Makeitstop Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 (edited) Hi all, I am planning to add a smallish single story kitchen extension to my home and within the design there is a zinc cladding element to the rear and part of one side facade. Has anyone used zinc in their project and if so, are you glad you used it and are you still pleased with the finished product? I am aware there are alternative products such as greencoat etc, but this question is specifically aimed at zincs. Also, if anyone knows what it ended up costing per sq metre, along with approximate areas, that would be interesting too. Thanks all. Edited January 13, 2021 by Makeitstop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 @Makeitstop we used zinc for the roof, cladding to some of the first floor and some corner details. We had planned on using Tata Steel and did their one day course, however with the Tata system we were going to struggle with some of the more intricate details and their communication was poor so we made an 11th ish hour switch to VM Zinc, and mighty glad we did. Had we gone with Tata the full length roof panels would have been delivered to site, we have difficult access so each sheet would have been carried from a flat bed 200m up a track. The zinc was done by one man in a Ford Transit. He unloaded his folding machine, unloaded a big roll of zinc, ran it through his folding machine and produced a custom roof sheet in a very short space of time. He hand made all the fiddly bits plus all the window reveals in such a way that the reveals could be removed at a future date to gain access to the inner workings of the exterior blinds should the need arise. It has once already. More expensive I’m sure but the custom element was invaluable to us. That was a bit long and rambling but in a nutshell, yes, glad we used zinc. Ours is very dark, bordering on black, it makes almost no expansion noise when the sun hits it, it can get very hot to the touch and cobwebs on a frosty morning stand out like a dogs danglies. I shall endeavour to work out a m2 price for you when I have a mo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makeitstop Posted January 13, 2021 Author Share Posted January 13, 2021 Sounds like an interesting project. A cost per metre would be absolutely fantastic, thanks Russ. Feel free to send an image too. I like the darker zincs a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 Image will be easy. Here’s a frosty morning one (cobwebs n all) m2 price will take me longer. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Potter Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 A well done zinc roof can look fantastic. One of the keys to achieving this it to design and prepare the substrate properly. Make sure you detail for condensation too! For example, sometimes you may have a gutter detail at the bottom with a lap. Study the manufacturer's installation details really carefully as you may need to use a slightly thinner "sarking board" here so as to avoid a bump in the zinc. Also, make sure you isolate the zinc from dissimilar metals that can cause significant corrosion of the zinc and quickly spoil the roof. You'll find a lot of this info in the manufacturer's literature. Follow this and you will have a roof that lasts, often beyond expectation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 10 minutes ago, Gus Potter said: One of the keys to achieving this it to design and prepare the substrate properly. Make sure you detail for condensation too! Absolutely correct and something I was going to mention when I got round to digging out the m2 price because that won’t include all the marine ply and breather membrane our zinc is laid on. But the substrate detail holds true for any of the choices I would have thought. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Potter Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 43 minutes ago, Russdl said: Absolutely correct and something I was going to mention when I got round to digging out the m2 price because that won’t include all the marine ply and breather membrane our zinc is laid on. But the substrate detail holds true for any of the choices I would have thought. Cracking photo, looks great, Russdl. The zinc can make for some great clean lines. Just teasing, but are the wheelie bins always in line too? With some roofs, especially renovations with say an irregular smaller slate (eg Ballachulish) or maybe a pan tile roof you can often get away with a few lumps and bumps. I think the zinc is less forgiving..? but it can be worth the extra effort in the right circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 @Gus Potter I think you’ll find the blue bin is actually not quite in line. I’ll have a word with it on the morning it clearly needs to smarten itself up. The zinc definitely has the potential to be unforgiving, 0.8mm thick, and as you mentioned earlier, without careful detail at the gutter you’ll get a definite line appearing over time where the two zinc layers overlap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makeitstop Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 @ Gus potter... Interesting points. Have to admit however, whoever I do get to tackle this should be aware of the details you mentioned I'd hope. This is not going to be DIY at all. I would like to achieve as flat as possible a finish with it, so there is certainly a way to achieve that I'm sure. If I am going to end up paying a fair chunk of cash to use such a product, I want to get the best from it. @ Russdl.... If you do manage to get an approx per mtr costing for your job, I'd be keen to hear it. Can PM me with that if preferred. Also, an indication on the time they spent in doing it would be appreciated. From what I can gather from initial checks, it doesn't seem like the most cost effective choice of finish. It appears all the cost is wrapped up in paying the installers, as the material price is not that bad imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 @Makeitstop It took around two weeks to fit the zinc. That does not include the substrate. It’s tricky to give an accurate m2 figure for the zinc because of everything else that was done as