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Lead stains on conservatory

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76
Location
Herts/Essex borders
Hi folks. I’m sure this has been covered before but the search bar didn’t throw anything up.

Any clues as to removing lead stains from glass. It’s leeched from the lead flashing and I’m not sure if any chemicals would remove it safely. The roof glass can only really be accessed with pole. Gez

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Never tried it but it might be worth a try if you can apply enough pressure. I always do it by hand using a cloth. Same method as polishing a car but with a lot more pressure. If it is self cleaning then I’d try a bit first just incase it reacts but it’s always been fine for me in the past.


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Bar keepers friend is the easiest. If you can’t get access though the only option would be to mix it to a stodgy paste and use the Gardiner scraper with fine pad (absolutely soak the pad in the paste) - just make sure the roof is clean first and keep the pad clear of dirt and grit otherwise you’ll scratch the glass

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Thanks for all the tips. Will see what the custie says re price


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If you are going to get involved, I would buy the cleaner and then try to clean a patch to see if it will work.

Its only once you have done that that you we be able to see if you can do it, give an estimate and see if even the jobs worth doing.

Many years ago we had a conservatory glass roof clean that was butted up against the wall with lead flashing. The lead flashing had stained the glass something chronic. We did our best, but although the glass was clean, the staining never budged. We spent a couple of hours on it (much more time than estimated) and the result was a very unhappy customer.

We learnt from that and don't do anything like that these days. We will clean the glass but we can't do anything about the staining. Suggest they call in a specialist or replace the glass roof after removing the lead.

IMHO you are on a path to nowhere if its anything like what we had.

 
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Oh yes it’s certainly a graft. I’d class it more along the lines of restoration than cleaning and for that reason I’d probs charge double my normal hourly rate. Happy days if the custys willing to pay it. Last one I did took me around 15 mins per 2’x5’ pane so you if you’ve a nice size atrium you will be there a while.


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