If the goal is to have your home or buildings make an architectural impact, then moving beyond ordinary roofing materials and practices is a must. In areas where traditional asphalt shingles dominate the roofing market, switching to a metal roof can often make a statement. To take metal roofing to the next level, zinc roofing is the clear choice.
Metals can be broken down into two categories: natural and painted. In this article, I’ll be highlighting natural metals – specifically zinc. Natural metals are either pure or alloyed and weather according to the environment in which they’re exposed. Often considered a “living” material, zinc forms a protective outer layer, or crust, called the ‘patina’. An interesting fact about zinc is that it’s a ‘self-healing’ material – that’s right – it heals itself when scratched by forming (or re-forming) the patina through wetting and drying cycle, so that the scratch blends, and eventually disappears.
What contributes to zinc’s overall appeal?
- It’s (very) long-lasting; when properly installed, a zinc roof can last 80 years.
- It’s low-to-no-maintenance.
- It’s environmentally friendly; and infinitely recyclable – without loss of properties and, unlike other roofing materials, zinc will not end up in a landfill.
- Its unique ability to look great on any type of architecture: from Traditional to Modern and everything in between.
Zinc roofing can provide an architectural aesthetic that few other materials can achieve.
This image above shows the patination process under 30 times magnification. It can take 5 months to 5 years for a roof to patina and will depend on the micro-climate that it resides.
This church above, in Reutlingen, Germany only needed a partial re-roof after 120-years of service.
Both images are homes with standing seam roofs in prePATINA blue-grey – same application; very different looks.
