How Long Does Lead Roofing Last?

As we explained last month, lead is widely used in roofing. This is most often for flashing, but sometimes lead sheets can form the main roofing material. One of its advantages is its durability, but how long exactly can you expect your lead roofing to last?

The Durability of Lead

One of the main reasons lead is still widely used in roofing, in spite of certain manageable risks, is its high level of durability. All being well, lead roofing or flashing should last for at least two hundred years — quite possibly outlasting the building itself.

This means that, as long as lead roofing is correctly installed, it should very rarely need to be worked on. Since the main risk of lead roofing is when someone has to work close up to it, its durability means that risk is likely to be minimal.

Why Might It Go Wrong?

As mentioned, properly installed lead roofing can easily last for two hundred years or more, so it’s highly unlikely you’ll need to replace it unless you have a very old house.

However, if the original installation was sloppy, or the contractors cut corners, problems could show up a good deal sooner than this. While the lead should be resistant to the battering of the weather, there could be damage if the ends of the lead rolls haven’t been fixed down securely enough.

Even then, it’s unlikely that the whole of the lead roofing or flashing materials will need to be replaced. The most common way of repairing damage to lead roofing is simply to weld a new sheet of lead over the damaged part.

How Do I Know if My Lead Roofing Needs Repairing?

Even if you don’t need to completely replace your lead roofing, you may still need to have it repaired. Any likely fault, such as cracking or the lead sheet pulling away, is likely to result in water leaking into the house. If your whole roof is lead, then you could simply follow the normal procedures to detect a leak, such as checking for water stains on the walls inside or looking up through the loft space for points of lights.

If you only have lead flashing, however, you’ll need to investigate close up to find out whether it’s the leadworks or the tiles that are damaged. If you’re experienced at working at heights and have the correct equipment, you could do this yourself, but in general, it’s advisable to get a professional roofing contractor to check this out.

The best way to ensure that the lead on your roof, whether roofing or flashing, outlasts you by a couple of centuries is to have it installed by experts. If you inherit faulty leadwork, though, you can still have it effectively repaired. Give us a ring to find out more.