Leadwork
Leadworkers in this category carry out the sheet lead work on historic buildings: roofs and flats, valleys, gutters, flashings and soakers, plus ornamental items such as hoppers, finials and decorative rainwater heads. Lead has been used on significant buildings for centuries because, correctly detailed, it lasts a very long time – often over a hundred years. Most failures are not the material but the detailing: panels made too large, inadequate allowance for thermal movement, or a lack of ventilation beneath the boarding. Work commonly overlaps with roofing, stonework and rainwater goods on churches, country houses and civic buildings.
What this category covers
- Lead roofs, flats and parapet gutters
- Valleys, flashings, soakers and abutment details
- Ornamental lead: hoppers, finials and rainwater heads
- Church and ecclesiastical leadwork
- Repair and patching of existing lead
JH Building Restoration Ltd
JH Building Restoration Ltd is a heritage restoration and refurbishment contractor based ...
John Williams & Company (Contracting) Ltd
John Williams & Company (Contracting) Ltd is a family-run roofing firm trading ...
Karl Terry Roofing Contractors Ltd
Karl Terry Roofing Contractors Ltd is a traditional roofing firm from the ...
Old Stone & Timber Ltd
Old Stone & Timber restores, conserves and sympathetically renovates period and listed ...
Organic By Design
Organic By Design is a heritage building maintenance and repair contractor based ...
Temple Leadworks
Templeleadworks, trading as Temple Leadworks, is a roofing restoration and lead work ...
Getting leadwork detailed correctly
Panel size and code decide the lifespan. Lead expands and contracts substantially with temperature, so panels must be sized to the code (thickness) used and fixed to allow movement. Oversized bays are the single most common cause of splitting, and they usually fail long before the metal is worn out.
Ventilate beneath the lead. Warm, moist air reaching the underside condenses and corrodes the sheet from below – underside corrosion is a frequent cause of premature failure on re-covered roofs. A ventilated substructure and a suitable underlay are part of a proper specification.
Ask which code and which method. Milled lead to BS EN 12588 in the appropriate code, laid with welts, drips and rolls suited to the pitch and exposure, is the standard; sand-cast lead is used on high-status historic work where matching the original matters.
Consider security and access. Lead theft remains a real risk on churches and isolated buildings, and insurers frequently require marking, alarms or a coating; some jobs justify a substitute material where insurers refuse cover, which is a conversation to have before the specification is fixed.
Questions to ask
How long should a lead roof last?
Correctly specified and detailed leadwork routinely lasts a century or more. Premature failure is almost always caused by oversized panels that cannot accommodate thermal movement, inadequate fixings, or underside corrosion from lack of ventilation — not by the lead itself.
What is underside corrosion?
Corrosion of the lead's lower surface caused by warm moist air from inside the building condensing beneath the sheet. It can destroy a roof from below while the top surface still looks sound, and is prevented by ventilating the substructure and using a suitable underlay.
What is the difference between milled and sand-cast lead?
Milled lead is machine-rolled to a consistent thickness and is the normal choice for most work. Sand-cast lead is made by pouring molten lead onto a sand bed, giving a slightly irregular surface and texture that matches historic work; it is used where appearance on high-status buildings matters.
Directory information is provided to help visitors identify potentially relevant specialists and suppliers. Inclusion does not constitute a recommendation, approval or guarantee by Tuscan Foundry Products. Please check current services, credentials, availability and suitability directly with each business.