Leadwork in Diss: Lead Flashing, Bays & Chimneys

Older town-centre and Mere-side properties

The older properties in the centre of Diss and around the Mere include timber-framed, brick and rendered buildings, many under clay pantiles or plain tiles. Their roofs often have steep pitches, several chimneys, dormers and awkward junctions where later additions meet the original building. Each of those junctions relies on lead to stay watertight.

On houses of this age, the lead has often been repaired many times over the years. We find flashings fixed with mastic instead of being chased in, soakers missing beneath tiles and valleys that have been patched rather than renewed. We replace failed lead with properly dressed new lead, chased into the joints and repointed.

Lead bays and porch roofs

Bay windows are a feature of many Victorian and Edwardian houses in Diss, and their small roofs are traditionally covered in lead. Over time the lead can split, the laps can open up or the boards beneath can rot, and the first sign is often damp around the top of the bay inside.

We strip the old covering, check and replace boards where needed and lay new lead dressed to the bay's shape, with proper drips and upstands. Porch roofs and canopies get the same treatment. Read more on our specialist leadwork page.

Chimneys, valleys and parapet gutters

Period chimneys in Diss usually need a lead apron at the front, step flashings down the sides and a back gutter behind the stack. If the chimney brickwork or flaunching is also worn, we can repair it in the same visit, so the lead is fitted to sound brickwork. See our chimney repairs page for more.

Some older buildings have lead-lined valleys and gutters behind parapet walls. These need correct falls and drips to drain, and when they fail the water can go straight into the walls. We strip, check the boards and relay them in lead to suit.

Signs the lead on your Diss home is failing

On older Diss properties, the first sign of a lead problem is often inside: a damp patch on a bedroom ceiling below a valley, staining on a chimney breast, or flaking plaster around the top of a bay window. Outside, look for flashings that have come away from the wall, gaps in the mortar above the lead, splits in a bay roof, or areas that have been covered with tape or mastic.

Steep pantile and plain tile roofs on older buildings can hide a lot, and wind-driven rain will find any gap at the top edge of a flashing. Leaving a small problem can mean wet timbers, damaged plaster and a bigger repair later on.

We carry out a free inspection and explain what we have found in plain terms, including what can be repaired and what needs replacing. New lead is dressed by hand to suit the roof, flashings are wedged and repointed, and longer runs are laid in sensible lengths so the lead can move without splitting. You get a clear written quote before any work starts, and we keep the site tidy throughout.

Covering Diss and nearby villages

From our Littleport base we cover Diss and nearby villages including Roydon, Scole, Dickleburgh, Palgrave, Gislingham, Eye, Harleston and Bressingham. Many of these villages share the same old cottages, farmhouses and later homes as Diss, with the same flashing, bay and chimney details.

Inspections and quotes are free, we are fully insured, and we take emergency calls 24/7 if lead has lifted in a storm or water is coming in. DJW Roofing & Leadwork Ltd is rated 5★ on Google.