Chimney Repairs and Leadwork in Cannock

In short

We renew chimney flashing, form lead valleys and trays, and dress lead into abutments and parapets across Cannock and the towns around it. Lead is where a roof usually fails first, because it is the part that has to move with the building and the part most often patched with mortar or sealant by somebody in a hurry. We answer the phone 24 hours a day, and we will tell you honestly whether it is the lead that has failed or the stack itself.

Signs it is the lead that has gone

A damp patch on a chimney breast, often on the landing or in a back bedroom, that returns after every spell of driving rain
A cracked or missing mortar fillet where the roof meets the stack, which is doing a job lead should have been doing
Silicone or roofing tar smeared along a flashing line, which is a patch rather than a repair
Lead that has split along a fold, or lifted away from the brickwork at its top edge
A stain or a line of moss running straight down one valley, where water is tracking under the lead instead of over it
A leak that only shows up when the rain comes from one particular direction

How lead work actually goes

We find where the water is really getting in

Water tracks before it shows. A stain on a chimney breast can come from a flashing several feet away, from the stack soaking through, or from a valley higher up the roof. Someone comes out and works out which one it is before anything gets quoted.

You get told whether it is the lead or the stack

If the lead has failed, we renew it. If the brickwork and the haunching on top of the stack are what is letting water in, new flashing will not fix that, and we would rather tell you so than sell you the job we came to do.

It gets cut and dressed in, not stuck on

Flashing is stepped into the mortar courses and wedged, soakers go under the tiles, and valleys and trays are formed in place so the water runs where it is meant to. Mortar fillets and sealant are what we take off, not what we put on.

We leave it clean

The old lead and the spoil go with us, the site is sheeted while we work, and the drive is swept before we leave.

Stepped lead flashing at the base of a brick chimney on a red tiled roof — Chimney leadwork

Lead tray and flashing formed around a stone chimney above a flat roof — Lead tray

New lead work dressed into a grey tiled roof beside a flat section — Leadwork and abutment

Slate roof and stone chimney stacks on an older property — Slate and stone chimneys

Grey tiled hip and valley with new lead work below the chimney — Hip and valley tiling

Tiles cut and dressed neatly into a brick abutment wall — Abutment detail

Want someone to take a look?

Free quote, fixed written price, and we answer the phone 24 hours a day.

Call 07411 859355 WhatsApp us Get a free quote

Chimneys and leadwork near you

We cover around twenty miles from our yard in Hednesford. Pick your town for what the work tends to look like there.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my chimney leak when the roof itself is fine?

Because the roof and the chimney are two different structures that move at slightly different rates, and the joint between them has to cope with that. Lead can, because it flexes. A mortar fillet cannot, so it cracks, and once it has cracked the water goes straight down the outside of the stack and into the ceiling below.

Can you not just seal it up?

You can, and it will stop the leak for a season or two. Sealant and roofing tar are rigid, so they crack in the same place the mortar did, and they make the proper repair more awkward because they have to come off first. If you want it done once, it wants lead.

How long should lead last?

Lead dressed and fixed properly will normally outlast the covering around it, which is why you often see sound old lead on a roof that has been retiled twice. Most of the failed lead we take off failed because it was too long a piece, fixed too rigidly, or never wedged into the brickwork in the first place. Our workmanship carries a ten year guarantee.

Will you need scaffolding?

For anything on a stack, almost certainly, because it is work that takes two hands and cannot be done safely off a ladder. We will tell you when we quote, so it is in the fixed written price rather than added afterwards.

Another roofer has already been out and it still leaks. Will you look?

Yes, and it is a fair part of what we get called to. Ring us on 07411 859355, and it helps if you can say when it leaks and which way the rain is coming from, because that usually narrows down where to start looking.

Other services

Roof repairsMost roofs do not fail all at once. They fail at one detail, and the damage spreads from there. Roof replacementA re-roof is the one job where everything that matters is hidden by the time you see it finished. Fascias, soffits and gutteringGuttering is the cheapest part of a roof and the one that does the most damage when it is ignored. Roof cleaningMoss is not just untidy. It holds water against the tile and pushes it into the laps. Flat roofingA flat roof is not actually flat, and most of the ones that fail were treated as though it were. Conservatory warm roofsThe room you stopped using in January and could not sit in during July.

Chimney and lead work in Cannock and across Staffordshire