Posts Tagged ‘copper roof’

Charcoal Timberline shingle roof with standing seam copper porch

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

There are many houses in Arlington and Alexandria that are virtually identical to this one, most were built  50 to 70 years ago; this house was probably on its third or fourth roof. As you can see, the existing light gray shingles are old and worn and are at the end of their life. The Owner of this house will soon outgrow it, so it was important to install a new roof that will protect the property but will also add some curb appeal when the day comes to sell it and move on.

Click on any picture to enlarge:

Shingle roof in need of replacement

Here you can see the pitted and cracked shingles from the side porch.

deteriorated roof shingles

First: Off with the old roof; once the old shingles are removed we inspect the roof deck for rotted or split boards.  Generally these houses are really solid, most of them have old growth 1×6 pine or sometime oak roof decks; the density of the boards resists rot even when the roof is neglected for years. This house needed a few deck boards replaced because of cracking and a little warping; so far these boards have had at least 18,000 roofing nails driven in and pulled out of them and they look like they can take 18,000 more.

old roof removed

When replacing a roof we have to act as if it’s going to rain any minute-even with bright blue skies, we work quickly to cover the house from rain. That’s why we focused on the main house roof first before working on the lower porch roofs.

new Charcoal Timberline shingle roof

The main house is covered first

Once the main house was waterproof I started on the lower porch, to add some curb appeal the Owner opted for a standing seam copper roof on the small front porch. When installing an accent roof like this symmetry and scale are of the utmost importance. I made these 16 oz copper panels in the shop, they divide the roof into five equal segments; if you look around you’ll see metal roofs that were installed from one end of the house to the other, without evenly dividing the roof you wind up with a full size panel on the left and a little skinny panel on the right. Asymmetrical layout can look ridiculous or it can be just a little off , bothering anyone looking at it-even if they don’t know why.

To keep the roof as compact and graceful as possible I turned the standing seam panels up the wall in one continuous seam, the technique takes time and practice but it looks perfect. The panel is never cut into, I fold pleats into the copper and then double lock the seams for a completely waterproof joint that requires no sealant or solder; its taken years to perfect this technique and no I won’t show you how to do it.

wall detail standing seam copper roof

Double folded upstand in standing seam copper roof

At the end of one very long day we have a finished beautiful roof.

charcoal Timberline shingle with copper flashing and standing seam copper roof

Charcoal Timberline shingles with a new standing seam copper roof

standing seam copper roof and shingle roof

Timberline Charcoal with Standing seam copper roof front porch

If you have a house that needs a new roof or a boost in curb appeal give me a call; I’m sure we can figure something out.

PS: Check out Thumbtack, you can find all sorts of businesses there. You can read reviews and find just what you are looking for:
Roof repair and replacement

Thanks for reading,

Tom

703-299-8888

google-site-verification: google2ed6df93613f85fd.html

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Alexandria VA roof repair, Alexandria VA roofing contractor, Arlington VA roof repair, McLean VA roofing contractor, Northern VA roof repair, Roof leak alexandria, Standing seam copper roof, Standing seam tin roof, VA roof repair, VA roofing, Virginia roofing contractor, arlington VA roofing contractor, metal roofing, northern va roofing, roofing contractor northern virginia, standing seam | No Comments »

Historic Restoration

Friday, January 14th, 2011

This was one of my favorite projects, the house is around 115 years old  and is on the National Historic Register. Although beautiful on the inside; the exterior, specifically the roof, had been neglected. 90% of the roof is completely out of sight so it was easy for deterioration to get out of control. The client called with a small leak in the front part of the house.

Before: you can see the upper flat roof is covered in blisters and various peeling coatings.

The front has a small mansard  (learn more: François Mansart 1598–1666) which is a steeply sloped, almost wall like roof. This small roof section has three round louvered  vents made from tin set into asphalt shingles, the vents had missing and rusted through areas and were contributing to the leaks. The vents were probably original to the house but the asphalt shingles were probably installed 15 years ago when the original slate roof developed leaks.

Missing pieces had left the roof open to driving rain:

Since the house is registered all architectural elements need to be replaced exactly or with period specific materials. If you can see it from the street it has to look like a snapshot in time. The asphalt roof can be easily replaced with slate but the dormer vents were more of a challenge.

We removed one vent to bring back to the shop for precise measurement; of course we closed the hole in the roof.

After 3 months we had three new copper reproductions, these are identical in every way down to 1/16th of an inch to the originals. Since these are made from 16oz and 20oz copper they wont need paint and they’ll never rust.

round louver vent

Now the easy part: We replaced the old black flat roof with new White TPO over dense insulation board. This roof will make the upper floors of the house much more comfortable in the summer by reflecting most of the sun.

The mansard was covered with small 12×6 Buckingham slates; these slates will easily last 100+ years. Once the copper vents were set in place the whole job really came together. Eventually the copper louvers will turn to a bronze color, 10-15 years from now they will start to develop a green patina. In 100 years the roof will be replaced again, I hope the next roofer enjoys the job as much as I did.

You can click on any picture to enlarge it.

Thanks for reading,

Tom

703-299-8888

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Alexandria VA Slate Roof, Alexandria VA roof repair, Alexandria VA roofing contractor, Arlington VA roof repair, McLean VA roofing contractor, Northern VA roof repair, Roof leak alexandria, Slate roof repair, VA Slate roof repair, VA roof repair, VA roofing, arlington VA roofing contractor, copper vents, flat roof, northern va roofing, sheet metal, slate roof | No Comments »

Standing Seam Copper Roof

Friday, September 10th, 2010

This is a covered porch on the rear of a house we completely re roofed a few years ago. The structure was built by Harry Braswell, Inc. and is designed to give the owner some covered outdoor space.

