We’ll be starting the construction of a new home in Maine this spring.
It seems as though the most common chimney flashing material used up here is lead. Is lead flashing the best material for the long haul?
Any thoughts about copper for a flashing material?
The longer length of these 3-in. stair gauges makes it easier to ensure an accurate layout when working with waned lumber.
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Replies
Copper's a great flashing material. Harder to work with than lead, very conducive to counter-flashing. Since new construction, easy to get the roof side of the counterflashing done, or at least in place before the chimney comes through the roof. Looks great. Lasts forever.
Lead's extremely easy to work with. Almost anyone can make it look okay. Cost difference depends on the price of each. With flashing, it's square feet that matter, not weight. If I recall, the conversion is about 3lbs of lead/sqft vs 1lb of copper. Any competent bricklayer will be able to do either one, but the copper does require a bit more work to make it look right.
So lead flashing is 3 lb lead? I have 1/2 a roll of 1 lb sitting in the garage, wonder what to do with it.
I'm going back a bit, but I'm pretty sure lead flashing is about 3lbs/sq ft, or at least the stuff I used was. Copper was about 1lb/sq ft. Pay by the lb, use by the sq ft.
It was 4lb in the UK -- 3lb could be used for the undercloak flashing.
IanDG
lead sheet is 21 cents a pound...
comes in 3' or 4' wide rolls..
buy as long as a roll as you want..
lead is much easier and fater to work...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
lead sheet is 21 cents a pound...
When did you last check that price?
I invented the lead balloon.
September 28th...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Jeez - either the price has gone back down since I bought some (2-3 mos) or you're into some old stock. I paid $1.60/lb wholesale.
I invented gouging.
It's from a recycler....
They have some 1/4 and 3/8" thick in 10' rolls for 19 cents... But I'm not man enough to deal with them...
Lead printing type is 17 cents... Melt it down and make yur own... ROAR!!!
At a guess it came from a radiology lab...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Trust me, I know lead's easier to work with. Cut with a utility knife, bend with your fingers. Usually only ever used copper when there was counterflashing involved, and usually then only when someone else was doing the counterflashing. Unless it's counterflashed, it's difficult to get the bends looking as good as they should for the material.
Is lead flashing the best material for the long haul?
The original lead flashing is still in evidence on most of the 16th century buildings around here -- including Worcester cathedral -- so it really depends on what you consider is a long haul.
IanDG
"...so it really depends on what you consider is a long haul."
True, but does 500 years cut it?? Maybe a millenium is needed to qualify.....
Rich Beckman
Another day, another tool.
Edited 10/3/2004 12:03 am ET by Rich Beckman
ian,
I'm going to ask how you are certain those are the original leads?
I have replaced / removed lead flashings only 100 to 120 years old that were worn thin from erosion. A few worn through.
I know that it was common in times of war to strip lead flashings off buildings to make muskeet balls from, and then replace later in more convenient times.
so it seems entirely possible that the lead flashings you speak off were replaced every 200 years or so...
I like either lead or lead coated copper. Plain copper can stain things with exudate. I wonder what kind of shingle is under consideration here.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
The majority of the lead flashings are dressed into brickwork so it's unlikely that they would ever have been removed for the small quantity of lead they would provide -- certainly the Cathedral lead is original. Besides which, I'm talking about hundreds of buildings -- Worcester is old.
Over years a lead flashing can tear if it's dressed over a sharp edge but lead is chemically inert, unlike copper or zinc.
IanDG
Yes, it is chemically inert, and it resists the etching from acid rain that can destroy AL or galvanized flashings in ten years nowdays.
But the action of water coursing over it can and does leach away or erode it just as water can wear down a stone over the years.
I'm not arguing that they are not original, just observing that if they are, they were very heavy to start with and that it would not suprise me if they had been replaced once.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Stay away from aluminum, though. It's not a lifetime material when in contact with masonry, and if you are exposed to salt air, aluminum is quite bad.
On my 1891 home, the chimney lead flashings wore through. Of course, the masonry was shot by then, so it lasted long enough...
It's a good material, and easy to work with.
Hello csnow,
Thanks for your input pertaining to chimney flashing materials.
Respectfully,
FBB
Go with lead. It is long lasting and more importantly easy to work with. Typically brick chimneys don't get counter-flashed, just step flashed. The lead is malleable and can be pushed in place and shaped slightly to make corners, aprons and to fit to succeeding pieces of flashing. Copper has to be bent and corners often need soldering. Copper discolors quickly and can leach out stains on the roof shingles. I was told that in the days when paper mills belched chemicals freely that copper was adversely affected if used down wind. Most of the mills in Maine are gone but there are still a few that scent the air with what was once called the "smell of money".
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
"Hammer"
Thanks for the input pertaining to chimney flashing material.
After a few responses I've decided to use lead flashing.
Again, thanks for the input
fbb