Lead Gutters (continued 2)

In the previous section, the manner of laying the lead in stone cornice gutters, and up the sides of the gables, was explained, both the back and the front gutters being uninterrupted in their whole length. The top edge of the lead is kept a little below the chasing, being allowed to stand up about 3 in. or so; and, to prevent the rain getting down the back of the gutter, a long narrow strip of lead, called the " apron," about 4J in. broad—more or less according to circumstances—is put along the front of the chimney so as to overlap the buck of the gutter. This "apron" has its upper edge bent into the chasing, E, where it is held fast by lead bats, and the chasing afterwards filled up with cement or mastic.

When the lead is to be wrought back into its site, the plumber should take off the sharp edge of the stone corner first, so as both to help himself and prevent tearing the lead. In other cases, instead of working down the lead, some may slit it down close by each end of the chimney, and bend it back, which of course does not thin it any, but causes the plumber to solder in a small piece of lead to make up the deficiency.

In this plan, while the lead for the gutter on each side of the chimney might be cut out at about 2 ft. broad, that in front of the chimney would only be about 1 ft. 5 in. broad. In laying all such gutters as these, the lead, being kept several inches higher at the back than at the front, should the gutter get choked up by dirt or half-melted snow, there is plenty of margin for the water running harmlessly over the front without any getting inside.

After the gutter has been laid to fit the chimney, C, a lead " flashing," about 11 in. broad or so, has to be put up each side of the chimney; its length—taking the chimney at 2 ft. thick—will be about 2 ft. 10 in., or more, according to the pitch of the roof. It bends round the chimney a little at the bottom, and at the top goes up to the back of the chimney gutter at f, Fig. 50, whatever portion of the lead flashing projects above the sole, or bottom of the gutter, being cut away. This chimney flashing is put into a chasing, as described for chimney flashings in Chapter V. After the flashings are on, a lead gutter has to be laid along the back of the chimney, as per dotted line, G, Fig. 50.

The lead for gutters so situated may be of various breadths, according to the pitch of the roof, and the way in which the carpenter has been directed to lay the wood; a breadth often used is 1 ft. 6 in.—that is, 3 in. perpendicular upstand against the back of the chimney, and the rest across the wooden sole of the gutter and up the roof.

And if we take the length of the chimney at 9 ft.—which is also the length of the gutter at its back—then the length of the lead will require to be about 10 ft. 6 in., as it has to extend out at each end as far as the outer edge of the chimney flashings. It has also to be bent or wrought down over and round the chimney flashings at each end, so as to overlap them. The top of the chimney gutter lying on the roof, as also its ends and the chimney flashings, require "doubling" (or wooden fillet) to be put in under the lead, as per H, Fig. 50, and I, Fig. 51, which latter shows the lead of the chimney flashing as per dotted line.

After the lead has been thus "set up," before being put into its site, it has also to be set up at each end, so as to form the upstands for the ends of the gutter, which is done, according to the style of the locality, either by working up, or "bossing," as some term it, each end, so that the lead may fit its site; or else by bending up the ends and turning round the corners, which latter system in some places receives the cant terms " pig-lugging the comers, which may be explained as follows :—Take a piece of white paper, 6 in. by 4 in., as per Fig. 53, and draw a line within it and all round it half-an-inch from its outer edge, as per dotted line, Fig. 53.

Bend up the paper at the dotted line, square all round. In attempting to do so it will be found that the corners require to be bent out across or along the diagonals, when they take the form shown at L L, Fig. 54. Press the corners close together, and then turn them round, as shown at M M, and a copy is produced of what is often done with the ends of lead gutters.

This article is continued here