Any roofers here? Lead box join.

BennyC

BennyC

BennyC

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O/H is in a dispute with a builder over some poor workmanship on the roof of her extension due to a leak and the following remedial work.

There is a box join where the new single storey extension pitched roof meets against part of the existing build. Sections of lead flashing have been overlapped and there is actually a lip slight fall back towards the house which I'm sure is causing the water to pool and then find its way in and run over a steel and down a wall inside.

They added more lead and were liberal with some silicone and were confident this addressed the issue, though didn't test for leaks. We put the hose on the ridge yesterday to simulate a moderate amount of rain and low an behold, it still leaks. My O/H said she saw bubbling in the corner and you can see where silt is settling.

The builder has said fair enough if water was allowed to run down the roof, but "if aimed up at the tiles or directly at the flashing joins this isn't indicative of the conditions weather would present and not something the roof is designed to handle." My BS radar is dinging as in lashing wind and rain the side of the house and flashings will be getting soaked.

A third party assessed the roof prior to their attempt to fix it and indicated this box join needs lead welding, though I also think the incorrect fall (or dip) isn't helping.

We are confident that the workmen who carried this out besides being incredibly unreliable weren't suitably experienced or skilled to handle something like this.

Does anyone else here feel like they could comment or add value?

Thanks.

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I would say that it would need a welded joint in the bottom so that the whole lot is in one piece. I was a welder but not a roofer, but it does look like it was done by a DIYer. Get hem back or get a proper roofer to do it and the bill the other company
 
Unfortunately roofers are the worst of all trades. He's right in what he is saying but nothing to stop you firing the hose higher so it falls down...
 
I'm not a roofer but shouldnt those soakers going up the roof be under the tiles. But from the pictures you have posted it looks like they have run a length of flashing up the roof and tried to dress it half arsed, adding silicone.
 
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dLockers said:
Unfortunately roofers are the worst of all trades. He's right in what he is saying but nothing to stop you firing the hose higher so it falls down...
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The hose was only used facing downwards from the ridge. I agree, spraying water up a roof isn't going to simulate rainfall fairly. Even a strong sidewards wind will drive some water in but not to the same degree a hose would.

There is a crack in the pebbledash worth noting just above the box join but we think this is more coincidence rather than a root cause.
 
Lean said:
I'm not a roofer but shouldnt those soakers going up the roof be under the tiles. But from the pictures you have posted it looks like they have run a length of flashing up the roof and tried to dress it half arsed, adding silicone.
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YES
on tiles it should be soakers :)
 
Roofers do seem to be a special breed. We've had numerous issues with them. I think its something to do with the fact most people can't actually look at their roof effectively and its much harder to tell how good a job they have done if its not obviously leaking. We had some fixes done and from the time they were done until it started leaking there was very little rain throughout the summer. Last years drought. Come winter and its ******* it down the roof is leaking worse than before and lo and behold the roofer isn't contactable. Gone out of business or changed the name etc.

Next one we got in charged us £900 for one guy to turn up for about 2 hours, not do what they said they would do and still not fix the leak. Had to threaten trading standards before he would give me my money back. Didn't even replace the broken tile up there, just stuck a load of black mastic in the break. Absolutely criminal.
 
BennyC said:
O/H is in a dispute with a builder over some poor workmanship on the roof of her extension due to a leak and the following remedial work.

There is a box join where the new single storey extension pitched roof meets against part of the existing build. Sections of lead flashing have been overlapped and there is actually a lip slight fall back towards the house which I'm sure is causing the water to pool and then find its way in and run over a steel and down a wall inside.

They added more lead and were liberal with some silicone and were confident this addressed the issue, though didn't test for leaks. We put the hose on the ridge yesterday to simulate a moderate amount of rain and low an behold, it still leaks. My O/H said she saw bubbling in the corner and you can see where silt is settling.

The builder has said fair enough if water was allowed to run down the roof, but "if aimed up at the tiles or directly at the flashing joins this isn't indicative of the conditions weather would present and not something the roof is designed to handle." My BS radar is dinging as in lashing wind and rain the side of the house and flashings will be getting soaked.

A third party assessed the roof prior to their attempt to fix it and indicated this box join needs lead welding, though I also think the incorrect fall (or dip) isn't helping.

We are confident that the workmen who carried this out besides being incredibly unreliable weren't suitably experienced or skilled to handle something like this.

Does anyone else here feel like they could comment or add value?

Thanks.

g5UheAql.jpg
bxlqfgkl.jpg
ggHfs5wl.jpg
Click to expand...
I see Mastic that tells me all I need to Know. Call a Plumber!
 
It's difficult to tell without taking a closer look. I am concerned by the way the lead underneath seems to have been cut to lay it over the top of the roof tiles. I just don't understand why anyone would do that. It all needs inspection.
 
Jumping on here for bashing of roof tradespeople. Have also had less than ideal experiences with them. Had some work done to our chimneys which led to damage of the surrounding roof tiles. They also came back whilst it was dark to try and finish the job off. Dark + roofing = crazy!

Thankfully, recently discovered my nextdoor neighbour's son has a roofing business so have been using them. Feels like a safer bet as they're round her house every week or so!
 
Thanks for the replies so far.

O/H was able to replicate the leak again today, though not at the box joint. Instead further up with water creeping in under the flashing due to the lack of soakers.

I'm confident from earlier photo's there is just plain-easy (tray for low pitch) and tiles up to the house with lead flashing sat on top.
 
Fitted gutter yesterday, whilst I was up the ladder. For the lols.

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Having a skim of building regs and can't find anything which expressly states leadwork should be chased in to brick. Could anyone here help at all?

Surely there is something in black and white about this and it can't just be best practice?
 
BennyC said:
Fitted gutter yesterday, whilst I was up the ladder. For the lols.

imgur.com

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Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.
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Oh god!

As the Roofing Outlaw (google him, proper funny bloke) would say - "People say roofers are expensive, but **** roofers are even more expensive!")
 
BennyC said:
Having a skim of building regs and can't find anything which expressly states leadwork should be chased in to brick. Could anyone here help at all?

Surely there is something in black and white about this and it can't just be best practice?
Click to expand...
You could get another reputable roofing contractor to come and provide a written quote to fix the work. I can't imagine any reputable person would suggest lead mastic to pebble dash is correct.
 
dLockers said:
You could get another reputable roofing contractor to come and provide a written quote to fix the work. I can't imagine any reputable person would suggest lead mastic to pebble dash is correct.
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We’ve already had a quote out lining what needs rectifying, which we’ve communicated and stated will be deducted from the final balance owing, so aren’t out of pocket besides the time and effort.

His response was that anyone assessing it would always suggest everything needs removing and redoing, regardless of necessity, so that they could guarentee the work and that level of remedy isn’t necessary to fix the leak.

Though this is now not just about it leaking but rather it being a total ****show that won’t last the year let alone a decade.

I will be surprised if he attempts to defend the video I posted above. His absence from site is shielding him from how bad it really is.
 
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