Lead roofing tends to get recycled into bullets in time of war, but those roofs that don't, are typically there forever (400+ years) and never leak. Some plastics are UV resistant due to additives but even copper struggles to compete with lead as a roofing material. You only need to look back to the 1970s to find PEX water piping and the disaster/flooding it can cause due to age.
> Lead roofing tends to get recycled into bullets in time of war
That's interesting - I've read that there are a lot of castles and stately houses whose demise started from the owners selling off the lead roof, but I never understood why it would be so valuable that you'd destroy the building for it. Is that why?
Using McMaster-Carr as a benchmark, lead sheet is a bit more expensive than the same size and thickness of 316 stainless sheet. One of these is extremely toxic and the other is pretty much harmless. (Also, 316 stainless won’t magically corrode if there’s condensation on it, and the Internet suggests this is a problem with lead.)
Sure, lead can be molded into place with traditional techniques if you can find a competent roofer with a sufficiently minimal desire for self-preservation. But modern standing seam roofs work pretty well.
