Flats and Gutters.

TO prevent the boards warping and curling up at their edges, by the heat of the sun upon the lead flat, they should be of narrow widths and well seasoned; and they should be nailed down at each edge, for it not only spoils the appearance of a lead flat to see board-markings showing up through it, but it is detrimental to the lead.

2. The boards should be laid to run the way of the fall, and where the place to be covered is of great length, the flat should be so constructed that the drips shall not be more than 10 ft. apart. The fall should not be less than 1 1/2 in. in 10 ft., and the drips about 2 in. deep.

3. The plumber in setting out the rolls should so arrange them that where there are skylights, chimneys, or other projections through the flat, the rolls shall come in at the corners of such obstacles, so as to do away with as many breaks as he can; but due regard must be paid to the general appearance of the flat, and the symmetry of the rolls.

4. In planning the position of the rolls, the width of the sheet from which the lead is to be cut should be considered, for it prevents much waste to split a sheet down the middle; but the rolls should not be more than about 2 ft. 9 in. apart, and a sheet 7 ft. wide, when split down the middle, will do this very well. (Chap. XII., Art. 20.)

5. The lead in wider widths than about 2 ft. 9 in. between the rolls is not so durable as in narrower widths.

Under the rays of the sun the middle part of a bay is drawn up to a height sometimes of several inches; and when the rolls are not too far apart, and proper freedom has been allowed for expansion and contraction, the lead will go back to its bed again at night, often with a loud report. (Rolls, Chap. XII.)

6. The rolls should be continued to butt with the end of the drip, or cut off in a line with the face of the gutter. When they are cut off short, 1/2 in. or so back from the arris of the drip, or arris of the gutter, the wet is sure to get in through the lap at the end of the roll, and rot the woodwork.

Fig. 20.

Fig. 21.

7. A long gutter with a sloping roof on each side, fig. 21, should have its lowest end only just wide enough for a snow-shovel to move in, as with several drips, and a fall of 1 1/2 in. between the drips, the gutter at its upper end will be too wide for one piece of lead. When the width of a gutter exceeds about 2 ft. 6 in. or 3 ft., especially if exposed to the sun, a roll should be fixed down the middle to reduce the width of any one piece of lead. The drips (Art. 5, Chap. IX.) should not be less than 1 1/2 in., and are better 2 in. deep. They should not be more than 10 ft. apart.

8. The wood tilt or edge of the springing should be kept up about 3 or 3 1/2 in. from the sole of the gutter, and the lead continued up to go under the slates or tiles 6 in. beyond it, as shown in figs. 20 and 21. In roof-gutters to churches, where heavy falls of snow often remain for some time before they are cleared, the springing should be kept up 4 or 5 in. from the bottom of the gutter, and the drips should be deeper, 2 1/2 in. or 3 in. deep.

Fig. 22.

9. When in deep gutters a side or the sides of a gutter are vertical, and of wood, to be covered with lead, it is better to fix apron-flashings to them, rather than continue up the stand-up of the gutter to flash itself, as shown at c, fig. 22. This apron-flashing, when more than about 9 in. deep vertically, should be welted at the ends, and not lapped. (Chap. XIV., Art. 15.)

10. Where flats and gutters abut against brick or stone walls, or other vertical faces, the lead should be turned up against such faces to stand a height of 6 in., as shown at c, fig. 22, so that, with a proper cover-flashing over the Stand-up, there may be no risk from rain-splashings, rain-water, or snow-water. In some positions, where the sun has access to one part of a flat, or one part of a gutter, and not to another, snow is often melted into little pools where it cannot run away; and in such cases, where the stand-up is very low, or where the drips are shallow, the snow-water finds an easy way into the interior. (Chap. XIV., Art. 18.)