Sheet metal work in unpainted galvanized sheet metal?!

[sakariasw]

Hi!

We live in a house from 2003 where we are the second owners. By chance, we have now discovered that all the sheet metal work (downspouts, gutters, window sills, and a bit more) is made of galvanized metal. All unpainted. It is a modern house, and we assumed it would be maintenance-free. Now that we've started to delve into this, we have learned that galvanized metal rusts after a number of years and thus needs to be painted. If you want unpainted metal, you should choose aluzinc or something similar. Does anyone have experience with this? Can it be considered a hidden defect? Or did people not know better in 2003?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Best regards,
Sakarias

 

[corre]

Since all sheet metal work is visible from the outside, it is your responsibility to inspect it. For something to be considered a hidden defect, one would almost have to perform destructive examination, i.e., break things apart.

Galvat works excellently untreated in many other contexts, so I don't know why it wouldn't work here as well. Possibly if the joints start to rust and then it spreads. Galvat rises after a while, but that is part of the protective process, where the galvanizing sacrifices itself.

Personally, I wouldn't do anything about this until it's necessary. Painted details require maintenance too, so there's no real gain from a maintenance perspective, in my opinion.

 

[prototypen]

Galvanized sheet holds well. Outside the kitchen window, I see a roof that has been there for 45 years. The house roof from '79, however, with its plastic-coated sheet, is starting to peel.

Today, the zinc look is considered "retro."

Protte