Repair and renovation

Lead is a soft material and tends to fail eventually, where it meets the hard solder joints. This causes the panel to become lose, and causes the cement sealant to fail, causing the panel to rattle and leak. Most stained glass panels will require releading after 100 years or so, sooner if they have been fitted in an opening window or a door.

Releading has to take place in our workshop, where the panel is carefully separated into it's individual panes of glass. These are then cleaned, with any broken pieces replaced. The panes are re leaded to match the original lead work, then cemented to provide strength and weatherproofing. The whole unit is then cleaned and polished ready for glazing.

It is possible to repair minor damage with the window in place. Although this method is acceptable on a relatively new panel, it is not recommended for older windows.

A window cannot be properly repaired or restored in place if it is bulging or sagging far out of plane, if over 5% to 10% of the glass is broken, or if the solder joints are failing