More often than not leadlights wil be in bad condition broken panes and bowing are usually the main problems - with antique leadlights, since the glass is not manufactured anymore - broken panes can be hard to replace - this is why its crucial to get the best local knowledge in - the repairers i spoke with had stocks of this antique hammered glass - not a lot but they would actually keep it because they knew it would be needed to replace broken panes. In fact the guy i found to restore the panes had actually repaired the house next door when they converted it into flats. Although its important to note here that you can sometimes find great antique leadlights down old markets like the sunday market in brick lane or even old doors - i will write a post on that later.
You will most likely find that on certain doors that are used a lot namely front doors the leadlights will bow in the direction of the door swing, they are only held in place with lead came - the worst bowing can be repaired but on the whole its not the best idea to do anything about the less serious bowing. Leave it to the repairer to decide.
Its better to get in professional repairers who work for firms rather than the ones who moonlight - they both have access to the same antique glass but the ones who are working for a firm will take more care when repairing the leadlights.
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