being heated and cooled.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
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?

As has been said, a decent roofer will take pics of any problems and allow
you to have them. So easy these days there's no excuse not to.

I'd say welding lead is uncommon. Soldering it being so easy. But unless
pretty fancy, most joints are of an overlapped type to allow for
expansion, etc. But repairing lead with gunge sort of defeats the whole
point of it.

Leadwork is usually done by a specialist member of a roofing team. And
that would apply to repairs too.

It's all too easy to slap on some gunge as a temporary repair - which can
last for some time. Snag being some do just that but charge for a proper
repair.

Sadly, with roofs often being inaccessible, cowboys are common.

--
*Why isn't 11 pronounced onety one? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

wrote:

3-storey "town house" and access is difficult, so we have not seen
the source of the leak.

Know anyone with a drone who can take piccies?

On 30/08/2016 17:31, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:


I'd say welding lead is uncommon. Soldering it being so easy. But unless
pretty fancy, most joints are of an overlapped type to allow for
expansion, etc. But repairing lead with gunge sort of defeats the whole
point of it.

If it really is a joint which cannot be rolled or overlapped then, while
soldering may be easier, the Lead Sheet Association deprecate it
compared with welding ("burning"):

"Generally solder is only used for soldered dots or where lead welding
or bossing is impracticable."

http://leadsheet.co.uk/specification-sheets

And impracticable depends on the worker: watching someone weld a
overhead joint was a memorable example of craftsmanship. But I've no
idea what it cost.

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

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.