Loft Conversion - use of zinc or lead?

Zinc is slowly becoming more acceptable as weatherings and flashings for loft conversions simply due to the escalating price of lead and how it has become a commodity for stealing by certain members of the visiting European community and UK low life’s alike.

I still prefer the use of lead simply for its longer life an ease of working malleability. Some dormer windows including the rood and vertical wall cladding of the dormer are also sometimes clad in lead and again alternative materials are becoming more popular for the same reasons of theft and cost.

Zinc sheet is just one. Powder coated steel or aluminium sheeting with standing seams is another variant for cladding the external surfaces of a dormer window for a loft conversion. More natural materials are still used for the dormer walls such as tiles, slates, timber boarding and upvc boarding.

Zinc is a good all round material for cladding and weatherings for a loft conversion provided they are of the required minimum thickness.