diff --git a/.changeset/pinned-header-seam.md b/.changeset/pinned-header-seam.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aec7e0f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/pinned-header-seam.md
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+---
+"@pretable/ui": patch
+---
+
+The frozen-column seam now runs through the header row instead of starting
+below it.
+
+`--pretable-seam-color` was drawn by `[data-pretable-cell][data-pretable-pinned]`
+only. The pinned HEADER cells took the opaque `--pretable-bg-header` fill and
+nothing else, so the shadow that marks the frozen edge stopped dead at the
+header — a header-tall gap at the top of a boundary that is meant to run the
+height of the grid, visible on any grid with a pinned column and a horizontal
+scroll. The header's pinned rule is now split per side, each carrying the
+mirrored offset its body counterpart has.
+
+The guard that should have caught this named `[data-pretable-cell]` alone; it
+now covers the header rules too, on both sides, and checks that the seam did
+not cost the opaque fill.
diff --git a/packages/ui/grid.css b/packages/ui/grid.css
index a6146b3d..e87bbd7c 100644
--- a/packages/ui/grid.css
+++ b/packages/ui/grid.css
@@ -91,12 +91,23 @@
      the whole strip, but each header cell on top of it is a transparent box,
      so an unpinned header's label reads straight through a pinned one once it
      scrolls underneath. Pinned header cells need their own opaque fill, the
-     same one their body counterparts get below. */
-  :where(
-    [data-pretable-header-cell][data-pretable-pinned="left"],
-    [data-pretable-header-cell][data-pretable-pinned="right"]
-  ) {
+     same one their body counterparts get below.
+     They need the SEAM as well, and for a while they had only the fill: the
+     frozen edge is one boundary running the height of the grid, and the body
+     rule below draws it for the body rows only, so it stopped dead at the
+     header and left a header-tall gap in the middle of the seam. Split in two
+     rather than one rule for both sides because the offset has to mirror —
+     the same reason --pretable-seam-color holds a colour and not a shadow.
+     Only the OUTERMOST pinned cell's seam is ever seen: pinned siblings share
+     z-index 1, so each one paints over the shadow the cell before it cast,
+     exactly as the body's do. */
+  :where([data-pretable-header-cell][data-pretable-pinned="left"]) {
+    background: var(--pretable-bg-header);
+    box-shadow: 8px 0 8px -8px var(--pretable-seam-color);
+  }
+  :where([data-pretable-header-cell][data-pretable-pinned="right"]) {
     background: var(--pretable-bg-header);
+    box-shadow: -8px 0 8px -8px var(--pretable-seam-color);
   }
 
   /* Multi-sort priority badge (rendered only when 2+ columns are sorted) */
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/__tests__/css-cascade.test.ts b/packages/ui/src/__tests__/css-cascade.test.ts
index b2a93019..ce39e751 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/__tests__/css-cascade.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/__tests__/css-cascade.test.ts
@@ -51,10 +51,17 @@ describe("grid.css cascade contract", () => {
     const css = fs.readFileSync(GRID_CSS, "utf8");
     // The header row's own background sits BEHIND its cells; a transparent
     // pinned header cell lets a scrolled-under header's label read through it.
-    const rule = css.match(
-      /:where\(\s*\[data-pretable-header-cell\]\[data-pretable-pinned="left"\],\s*\[data-pretable-header-cell\]\[data-pretable-pinned="right"\]\s*\)\s*\{[^}]*\}/,
-    );
-    expect(rule?.[0]).toMatch(/background:\s*var\(--pretable-bg-header\)/);
+    // One rule per side, because each also carries its own mirrored seam (see
+    // the pinned-seam test) — a shared rule cannot hold two offsets.
+    for (const side of ["left", "right"]) {
+      const rule = css.match(
+        new RegExp(
+          `:where\\(\\[data-pretable-header-cell\\]\\[data-pretable-pinned="${side}"\\]\\)\\s*\\{[^}]*\\}`,
+        ),
+      );
+      expect(rule?.[0], `no ${side}-pinned header rule`).toBeDefined();
+      expect(rule?.[0]).toMatch(/background:\s*var\(--pretable-bg-header\)/);
+    }
   });
 
   test("pinned body cells and group rows have their own surface tokens", () => {
@@ -97,6 +104,28 @@ describe("grid.css cascade contract", () => {
       /box-shadow:\s*-8px 0 8px -8px var\(--pretable-seam-color\)/,
     );
 
+    // The HEADER's pinned cells draw the same seam with the same offsets. The
+    // frozen edge is one boundary running the height of the grid; a rule that
+    // reaches the body rows only leaves a header-tall gap in the middle of it,
+    // which is what shipped while this guard named the body cell alone.
+    const headerLeft = css.match(
+      /:where\(\[data-pretable-header-cell\]\[data-pretable-pinned="left"\]\)\s*\{([\s\S]*?)\}/,
+    )?.[1];
+    const headerRight = css.match(
+      /:where\(\[data-pretable-header-cell\]\[data-pretable-pinned="right"\]\)\s*\{([\s\S]*?)\}/,
+    )?.[1];
+    expect(headerLeft, "no left-pinned HEADER rule").toBeDefined();
+    expect(headerRight, "no right-pinned HEADER rule").toBeDefined();
+    expect(headerLeft).toMatch(
+      /box-shadow:\s*8px 0 8px -8px var\(--pretable-seam-color\)/,
+    );
+    expect(headerRight).toMatch(
+      /box-shadow:\s*-8px 0 8px -8px var\(--pretable-seam-color\)/,
+    );
+    // Same opaque fill as before — the seam must not have cost it.
+    expect(headerLeft).toMatch(/background:\s*var\(--pretable-bg-header\)/);
+    expect(headerRight).toMatch(/background:\s*var\(--pretable-bg-header\)/);
+
     // And a frozen column must not punch a notch through a group band: the
     // pinned rules follow the group-row rule at equal specificity, so the
     // restoring rule has to come after BOTH of them.