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Patination Oil to lead - to coat or not


Stones

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Raised by Declan52  in my blog here:

Thought it might be useful to discuss this more widely.

 

We have lead covered skews as our verge treatment. Not being aware of the product or the requirement for it, I asked the question and established that Patination Oil wasn't applied during installation primarily because it doesn't tend to last long up here due to the prevailing weather.  Having discussed it with a few people through the course of the day, there is a definite split of opinion as to whether it is worth doing or not.

 

http://www.britishlead.co.uk/patination-oil

 

and various other websites selling Patination Oil, list the reasons why you should coat new lead.  The main reason for doing so appears to be controlling the formation of lead carbonate, which can stain roof tiles, walls etc if there is run off directly from the lead onto said finishes.  

 

In our case, the skews do not run onto the roof tiles, but directly into a gutter.  Thinking back to our last house, where we had lead valleys and lead roof vents, the only area we had a visible problem was the roof vents, as these ran off onto the slate roof.  The valleys were unaffected, one assumes by being subject to a regular dousing of water running off into the gutter.

 

So the question for me is do I leave them to patina naturally, reasonably safe in the knowledge that nothing I don't have a run off problem to cause staining to surrounding building materials, or given the lead has been in place for a good couple of weeks and already subject to the elements and moisture, apply a coat of oil following a thorough cleaning? 

 

Our lead is already developing its patina, with the odd piece showing signs moisture had been present during storage.  However, it is still easy enough to get at should I wish to go down the route of cleaning / applying oil.  I would however be limited in where I could clean and oil (as the roof is finished and I now cannot coat on the underside of the lead or effectively and properly coat lead beneath the roof tiles).  It does make me wonder whether the effort would be worthwhile.

 

A first step might just be a light clean, to get rid of any dust and debris to see how it looks before I make a decision one way or another.

 

Any thoughts / experience either way?

 

 

 

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all the lead work i have seen done on our sites gets a coat,

It goes a surprisingly long way,

if you are going to clean them anyway, and can actually access them I can't see putting it on now will be detrimental.

 

If you were just going to leave them, i would continue doing that, the patination oil will last so long anyway, not worth falling off a ladder for IMO ;)

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It depends on the quality of your lead as well. Some lead you buy isn't exactly 100% lead and as its milled god knows what is mixed into it. When you are pricing around and most rolls are £50+ and some guy gives you a price about £25 then chances are it's not the good stuff. 

I have always seen it coated with oil on any site I was on. I done mine but it  still stained a few tiles. 

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We are using Code 5, and certainly the supply came from the local builders merchant.  Given the price indications for the lead, its the real deal (and in any case I know for a fact my builder wouldn't cut corners in this way - too small an island for that sort of nonsense).

 

I'll see how it looks tomorrow and maybe clean a small area and make a judgement then.

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At site today and gave the skews a light clean, primarily to remove the building debris  / tile dust etc that had accumulated whilst the roof tiles were going on.  Made a huge difference and makes clear the patina that is already developing.  

 

I've no problem applying patination oil (albeit I am going to have to wait for a suitable weather window which looks like being a week away now) if it is going to slow the oxidization process, but I'm not convinced taking the lead back to a milled / shiny finish prior to oiling is going to be worthwhile given what is already there is attractive in appearance. 

 

Assuming I can actually get oil applied sometime next week, and perhaps after another quick wash to remove any further dust/debris,  is there an issue with applying oil over lead which has already started oxidizing?

 

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Shouldn't be any run off.  I suppose its really a question of whether it's actually worth doing - i.e. is it in going to improve the appearance of the lead?  I'm not bothered about the small cost of buying the stuff, or an hour or so applying it as the scaffolding is still there making it an easy enough job to do.  My view is it won't do any harm.

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Is it your own scaffolding and do you intend to keep a box or two??

You could oil a section on the back and let it sit for a year and see the difference between a section oiled up and the front. Pick the winner between the two.

 

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No, not my own scaffolding, so I think that its simply going to be a case (as Ed suggests) of getting it done while the scaffolding is there.

 

A box of scaffolding, or at least some kind of platform to work off inside so I can reach the vaulted ceiling is something I'll have to think about acquiring.  Not sure yet what the best options are - another topic looms! 

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26 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

 

Behave yourself Declan!

I'm having nightmares already

 

Perfectly safe, used it like this loads of times. Gets you around 8ft high and its very easy to put up and move around. 4 trestles and 6 8ft planks is all you need.

Onlys dodgy when you start using milk crates and wheelie bins.

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Maybe this 'chat' should be in the accompanying platform thread.

 

I can see how the trestle idea works for someone confident but access and egress seems an accident waiting to happen. How many extra bodies do you need? A couple of guys/gals to brace each end of the platform and an extra for the ladder to get on and off? What if you don't have a wall to brace from and its free-standing?

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Its a one person job. The platform at the top is 4 8ft planks so you have as good as an 8*4 platform to work on so plenty of room. You can walk at the extreme ends as the planks will see saw. As its 4 trestles and 6 planks its a fairly heavy platform so it is steady. If you have both trestles at their highest pin setting it will wobble a bit but it won't need braced and will easily work freestanding. If you have a wall to put it against it will help but its not needed.  I used it for my vaulted hallway as I couldn't get kwikstage in with the stairs. If you are worried about the ladder slipping put a concrete block there to stop it moving.

There is no type of work platform that is rock solid, they all wobble about when you move on them esp the higher you go and the more weight you have on them. A simple rule to follow is if your no good at heights then don't work at heights. To dangerous to be 8ft plus of the ground if you are a nervous wreck.

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I Just bought some yesterday,  The slate staining is something i'm very keen to avoid.

 

We had our lead tray manufactured for out chimney, so its built to spec and welding in a factory.  (Our builders merchant wanted to just send out a sheet to lead to be cut to size)

 

According to the roofer there is a thick black coating on the lead tray so i'm hoping we can avoid the run off.  Still going to oil them though

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