Zinc is not for the faint of heart. The key is learning proper installation techniques.
Of course the answer is B! Zinc is not for the faint of heart, but this “new” material has been used extensively in Europe for over a century, including 84 percent of the roofs in Paris. “Zinc is similar to copper in that it lasts a long time,” says Jonathan Lowy, technical marketing manager for Umicore Building Products USA Inc. Umicore’s headquarters are in Belgium and its building products division is located in Paris. The company introduced its product, VM Zinc, to the North American market about three years ago, though it has been producing zinc for about 170 years. “There are some 130-year-old zinc roofs in Europe. These may be exceptions, but zinc roofs will definitely last 50 to 80 years,” says Lowy.