The short answer
Lead and copper both make durable flashings. Lead is soft, dull grey and dresses easily around awkward shapes. Copper is stiffer, starts bright and weathers through brown towards green, and its run-off can streak stone and harm other metals. Lead is the usual choice on older roofs. Ask for both to be priced on an itemised quote, because no single national copper figure is reliable.
How copper and lead look on a roof
New lead is bright for a few weeks, then dulls to a flat grey as a thin carbonate layer forms. That layer is protective, and it is why lead sits so quietly against slate or stone. Copper behaves differently. It starts as a warm, shiny pink-orange, darkens to brown and, over a long time, develops the green coating known as verdigris. Some people want that change, and others find it too loud against a grey roof.
On a Stroud roof the setting matters. Lead blends with slate, stone tiles and old rendered chimneys. Copper stands out, which suits a bay or a porch that is meant to be a feature, and can look odd on an otherwise plain roof. Listed status or a conservation area makes a change of metal a question for Stroud District Council's planning team, since the look of the roof changes.
Staining and run-off
Every metal sheds a little into the rain that crosses it. Lead run-off can leave pale marks on masonry below. Copper is better known for streaks: as rain washes copper salts down a wall, porous limestone and render can take on a green or brown tint that is hard to remove. A chimney flashing in copper over pale Cotswold stone is the textbook case for it.
Copper also does not sit well above other metals. Run-off from copper onto zinc or aluminium can attack them, so a copper flashing above a zinc gutter or an aluminium window needs thought. That is a reason roofers weigh up what is below a flashing, as well as the flashing itself. Our answer on lead or zinc for a period roof covers the other metal that often sits beside lead.
Working the metal: dressing, joints and movement
Lead is the more forgiving metal to fit. It is soft enough to be dressed into the profile of a stone course, a rough mortar joint or a curved chimney shoulder with hand tools, and that is why leadwork on an old, uneven wall has been the default for so long. Its weakness is movement: it expands and contracts, and long runs can crack, which is why it is cut into short lengths. Our answer on why lead cracks explains how and why.
Copper is harder and springier, so it needs more precise folding and holds a crisp shape. Joints are made by folding and soldering rather than by lapping alone, which suits clean modern lines and is less forgiving on irregular masonry. Neither metal is a do-it-yourself material. Both reward a roofer who dresses them carefully and fixes them in a way that lets them move.
What each costs, and what we can say
For lead, there are published national figures. Lead has published national figures: £150 to £200 or more per m² for a lead flat roof (MyBuilder, 2026), and £50 to £70 per metre for Code 5 flashing repairs, ex VAT (Checkatrade). A chimney flashing patch runs £150 to £250 on MyJobQuote's 2026 figures.
We have no equivalent published range for copper that we trust to print, so we do not quote one, and nor should any web page that is guessing. What we can do is price copper and lead for the same job once the survey is done, with the scaffold, the metal, the fixing and VAT each on its own line. Then the difference is the real difference for your roof, rather than a national average. A bespoke piece in either metal may also change the quote more than the metal itself.
Where copper is the better call
Copper has its place. On a new extension with a modern roof line, a copper flashing or small copper roof over a bay can look deliberate and clean, and the metal is stiff enough to hold a sharp fold. On a building where the owner wants the colour to change over the years, it does that. Where a house is already roofed in a warm material, the tone can sit well with it.
It is less natural on an old stone or slate roof next door to neighbours who have lead, where the aim is usually to blend in. The test we use is simple: what was there before, and what will the roof look like beside it in ten years? If the answer is a quiet repair that matches, we use lead. If the answer is a feature, we talk through the copper option, show you what the weathering looks like, and price both.
Choosing between them on your house
Here is a fair summary, set out against the points above.
| Point | Lead | Copper |
|---|---|---|
| Colour over time | Dull grey | Pink-orange, brown, then green |
| Run-off | Pale deposits possible | Green or brown streaks on stone |
| Fitting | Soft, dresses to rough masonry | Stiffer, folded and soldered |
| Published cost | National ranges available | Priced on survey |
On an older house, like for like usually points to lead, and we would suggest it for a flashing in the same way. Copper earns its place on a new extension, a feature bay or a porch where the colour is wanted. We say which we would use and why, and you see both on the quote. Our answer on lead roof lifespan gives the lead side of the story, and the wider lead roofing service sits behind it. The work carries our 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing.