90% of all roof water leaks occur at, or immediately around, roof penetrations needed to vent plumbing. This is why roof pipe boots (also called lead roof vent pipes) are an essential component of every roof. All roofing systems; whether flat commercial roofs or pitched residential asphalt roofs, use pipe boots to cover the pipes that vent the plumbing in your property through your roof.
The pipe boots prevent water from entering your home or business by allowing the water to shed around these roof perforations.
Many roofing companies still use lead roof boots because they aren’t aware of the better alternatives to these old roofing materials of lower quality.
Lead roof vent pipe flashings are extremely toxic to the environment. Squirrels and other rodents love the taste of lead and eat away at the lead pipe boot.
CITY WILDLIFE states, “Just as lead is toxic to humans, it is toxic to wildlife. Over the past three years, City Wildlife has treated 42 patients confirmed with lead poisoning, including squirrels, opossums, and raptors.”When you consider how many other roofing companies in all other cities are using toxic roof boots, imagine how much harm these lead roof penetration boots are to our environment.
There is a study published in NCBI proving the effect of lead on plants. Lead harms the plants by entering through their root system. “Lead (Pb) is one of the most widespread heavy metal contaminants in soils. It is highly toxic to living organisms. Lead (Pb) has no biological function but can cause morphological, physiological, and biochemical dysfunctions in plants.”
The main detriment of lead toxicity in most plants is quickly it prevents the roots from growing through the inhibition of mitosis.
Perma Boots are prone to leaking and don't look as good as Bullet Boots. They have a bubble like appearance at the base of the vent boot.
Bullet Products manufactures the Bullet Boot. The Bullet Boot is designed to overcome the harmfulness of the lead roof vent pipe to the environment. It is made from a flexible Polypropylene Carbonate (TPE, thermoplastic elastomer) material and has a 35 year warranty.
The mesh at the top of the Bullet Boot protects your home or business from debris and rodents that might otherwise get into your pipes.
The Bullet Boot is available in many colors to match your roof, so it doesn’t require painting.
It is manufactured with a service temperature between -59 degrees Celsius to 90 degrees Celsius. The wind uplift resistance with 8 nails is -45 Pounds per Square Foot. The wind uplift resistance with 16 fasteners has passed -160 PSF.
Florida is known to have the strictest building code in the United States and the Bullet Boot has earned the Florida Product Approval #FL25870.1 (evaluation report 17-209-BB-ER).
Home Depot sells the 1 ½” Lead Roof Boot for $18.82.
The Roof Store sells the Bullet Boot 1 ½” for $13.99 when you buy a box containing 16 units. (Buy Here)
16 units per box can get used very quickly. Every residential roof has at least 2 or 3 if it's a small house. If the home is a large, 2 story 4,000 square foot home, it will need at least 20 pipe boots. There are two sizes that are most common: the 1 1/2" and the 2". The 3" size is used at an average ratio of 1 to 3, while the 4" size doesn't get used as much as the others.
The reasonable price of the Bullet Boot will reward the roofing industry by financially motivating the roofing companies to use the Bullet Boot and eventually replace the old habits of using the lead based boots.
Bullet Boot in a variety of colors and sizes.
(Sizes available: 1 ½”, 2”, 3”, 4”)
(Colors available: Black, Gray, White, Weathered Wood, Brown)
Your roof deserves the highest quality, so please stop using lead roof pipe vents.
