Conservatory leaking - no cavity wall trays

tiredredhead

Does anyone know how difficult it is to add cavity wall trays after the conservatory is in place. My conservatory leaks down the wall, i have had a conservatory fitter out who has resealed the lead flashing, i thought it was ok until today when there has been a lot of rain.

He wasnt keen on getting to much more involved and said if the sealing failed he would put me in touch with a builder who may help.

has anyone had this done? Does anyone know how much it is likely to cost?

I bought the house with the conservatory in place, so it is an inherited problem.

thebaldwindowfitter

you do not say what style the conservatory is .if it is victorian or edwardian style i have known people not seal the ridge (before ridge capping goes on ) properly which can cause leaks.is the wall plastered or bare brick .fitting cavity trays isnt an easy job when the conservatory is already up

tiredredhead

Its an Edwardian style. The walls are plastered and the damp/wet area extends all down the one side and across the top.

moonrakerz

tiredredhead wrote: »

Does anyone know how difficult it is to add cavity wall trays after the conservatory is in place. My conservatory leaks down the wall, i have had a conservatory fitter out who has resealed the lead flashing, i thought it was ok until today when there has been a lot of rain.

He wasnt keen on getting to much more involved and said if the sealing failed he would put me in touch with a builder who may help.

has anyone had this done? Does anyone know how much it is likely to cost?

I bought the house with the conservatory in place, so it is an inherited problem.

It can be done, but could be expensive. The roof will have to come off the conservatory to do it. Not a winter time job !

thebaldwindowfitter

when you say along the top this could be the ridge seal as i said .how is the flashing sealed is it sand and cement or silicon .we use silicon now due to the fact it is less likely to come out are there any lead wedges showing ie not set back from face of brick .is the flashing lead or flashband

tiredredhead

a6windows- Flashing is sealed with silicon, it is lead flashing, but not stepped as it should have been down the slope it is just a continous strip. There are no cavity wall trays at all.
Not sure what you mean by Lead wedges

tiredredhead

Just googled lead wedges- no there are none it is just against the wall.

thebaldwindowfitter

has the flashing been cut into the wall can you post any pictures

fluffymuffy

Cavity trays are not installed with new conservatories. They're not even installed in new extensions built under the building regulations and where they're included on the drawings. The inspector will ask if the tray was fitted and the builder will nod and we all know that it wasn't fitted and the requirement is simply a stupid idea dreamed up by people in an office somewhere with no actual experience of construction as it's nigh on impossible to fit a cavity tray in an existing wall, especially if it has insulation already.

It sounds like you just need a proper flashing doing. That means channeled into the brick courses and stepped. If the conservatory company won't/can't do this then ask a proper builder for a quote.

tiredredhead

I cant work out how to post pictures i dont have a host.

As far as i can see they lead is just flat against the wall with a silicon sealer along the top of it.
think i might get a buiulder out to have a look for advice.
The conservatory man who has already topped up the sealer said if it failed again then the next thing is cavity wall trays but i am not sure that was right.

thebaldwindowfitter

the flashing doesnt need to be stepped as long as it is cut into the wall not just stuck on .as i have said before if the ridge has not been sealed properly the water will track down the back of the flashing the capping needs taking off and the ridge needs sealing .pm me and i will give you my email address so you can send pictures