Lead flashing

[clutchspring]

Hi , any roofer's on this forum ? . The thing is I have a leaking lead back gutter on a chimney which on inspection seems to be in good condition with no splits or loose flashings any wear . The back gutter does go under the ridge tiles.
Is it possible for water to be getting in though the ridge tiles & under the lead ?.
I've had two roofer's look at it & both just wanted to brush liquid fibreglass over the lead to seal it . But doing a Google search on this fix comes up as a poor idea as a long term fix , reason being lead moves & flexes but fibreglass doe's not.
Any trades men got any thoughts on this !.
Thanks in advance,

Ian.

[Hugh]

Greetings,

I am not a builder but suspect that all things being equal it could be capillary action which is allowing the water to creep back up under the lead especially if the gutter is too close to the tile or that the lead flashing is touching the edge of the tile.

I certainly would not use fibreglass to try and stop the ingress as it will prevent movement required under normal expansion and contraction of the differing materials.

TTFN

Hugh.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

I had a similar problem, and cured it with a sticky black sealant that came in a tube like RTV, caulk etc does.
Can't remember what it was called , but it was like a mix of tar & glue that didn't set, hence allowed for differential expansion. An absolute bugger to get off your hands, I had to use petrol.

Roofs are leaking in these strong winds...traditional roof design is based on the assumption that water only flows downhill...I've seen it blowing out of the gutter and up under the edge of a roof on a conservatory this winter.

[Agent Orange]

I have a similar problem on my conservatory flashing, dam water is getting in somewhere.

[dave h]

hello ian,

a few daft questions,

how do you know its leaking,[plaster getting damp] [water dripping]

can you get in the loft space?, is it getting damp down the internal face of the chimney or further up the roofslope,

when you say ridge tiles is the rear of the chimney near the top of the roof or do you mean roof tiles?

dave.

[clutchspring]

I have water running down in side the loft , it is exactly on the edge of the chimney wear the backgutter lead flashing meets the chimney. All lead flashings are in tacked & look in good condition.
The back (gutter ) flashing goes up & under the ridge tile & this is were water is possibley getting in under the flashing
The leak is only slight but with all this bat weather & not aware of it the water has built up & dripped through the ceiling.
Now I know I've got a leak I have got measures in place to sock up the water untill I get it fixed.

Thanks
Ian.

[dave h]

Morning ian,
I presume it's something like this

IMG_20200304_084954.jpg (54.03 KiB) Viewed 3087 times

If the lead definitely doesn't have any holes /fine cracks the places to check in pink,

Pointing to stack
Flaunching to top
Maybe additional lead over the ridge (under ridge tile)

Or it maybe just blowing under the ridge tiles,
A quick way to remedy this would be to re bed and point the ridge tiles above the chimney,

We tend to use dry ridge system nowadays this eliminates the use of sand /cement,

Dave

[clutchspring]

Thanks Dave h your drawing is exactly how my chimney is. The chimney pointing is in excellent condition , as is the cement around the chimney pot,
I think it would be worth removing the ridge tiles to see what's going on under there first , on the gable end wear the flashing hangs over the end it doesn't look like it's under the ridge tiles by mutch.may have sunk down over the years. There's no morter or anything between the flashing & ridge tiles so may be water's getting in under the lead.
What are your thoughts about liquid fibreglass as I just see it as papering over the crack's so to speak.
The chimney was added to the house approximately 40 years a go & has been well built.
Waiting as we speak for another roofer to have a look & another one Friday who replaced all my other house flashings seven years a go & at the same time asked him to check this chimney flashings back then.

Thanks

Ian.

[clutchspring]

Well just had a local roofer round this afternoon & this one was whot I'd call a proper "roofer" up on the roof lead lifted up tiles slid up YES he had a proper look.
He agreed that I might get away with just pointing the ridge tiles , but he'll give me a price for replacing the lead back gutter & chisel out & repoint side step flashings.
Best of all NO mention of liquid fibreglass .
Only drawback is he's fully booked for around six weeks.

Ian.

[Red Maverick]

Does your chimney have a lead tray? Could be there are no faults, but no tray and the brickwork is saturated and water coming in that way.