What we do
Zinc work, gutters and lead flashing
Valleys, box gutters and junctions: where a roof actually leaks.
In short
What this is about
A roof rarely starts leaking in the middle of a plane. It starts at a junction: where a dormer meets the roof, where two planes run together in a valley, where the chimney comes through the tiles, or in the gutter that is supposed to carry the water away and has not managed it since last autumn.
Zinc and lead are what those places are solved with, and they are the only two materials that can be formed from a single piece. That is exactly why they are expensive: the cost is in the handwork, not in the metal. A standing seam valley is a day of work for somebody who can do it, and half a day of leaking for somebody who cannot.
We do this work separately from a full roof renewal, deliberately. A failed gutter does not have to wait until the whole roof is due, and replacing a box gutter costs a fraction of a renovation. So the survey always separates what has to happen now from what can wait, with the year by which it stops being able to wait.
Want to know what is actually on your roof?
The survey costs nothing, takes about an hour, and produces a report with a photo per roof plane, the condition of the deck and the insulation calculation. That report stays yours.
Where it goes wrong
The zinc box gutter
Standard on the 1930s houses in Heemstede, Overveen and Kleverpark. It lasts about fifty years, so many are on their second or third life. It fails at the soldered seam and at the back against the fascia board, and neither is visible from the street.
Leaves in the gutter
Under the beeches of Bloemendaal and Aerdenhout a gutter fills within one autumn. Leaves hold water, and standing water is what attacks zinc from above. A leaf guard there is not a luxury; it is the cheapest twenty years you can add to a gutter.
Lead around the chimney
Soakers and flashings are often original and sitting loose in the mortar joint. We reset them and make the joint good. Where the brickwork itself has gone too far, we say so and refer you on rather than dressing lead over the problem.
Zinc near the sea
In Zandvoort and on the western edge of Aerdenhout zinc lasts less long than inland. It has to be protected on the underside, and laid straight onto bare concrete or oak it fails from within. That is a decision about the build-up, not about the brand.
Indicative price per roof type
What this costs, roughly
Amounts per square metre of roof surface. What explains the spread is in the third column, and what is not included follows underneath.
| Roof type | Per m2 |
|---|---|
| Flat roof, two layers of bitumen | € 65 to € 95 |
| Flat roof, EPDM | € 80 to € 120 |
| Flat roof as a warm roof, with 160 mm PIR | € 150 to € 200 |
| Tiled roof, clay, with new battens and membrane | € 95 to € 150 |
| Tiled roof with insulation between the rafters | € 170 to € 240 |
| Zinc roof plane or large valley gutter | € 160 to € 230 |
| Natural slate roof | € 180 to € 260 |
What is not included
Scaffolding, insulation, repair of a damaged deck, roof windows, and removing and refitting solar panels. All five appear as separate lines on the quote with a quantity and a unit rate, so that you can check them and strike them.
Why there is no fixed price here
Because we have not seen your roof. What makes a roof expensive is rarely the material and nearly always the access and the number of junctions. That is why the survey is free and the report is yours: then you can check what any quote is worth, including somebody else’s.
Background
The background to this work
Put three roofing quotes side by side and the difference is usually in this item rather than in the covering. One contractor prices the valley and the dormer junctions, the second writes "to be discussed", and the third does not mention them. That is the main reason why three quotes for the same roof can be thousands apart without any of the three lying to you.
So our report lists, junction by junction, what is there, roughly how old it is, and whether it can stay or has to be replaced. That is laborious, and it is precisely what you need in order to read the other two quotes. A contractor who does not mention the valley either did not see it or did not price it, and you find out which at the final invoice.
Zinc and lead are both recyclable and leave the site that way. The old metal has scrap value, and that value is deducted rather than counted as a disposal cost. It is a small amount and it is stated, because an item that is invisible here becomes a surprise at the next contractor.
Send it along and we will set it out beside ours
Send it along. We set out line by line what it does and does not cover, and that is often more useful than adding a third quote to the pile.
Questions
Questions about zinc work, gutters and lead flashing
Missing your question here? Pick up the phone. About your own roof something concrete can be said; about roofs in general the page above has it covered.
Can the gutter be repaired or does it have to come out?
A soldered seam that has opened can be redone and often lasts another ten years. Zinc that shows white bloom on the inside and measures thinner than a coin on the base is finished. We measure the thickness during the survey rather than estimating it; it takes half a minute and it settles the argument.
What does a box gutter cost per metre?
Expect a rate per running metre that depends heavily on access and on the profile. On a canal in the old centre with scaffolding over water, that is a multiple of the same gutter above a back garden. The quote gives the rate per metre and the number of metres, so you can check it yourself.
Should a leaf guard be included?
We offer it where it earns its keep and not by default. Under a beech or a plane tree it pays for itself; on a roof with nothing overhanging it is an item that does nothing. It appears as its own line so that you can strike it.
Quote
Request the survey
You hear within one working day when we can come. The survey itself costs nothing and the report stays yours, including when you go on with somebody else.
Rather speak to somebody now
For a question about a quote you already have, or about what is allowed at your address, calling is faster than this form.
Start with a photo
A photo of the eaves, the gutter or the place where it leaks says more than half a form. Send it ahead and we know what we are looking at.