Zinc vs Lead Roofing

Both are long-lived metals. One online cost guide puts lead flashing at over 80 years, and the zinc maker VMZinc says its own environmental product declaration, on file with the building research body, states 100 years for zinc. The zinc figure comes from a manufacturer, which has an interest in it, so read both as figures for good conditions and not as promises for your roof. Any guarantee you are offered tells you about the contractor's promise, not about the metal's natural span.

What actually shortens life is detail and workmanship. Lead tires where it is over-long, over-fixed or too thin, as our answer on why lead flashing cracks explains. Zinc suffers where water sits on it or where it is laid on a damp or unsuitable surface, and it needs proper ventilation and drainage beneath to dry out.

So the honest answer is that neither will outlast a badly fitted version of the other. A well-detailed lead flashing and a well-detailed zinc roof can both be long-term choices, and warranties on either are separate from how long the metal might last.

Lead weathers to a dull, even grey as its carbonate crust forms, and it has long been the traditional metal on old roofs, church roofs and period houses. Zinc starts bright and gradually takes on a blue-grey patina. Many people find zinc a crisper, more modern finish, and lead the more familiar one on a traditional house.

Handling differs too. Lead is soft and heavy, and can be bossed by hand into almost any corner without a join, as our answer on lead welding vs bossing describes. Zinc is lighter but stiffer and less forgiving, so complicated shapes usually mean folded seams and soldered or mechanically joined corners.

Where the job is one small roof or a single detail, such as a bay window top, a porch canopy or a dormer, the shape often settles the question. A rounded or irregular outline favours lead, which can be formed over it in one piece. A clean, straight run with standing seams, where the metal is folded up along its joints, suits zinc. Zinc also needs a sound, well-prepared base beneath it, so the base matters as much as the sheet itself.

Lead is usually thought of as the premium metal, and Checkatrade's June 2026 table gives £50 to £70 per metre for mending lead flashing and £80 to £120 per metre for stepped lead in Code 5, as national guide figures. A zinc price cannot be put alongside it fairly, because it depends on the profile, the seams and the deck, and only a survey of your roof settles it.

What decides the price is more than the metal. Access and scaffold, the length of the run, how many corners and the state of the surface beneath all count. On a small job, labour and access often matter more than the sheet itself.

A quote should name the metal, the thickness or code, and say how it will be fixed. Whichever metal you choose, expect one total in writing once the roof has been surveyed, and ask whether VAT and scaffold are inside it. Our lead roof cost per m2 answer goes through what drives lead pricing.

When two metals touch or one drains onto the other, check compatibility first. VMZinc lists copper, brass, steel, cast iron and chrome as metals zinc should not touch directly, so the detail at any join needs care. Ask your roofer, and the zinc manufacturer's guidance, before the two are used together, and keep gutters, fixings and flashings in compatible materials.

Theft is another consideration. Lead is a metal that thieves target, and some owners of exposed buildings weigh that when choosing a metal. It is something to discuss with your insurer and your roofer, and the details of what to do after a theft are covered in our answer on lead stolen from a roof.

As a rule, lead suits traditional houses, complicated shapes and details that need hand forming. Zinc suits clean modern lines and larger flat or gently curved sections. If a listed or period building is involved, check with the council's conservation team before changing metal, since a change of material can need consent. Fixings, gutters and flashings that touch the metal should be chosen to suit it, and the roofer should be able to say why. We survey and photograph first, then give one written price. Read more on our lead work page.