Roofs and flat roofs
One step of lead flashing has lifted and the rest are dressed down. What weather entry is local to that step?
The weather entry local to that step is wind-driven rain at the lifted piece of lead, into the gap that one step has opened. The other steps are still dressed down, so the note is not a failure of the whole flashing run. Rain can reach the chase or the abutment at the lifted step only, while the dressed steps still cover their own courses. The survey has recorded one lifted step. It has not water-tested it, has not said how much rain gets in, and has not specified new lead for the steps that remain tight.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Step flashing works course by course. Each piece covers one short length of the abutment. When a single step lifts, wind can get under that piece and water can track at that course, often onto the soakers or the wall at that height. The steps still dressed down are doing what they were shaped to do. Replacing the entire run because one piece has lifted is a wider job than the defect the survey saw. The local entry is the open step, and that is the piece to point to.
A lead worker can redress or refix that step and check the chase at that course. Tell the solicitor the report is one lifted step, not a condemned chimney flashing. The survey has not priced a full renewal and has not water-tested the junction. Leave the lead as it was found. Standing on the slope to stamp the step back can crease it and open it further. If soakers were not seen, keep that as the separate limit it is, rather than folding it into this one lifted piece.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which step has lifted, and were the neighbouring steps still dressed down?
- Did you see a gap into the chase at that step only?
- Was any water test done, or is the entry only the opening you could see?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the weather entry local to the one lifted step.
- Ask a lead worker to redress that step rather than renewing every step by default.
- Do not stamp the lead back into place on a viewing.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the mortar over the other steps is cracked, is the whole run open?
Cracked mortar would be its own note about the chase. This finding is one lifted step, with the rest dressed down. The survey has not turned cracks elsewhere into a failure of every step. The home survey itself did not pursue this mortarstep question any further than the visit.
Does a stain inside at chimney height prove this step is the source?
A stain shows wetting was noticed at that height. The survey did not water-test the lifted step and has not proved it is the source. The local opening is still the defect to show a roofer. No later decision about the chimneystain was made, and this visit did not supply one.