Advice and Information - Lead Roof Alternatives

Lead Roof Theft - Protect Your Money and Your Roof:

Protect Your Money from Lead Roof TheftLead is a great roofing material! Durable, malleable, reliable - but it's expensive to install, repair, and insure against increasing lead roof theft, meaning more and more property owners around the UK are looking for lead-free alternatives to lead roofing:

  • Theft and Vandalism: Lead has become attractive to thieves and replacement is costly and inconvenient. Theft and vandalism are now two of the most common reasons given by home owners around the UK seeking alternatives to traditional lead roofing.
  • Expense of Installation & Repair:  Lead roofing is expensive to install and repair. Problems with moisture, ventilation, thermal movement and wind 'lift' are all-too-common signs that a lead roof has been installed by an under-experienced contractor - a highly competent specialist roofer is required, for installation and for repair. In these cases, rotting and cracking of substrates and timbers can become pernicious, creating even bigger problems and more expense.
  • Insurance Cost: Lead roofs can be literally impossible to insure, especially where lead work has been stolen repeatedly for scrap. Much of our roofing work is for churches for whom lead theft has become serious. Some have been refused insurance outright owing to theft risk; others have found they can no longer afford the increasing insurance premiums and excess.
  • Environmental safety fears: Though roofing lead is generally stable, the poisonous nature of lead raises concern that lead may leach from flashings/guttering etc into vegetable gardens and the wider environment, leading some to seek alternative roof materials.

Until now, there has been no really good alternative to lead...

 

The liquid polymer roofing system is often called "liquid lead" because it retains so many of lead's advantages... without the disadvantages!

The liquid membrane system is even more flexible than lead, demands almost zero maintenance, is theft proof, is one of the safest roofing materials out there, lasts 15-25 years (depending on which system you choose), cost of installation is minimal - a tiny fraction of the cost of lead roofing - and it's simple and quick to reinstall at the end of its life. When replacement is needed (after 20 years or so), the polymer roof doesn't suffer from cracking or rotting - it simply "chalks" a little. Reinstatement is simplicity itself and will make your roof good for another 20 years! No special insurance is required - so no more unaffordable premiums and no worrying about what excess you'll have to pay if your lead work gets stolen.

For more info on the liquid polymer system as an alternative to lead roofing, call us FREE on 0808 144 2055 or email us. We respond to emails quickly and can answer all your questions about lead roofing.