The main house roof is covered with GAF Timberline asphalt shingles in Charcoal with a few lower accent roofs in standing seam copper; keeping with the same scheme, copper became the obvious choice for the new porch.

Copper roof layout One very important note here; you’ll notice that the rosin paper and felt are secured with copper nails; I have seen many jobs where the underlayment was installed with steel nails, cap nails or even staples. Using anything but copper nails will lead to a failure; copper is soft, steel nails and staples will eventually wear through the copper panels as the panels expand and contract over the nail heads and staple crowns. If you are considering installing a metal roof ask your contractor how he installs his felt and paper, if he says staples or cap nails you should find another roofer.

The black paper is 30# asphalt felt, it provides temporary waterproofing if it happens to rain before the job is finished; the pink paper you see is Red Rosin Paper, its job is to isolate the copper panels from the asphalt felt. I could write pages about why copper needs to be kept away from felt paper but I’ll save that for another post.

standing seam copper roof eave detail As the panels are laid out across the roof they are locked to each other and then are folded over the copper drip edge at the eave edge of the roof. This curved eave end detail you see here is virtually unknown on this side of the Atlantic. Although this detail is barely visible from the ground I think it adds a “hidden jewel” aspect to the job.

“Can you show me how to do it??” Sadly, no; the only two people I’m teaching this to are currently in Kindergarten and Pre-School, and they are going to have to wait at least 12 more years to learn it.

Snow guards on standing seam copper roof After the eaves and seams are completed we installed new snow guards. These bronze guards clamp onto the standing seams and keep ice and snow from sliding off the roof in large sheets. There are many different designs for this purpose, guards can be casted to look like eagles, pineapples, fleur de lis, and clovers.

Copper gutter and standing seam copper roof And finally a copper gutter to carry the rainwater away.

If your house needs a hidden (or not so hidden) jewel you should call me, I’ll be happy to help.

Thanks for reading,

Tom

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Alexandria VA roofing contractor, Arlington VA roof repair, Northern VA roof repair, Standing seam copper roof, Standing seam tin roof, VA roof repair, VA roofing, Virginia roofing contractor, arlington VA roofing contractor, falls church roofing contractor, metal roofing, northern va roofing, sheet metal, snow guards, standing seam | No Comments »

1800’s Old Town Alexandria Townhouse gets a new copper roof

Monday, August 10th, 2009

IMG_0488 This town house has been gutted from top to bottom by another contractor; when its finished it will be a brand new house inside of the old brick walls. Like many townhouses in Old Town Alexandria this one has been added on to  a few times over its 150 year life.

We started on the upper roof of the oldest section of the house, this section got a new White TPO membrane roof. TPO membrane is installed over rigid insulation board and can really cut down on cooling bills. The membrane is bright white and reflects most of the suns rays; making the upper floor a much more comfortable place to be. TPO requires very little maintenance so it is a really good choice when access to the roof is difficult. You can see the mousetrap we had to build just to get up there.
While working up here you could really feel the difference between the neighbors roof (black roof on the left) and our roof; our roof was a relatively cool 80 degrees while you couldn’t even touch the neighbors roof without gloves because it was so hot.

Standing seam copper roof and copper vent

Standing seam copper roof and copper vent

Because the lower roofs are visible it was important to install a period accurate roof. We installed a new 16oz double lock standing seam copper roof over both lower roof sections.

The really cool looking vent is also made of 16oz copper, the vent was custom made for this project and will be venting the hood over the kitchen range two floors below. We wanted all of this roofs components to have the same 100+ year service life, so copper was the only logical choice for this new vent.

The pipe you see on the left side is a plumbing vent; it allows air into the plumbing system. Remember putting your fingertip over the end of your drinking straw? The water would stay in the straw right?; well this pipe vent does the same thing for the sinks and toilets. This pipe is the only soldered connection on the whole roof, all other flashing details are done by creasing, folding and forming complete sheets.

Standing seam copper roof

Standing seam copper roof

Finishing up the wall coping and flashings. When designing a roof system it’s really important to think think of the roof not just now but 50 years from now. Everything on this roof is copper; the nails, the rivets, the panels, flashings  and even the clips that hold the panels in place are all made from the same gauge copper. When materials are mismatched they create weak points it the roof system. Like all metals, copper expands and contracts with temperature change. Unless allowances are made for that movement and all integral parts are up to the stress the roof will literally tear itself apart in just a few seasons.

Flashing and parapet walls on copper roof

Flashing and parapet walls on copper roof

The flashing details we used on this project have been in use for 300 years in Europe, they are completely waterproof because there is no cutting of the copper panels. All of the folds and curved flashings are formed from complete sheets of copper, details like this take a long time but the roof will never ever fail.  Although bright and shiny now this roof will be a warm bronze/brown color in about two months; about ten years from now it will begin to turn green (think Statue of Liberty).

Copper roofing has a service life of around 150 years, however if it’s not installed with tremendous care, skill and attention it can fail in a few months.

copper skylight flashing

copper skylight flashing

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Alexandria VA roofing contractor, Standing seam copper roof, arlington VA roofing contractor, metal roofing, roofing, sheet metal, standing seam | No Comments »