There are good reasons lead has been popular in roofing - it's durable, easy to form around complex detailing and has an even, clean finish that looks great. However, lead extraction is environmentally hazardous and, over time, lead roofing components can leach toxic metal into groundwater and soil. With rising scrap metal prices, it's also a huge theft risk. In all our many years of working with various roofing systems, the polymer system is hands-down the best alternative to lead we've found (it's known as "Liquid Lead" in the industry). It mimics the traditional lead aesthetic almost exactly, expands & contracts to withstand movement and is 'perfect forming' around details such as chimney stacks, outlets and skylights. Used for flashings and fixings, on small porches, large church roofs and everything in between, it's theftproof, weatherproof, fireproof, durable, seamless and jointless. All for a fraction of the cost of lead.
Lead Roof Alternative
These problematic chimneys, in a conservation area at the old gas works in Aberystwyth, West Wales, needed waterproofing.
The chimney pots themselves were disused, having been capped with matching terracotta ventilation caps, which were removable to allow change of use of the chimney flue.
To begin with, the pointing around the chimney stacks was ground out with flat blade diamond discs to 30mm, then repointed with premixed lime…
This porch canopy in Kidwelly (SA16 / SA17) was in desperate need of replacement as a result of continual lead theft.
Leadwork on higher roofs is frequently stolen but the easier, lower reach of this canopy had made it especially attractive to thieves.
For a small area, this required an unusual amount of work as the entire canopy needed to be constructed from scratch. The forming and construction work of this 13ft wild canopy…
This property in Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire in South Wales (SA17) required a complete refurbishment of the existing lead awning running the length of one wall and then curving around a corner. As the photographs show, the lead had seriously perished, creating damage to the underlying waterproofing and areas of water ingress.
We stripped off all the existing leadwork and replaced it all with our lead-look polymer system (the polymer…
Bronnant or Bronant Primary School located between Aberystwyth and Tregaron in Ceredigion. A section of lead work sandwiched awkwardly between various roofs had split, exposing the substrate to the elements. We have worked on many schools around Ceredigion, thanks to the polymer system's uniquely low-impact process as well as the speed of installation. The system causes so little disruption that activities can usually be continued in the…
Sadly, schools are all-too-common victims of metal roof theft, especially lead - see this one in Skelmersdale and this one in Swindon, the latter of which resulted in the collapse of three classroom roofs, fortunately without any injuries. These articles highlight both the scale of the problem and the dangers metal theft can pose. With schools, it is most often children who are at risk.
Another recent metal theft victim was…
This roof in Preston, Lancashire needed an alternative to its existing lead panel roofing. The work extended over relatively small areas on two levels, including an irregularly shaped area to the fore.
This was both quick and straightforward for the polymer system - also known as "liquid lead" it easily coated the problem areas, providing a fully waterproof and weatherproof jointless, seamless new roof for the area in only a few…