A couple of building/painting questions

[Woody2Shoes]

I'm glad you decided to go for the grey!

I'm not sure how you're getting access, but you really need both hands free to work and you ideally need the lead at somewhere close to waist height. This isn't a job I'd want to try and do off a ladder.

It doesn't need to be perfectly flat before you offer it up to the slot - you can 'persuade' it very easily with gentle pressure from a firm thin flat object like a putty knife or a bolter chisel. Ideally you'll need a stick to dress the lead back flat against the tiles (without overdoing it and breaking the tile underneath DAMHIKT!) - the closer you can get to one of these, the better: http://www.1stsupplies.com/product/rt18 ... ick-beech/

Looking again at your photos, I think it was probably on the squint from the day it was installed - it seemed quite well attached at each end.

Best of luck!

PS your guru would want you to patinate the lead afterwards too..... 8)

 

[Student]

Thanks to the advice on here, the job’s finally done. It took longer than expected, as do all my jobs, the first delay being in buying a platform as W2S suggested so that I could work at the proper height. Then the weather turned for the worse for a few days and after that I was away from home for a couple more days. When I finally got started, it then took a couple of days to chisel/drill out the groove so that I had room to insert the wedges. In the event, I did as W2S suggested and used hall clips; this made fixing the lead in place an absolute doddle. I finished off by using Lead Mate, again as recommended. It was this part of the job that I loathed most. I have silicone sealants with a vengeance. I can never get a clean finish to the bead.

On the topic of sealants, please don’t try telling me where I am going wrong. I have been given advice by so many people over the years, used all sorts of different means of smoothing, used masking type tape, not used masking tape etc. etc. and still it ends up a mess. I suppose part of the problem is that I only need to use the stuff once every few years so have never developed any sort of technique.

So once again, many thanks to all who gave advice.

P.S. Sorry W2S, my design guru decided against using lead patination oil as the existing lead looks OK.

 

[Bm101]

Defo won't suggest adding a bit of fairy to water in a spray bottle then and tooling with the back of a suitably profiled teaspoon handle then. Wiping excess off on paper towel and a retooling from just behind where you drew off and always maintaining an equal angle and pressure then a quick spray to stop any dust fouling your perfectly tooled mastic then.
Phew.
Thanks for the heads up. That was close.

Glad it went ok. =D>