Lead Welding & Heritage Lead Roofing in Brighton

Expert Lead Welding & Leadwork Specialists — Brighton & Sussex

Lead has been the material of choice for roofing junctions, flashings, and gutters on British buildings for more than a thousand years — and for good reason. When correctly selected, detailed, and installed, lead outperforms every modern alternative in both longevity and adaptability. At Kirby’s Building & Property Maintenance Ltd, lead welding and heritage leadwork is one of our core specialisms. Our operatives carry out all leadwork in accordance with the Lead Sheet Association (LSA) technical guidance, ensuring every installation meets current best practice standards for code selection, thermal movement allowance, fixings, and detailing.

Brighton and Hove’s rich architectural heritage — Regency terraces, Victorian villas, Edwardian bay-fronted houses, flint cottages, and a wealth of listed buildings — means there is constant demand for skilled leadwork on the Sussex coast. Period roofs commonly incorporate lead box gutters hidden behind parapet walls, intricate step-and-cover flashings at chimney stacks, lead soakers beneath slate or plain tile courses, and bossed lead features on dormer cheeks and bay aprons. All of these require a craftsperson who understands not just the mechanics of lead, but the architectural context in which they are working.

Lead welding — sometimes called lead burning — is the process of joining lead sheet by fusing the parent metal together using heat, without the use of a filler or solder. The result is a joint as strong as the base material itself, with none of the long-term corrosion risk associated with soldered or clipped seams. Lead welding is essential for fabricating seamless box gutters, forming internal angles on lead-clad dormers, and creating the cleanly detailed parapet gutters found on many of Brighton’s Georgian and Regency buildings. Our operatives are trained and experienced in both oxy-acetylene and dedicated lead-welding torch techniques, and are comfortable working on both scaffold and in confined roof spaces.

Beyond welding, we carry out the full range of leadwork services required in the Sussex residential and commercial market. This includes the supply and installation of step flashings and soakers at chimney stacks and abutments; cover flashings and aprons at roof-to-wall junctions; lead valleys and secret gutters on pitched roofs; lead slates and pipe flashings for penetrations; and full lead gutter fabrication and installation on parapet and box gutter applications. All lead is sourced to BS EN 12588 specification and cut, dressed, and fixed on site to LSA code.

We are particularly experienced in working on Brighton and Hove’s listed building stock. Whether you hold listed building consent and need a contractor who understands the constraints it imposes, or you are planning works on a non-listed period property and simply want the care and finish that the building deserves, our team approaches every project with the same level of precision and respect for the material. We are happy to liaise with conservation officers where required and to provide the detailed schedules of work that some consents demand.

We cover Brighton, Hove, Portslade, Shoreham-by-Sea, Worthing, Eastbourne, Lewes and across East and West Sussex. Whether your requirement is a straightforward chimney flashing replacement or a full parapet gutter rebuild on a large Victorian property, contact us today for a free site survey and written quotation.

Lead Roofing Services We Provide