well (gutters, down pipes, window cills and reveals, corner details to house etc etc) However it was circa £80/m2 for the supply and fit of the zinc roofs and walls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makeitstop Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 That sounds like a very good price for VM anthra, although I guess you're talking of a few hundred metres of coverage overall yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 @Makeitstop yes it was a good couple of hundred m2 and it was a friend of a friend that did it which I think helped. It became impossible to compare prices because of all the ‘specials’ we were having that could only have been made on site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gc100 Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 My wife wanted Zinc roof - I wasn't so sure , but I love it now. Ours cost £130/m2 roughly but not include the wood buildup underneath. They was there for 3 weeks in total and had 6 guys are one point. I also looked at the steel based solutions (like TATA etc) however if you need some fine details or specific requirements it cannot be done. The great thing about Zinc is that they can pretty much do anything. We really wanted hidden gutters and was key to the over all design so it was what made the decision in the end. Some pics. Ignore the cable on the roof - that's for solar panels to be fitted. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 very nice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 gc100, can I ask if your hidden gutter is an off-the-shelf system or fabricated by the roofers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramco Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 21 hours ago, Makeitstop said: there is a zinc cladding element Havre you looked at aluminium - not as long lasting but probably cheaper £130 per sq m sounds astronomical. We spoke to a local standing seam co and aluminium is as versatile as zinc apparently - again you'd have to be careful about making sure you don't get bi-metalic corrosion. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 @gc100 that looks really good, especially the concealed gutter. Concealed gutters were on our wish list but I chickened out as things were getting more and more complex for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makeitstop Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 4 hours ago, Russdl said: @Makeitstop yes it was a good couple of hundred m2 and it was a friend of a friend that did it which I think helped. It became impossible to compare prices because of all the ‘specials’ we were having that could only have been made on site. I thought £80 per sq mtr sounded competitive. Was that a favourable rate via connection or was it their usual rates? Was the work done within the last few years Russdl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makeitstop Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, Bramco said: Havre you looked at aluminium - not as long lasting but probably cheaper £130 per sq m sounds astronomical. We spoke to a local standing seam co and aluminium is as versatile as zinc apparently - again you'd have to be careful about making sure you don't get bi-metalic corrosion. Simon Well, the job I'm considering cladding for is very small, and so that's perhaps why I've had (what appears to me) outrageous quotes on price. @ £130 per metre, I'd be fairly happy. But the quotes I've had are not even remotely near that. I kind of get the impression that as soon as zinc is mentioned to an installer, they can only hear...kerching! It sort of feels that if you enquire about using the stuff, everyone feels you are willing, to fling wads of money at your project. Edited January 14, 2021 by Makeitstop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makeitstop Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 @ gc100.... lovely looking job that. Thanks for replying to my thread. How long ago was this done for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 27 minutes ago, Makeitstop said: Was that a favourable rate via connection Yep, as I said it was a friend of a friend (actually someone who did work for a friend of a friend) and that price was just for the fitted zinc and best guess at what just the roofing panels would have cost as they are pretty easy to make and fit. It was all finished about a year ago. We looked at aluminium when we realised Tata wasn't going to work out. That was going to be very expensive but more significantly, it was a big company and their T&C's seemed pretty onerous, that may have just been standard blurb and once on site they would have been more flexible but it put me off. Then a friend put me in touch with a friend who had a man with a van who did zinc work. He was brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makeitstop Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 Not sure if I've uploaded this ok, but this provides an idea of scale of the cladding I mention above. As can be seen, this is a small extension of approx 6.5 metres wide by 3.5 metres deep. The zinc element was considered simply to break to horrendous expanse of brick at the rear of the building. Anyone want to guess what this zinc work could cost. Vertical cladding plus capping to parapet. design.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 @Makeitstop so what is it, about 14m2 of zinc? You're going to say about £3K I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makeitstop Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 Hi Russ, Well, yes, by the time the sliders (3 metres wide by std height) are removed from the area to be clad, I'm looking at perhaps 15 sq metres tops, plus of course the required copings to parapet wall. Would you say £3k is expensive? Curious... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 @Makeitstop Is it £3K? If it is, and just for the zinc then yes, I'd say it definitely is expensive. If it is and it includes the battens, ply and downpipes etc? Then it's getting better. Actually, where does the rain water go? From the zinc cladding aspect it looks relatively straight forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now