LEADING UK ZINC ROOFING SUPPLIERS

Click here for an easy-to-use listing of leading UK suppliers of zinc roofing, provided by Archbone.

Zinc sheet is made by continuous casting and rolling to a maximum coil width of 1000 mm. The two standard zinc sheet products are the pure metal (99.995% pure) and the alloy with small additions of titanium and copper (eg 0.07% and 0.08% minima respectively). The rolling process modifies the grain structure of the zinc sheet, particularly in the pure metal, but this does not affect the working of the sheets.

Zinc alloy roofing has improved performance in respect of strength and creep resistance, and also a reduced coefficient of thermal expansion which enables the construction of zinc roofing bays up to 10 m, or in some cases up to 16 m in length. Fixings for zinc roofing should be galvanised or stainless steel. Zinc roofing clips are made of zinc, cut along the rolled direction of the sheet and folded across the grain. Watertight joints in zinc roofing may be made by soldering using tin/lead solder with zinc chloride flux.

Both the roll cap and standing seam systems can be used for fully supported zinc roofing. Welted joints are standard practice for zinc roofing at pitches of more than 15%. Below 15% drips are necessary in zinc roofing. Timber roof boarding, oriented strand board or plywood forms the ideal substructures for zinc roofing, but chipboard is inappropriate, except cement-bonded particle board for cladding.

Other useful links relevant to zinc roofing:

National Federation of Roofing Contractors
Metal Cladding & Roofing Manufacturers Association

DETAILED INFORMATION RESOURCES ON ZINC ROOFING

We recommend the following websites, with building product information including manufacturers' specs, standard specifications, and CAD details: Barbour Compendium, RIBA Product Selector Plus, ASC Bricsnet, Building Products Index, British Board of Agrément, British Standards Online.