Lead Flashing being stolen - prevention?

HungryHippos

HungryHippos

HungryHippos

Soldato
Joined
25 Mar 2004
Posts
16,017
Location
Fareham
I live in a reasonably new build estate (2-3 years old) of approx 70 dwellings, in the last 15 months 3 houses have had the lead flashing stolen from the front of the properties. The lead flashing is kind of an obvious theft target as it's installed directly above porches that can be stood on.

I have a Ring Doorbell installed, so it might capture some footage of anyone attempting to do it, but sneaky people could avoid the camera if they wanted to.

This company claims to sell a grease that contains forensic evidence that would like any stolen lead to my property, their own marketing is of course bigging up their own product, has anyone used them?

https://www.selectadna.co.uk/lead-theft-news/lead-theft-prevention

I am aware of alternatives to lead flashing that have little resale value, but it seems perhaps a little extreme to proactively swap the lead flashing out for something else.

I'm with PolicyExpert for my insurance, but a brief search has yielded no real results on whether I am covered by them or not if someone decided to take my lead flashing. I may assume that this kind of thing is not covered by the insurer, or if it is then the standard excess at least would apply.
 
Paint it in something vile, cameras and forensic evidence are little use once it's sold to a scrap yard.

Anti climb paint you could use but it won't stop them if they have gloves.
 
I'd love to but I don't think it's a good idea.

Painting it with something vile sounds good though, at least it would make mine less of a target compared with the surrounding houses that don't have anything on.

Would not want to spoil the look of it too much though, something clear but very annoying might be best.
 
I live half an hour up the road from you and about 50 houses were done in a night nearby, some of which are owned by friends. Some of them have 4K CCTV which was useless because the perps has their faces covered. They had the excitement the next day of watching their flashing being stolen the night before. They are having theirs replaced with a non-lead alternative for about £95 quid a go. If you want to avoid the inconvenience of such a theft it might be worth proactively having your lead replaced.
 
Scuzi said:
I live half an hour up the road from you and about 50 houses were done in a night nearby, some of which are owned by friends. Some of them have 4K CCTV which was useless because the perps has their faces covered. They had the excitement the next day of watching their flashing being stolen the night before. They are having theirs replaced with a non-lead alternative for about £95 quid a go. If you want to avoid the inconvenience of such a theft it might be worth proactively having your lead replaced.
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Where are you based? If you don't want to say here then you can trust me or PM if this system allows.
 
I think it's worth hardly anything to a scrap merchant who will take it from you, but to someone stealing it, apparently it's worthwhile doing.

It costs the homeowner more to fix it than the thief makes out it, presumably by a large margin.
 
Around £1500 a tonne. £1.50 a kilo. One roof - £10 - £15 ish.
10 roofs - £150
50 roofs £750

But scrap dealers are no longer supposed to pay for scrap metal in cash, so it’s a bit harder to sell.
 
All the scrap yards I've been to require an account setting up, ID and proof of address then only pay into your account.

Obviously must be the odd dodgy one though.
 
a1ex2001 said:
Why? Just leave it and if it’s stolen then replace it I can’t see any reason to do anything until it gets pinched.
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If its regularly stolen in your area. Why not be proactive about it rather than waking up in the morning to have to deal with the flashing missing and any other potential damage caused removing it.

Or do it at your own convenience and get some money back towards the cost at the same time.

Or are you the kind of person who sees a loose bolt and just leaves it untill the wheel falls off because “its still on there at the moment”
 
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a1ex2001 said:
Why? Just leave it and if it’s stolen then replace it I can’t see any reason to do anything until it gets pinched.
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This unless they're doing more damage in the process of removing it. Is the replacement a different colour and can you match it to try to hide it.
 
NoobCannon said:
If its regularly stolen in your area. Why not be proactive about it rather than waking up in the morning to have to deal with the flashing missing and any other potential damage caused removing it.

Or do it at your own convenience and get some money back towards the cost at the same time.

Or are you the kind of person who sees a loose bolt and just leaves it untill the wheel falls off because “its still on there at the moment”
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It’s hardly like a loose bolt, it may never get stolen and the guys who do it round here don’t seem to do any damage probably because they are doing it at 3am outside peoples bedroom windows so can’t be that heavy handed!
 
What does the subsitute flashing look like? If it looks like lead then the people pinching it will most likely know no difference and take it anyway?
 
Mark M said:
What does the subsitute flashing look like? If it looks like lead then the people pinching it will most likely know no difference and take it anyway?
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It looks sort of similar but these guys know what they are looking for and even if they didn’t spot it would realise as soon as they touched it!
 
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