Choosing Copper or Zinc, What's the Difference?

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Aside from the obvious difference in colour and material, zinc and copper gutters sport a few technical differences. While on the topic of colour, although both systems are made of materials that change colour throughout their lifetime, they change into very different colours and have a different ageing timeline.

Copper gutters will age as per the approximate timeline below.

Though this ageing process for copper can be sped up to achieve the twenty years of ageing effect within a couple of hours with some verdigris solution. Click here to view our full article on the ageing process of copper gutters. Zinc gutters also change colour throughout their lifetime, but they change through a different set of colours to copper.

Zinc will start off as purchased; a dark silver colour. Through the initial months and years, the gutter will turn more blue and darker, almost like our anthracite grey PVC gutters. As the years go by this new grey will get lighter. Zinc gutters have even been documented to eventually turn white when installed in coastal locations.

Our copper gutters are made from 0.6mm copper and our zinc gutters are created with 0.7mm zinc, both of which are 100% recyclable. A unique trait of copper is that the material’s properties itself slightly disinfect water that runs through it and it also acts as a mild algaecide, removing the opportunity for most moss and lichen to grow. Zinc does not have this feature. Copper gutters also do not suffer from underside corrosion like many other materials for guttering.