Zinc roofing and cladding solutions

A loft dormer is where a zinc roof sits well on residential property's. Cheeks, roof, fascias and the junction to the tiles or slate all have to read as one piece. standing seam on the cheeks stops the dormer looking like a box stuck on the slope. Flat lock is the other honest option where the cheeks are short and the junctions are tight.

We set out the panel width so the seams meet the window reveals and the verge, not so the last bay is a sliver. The Ilford dormers on our projects page are this detail: VMZINC Quartz-Zinc, seams running with the cheeks.

Send the loft drawings or a few photographs. We will say whether standing seam or flat lock is the right zinc dormer for the pitch and the planning drawing. 

Rear and side extensions are the other everyday zinc job. A single-storey roof wants a low seam, a clean abutment to the house wall, and a gutter that does not dump water into the cavity. Standing seam in zinc will go to low pitches when the build-up doent aloow a steep pitch. We will not force a 4 degree roof onto a substrate that cannot take it.

On any roof we follow the mill build-up: deck, vapour control, insulation, and a ventilated or compact system that the warranty can stand on. VMZINC publishes BBA certificates for its structural and compact warm roofs. We install to that logic. We do not cover a wet deck and hope.

Zinc is the one we specify when the building should weather rather than stay a painted colour. 

 Zinc cladding is usually the same metal and RAL colour as the roof, used on walls, dormer cheeks, feature bays and full facades. Standing seam can run from roof to foundation so the envelope reads as one. On a wall we use many systems where the mill recommends it, so the face  can sit flatter or match a standing seam roof.

Rainscreen zinc is a different build-up: a vented cavity, usually 25/50mm mm, behind the panel. Flat lock and ADEKA sit on a continuous vented board. We will say which one the wall and recommended substrate can actually take before anyone orders coil or panels. 

Standing seam is a single or double-lock joint, 25 mm high, fixed with hidden stainless clips that never pierce the face. Panels can run up to 13 m. Centres are commonly 430, 530 or 600 mm. Weight is about 6 kg/m2. Pitches from 4 degrees, where the build-up allows, up to a vertical wall. This is the system for long  roofs and cladding runs.

 Also called zinc shingles. Panels with a hem that locks into the next, held by cleats, on a vented board. Square, rectangular or diamond. Useful on cheeks, bays and facades where a long standing-seam tray will not turn the corner. ZINC flat lock is limited by panel size; larger faces need thicker zinc.

The traditional  heritage hard-metal roof: timber rolls, zinc cappings, and a wider bay than a standing seam. The right choice on a heritage or listed building where a modern seam would look wrong. Formed on site. 

VMZINC’s small preformed element, about 400 mm square, with a locking key. About 8.8 elements to the square metre. For roofs of 15 degrees and over, and for facades. Quartz-Zinc and Anthra-Zinc are the usual finishes. It reads as a scale, not as a seam.

Zinc gutters, outlets and downpipes formed to suit the roof, not bought as an afterthought. A zinc roof with a plastic gutter is a missed junction.