Posts Tagged ‘copper roof flashing’
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:
Here you can see the pitted and cracked shingles from the side porch.
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.
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.
Double folded upstand in standing seam copper roof
At the end of one very long day we have a finished beautiful roof.
Charcoal Timberline shingles with a new standing seam copper 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
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Tags: copper roof, copper roof flashing, metal roof repair, shingle roof repair, shingle roof replacement, standing seam metal roof, timberline charcoal shingles, timberline shingles
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 »
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.
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: copper roof, copper roof flashing, copper roof vent, Energy Star Flat Roof, Firestone TPO, flat roof replacement, Historic roof, Historic roof restoration, leaking roof vent, Slate roof repair, White Flat Roof
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 »
Friday, October 1st, 2010
One of the top sources for roof leaks is the flashing around the chimney. Making and installing flashings on the roof is part art and science and it takes a considerable amount of skill to do properly; I’ve found that the art end of the job is what gets people in trouble. The following pictures show how we do our work; the flashings we make for chimneys and skylights are bulletproof and have never caused us to return to a clients house again, I also think they are lovely to look at.
We measure the length and width of your chimney and the slope of your roof. The flashings are custom made in our sheet metal shop for your chimney. Depending on the type of roof we can make the flashings from zinc, copper, stainless steel, aluminum and lead coated copper; they can also be painted any color you wish. We can fabricate flashings of any size no matter how big or small your chimney or skylight.
Once the flashings are made they are sent out to the project with all other necessary materials. The pictures below show the old flashing and shingles being removed, some rotted wood being replaced and finally the installation of waterproof underlayment.
The old flashing is rusted through tin
new piece of 1x6 roof decking where the other had rotted
Installing waterproof underlayment around the chimney
Most elements on a slate or shingle roof are installed from the bottom up, here we start by installing the lowest flashing called the apron.
Installing the copper apron flashing
Next we install step flashings, step flashing are small “L” shaped pieces of metal that are laced in to each course of shingles as they climb up the side of the chimney.
Step flashings are installed in each course of shingles
This is the most critical piece of the entire assembly, the pan flashing does most of the work in shedding water. We form our pan flashings with a rounded bottom edge (vs. a sharp fold) to keep this area dry; creased or square folded metal can hold water which leads to corrosion and leakage. All of the seams we use are double locked and are completely waterproof, no matter what nature throws at this house the chimney will not leak.
Copper pan flashing being installed behind the chimney
The pieces that cover the step flashing along the sides of the chimney are called counter-flashings, here it is being trimmed to fit beneath the pan and over the apron flashing.
Counter flashing being installed on the chimney sides
The final step is applying a bead of high quality sealant to the joint between the new flashings and the masonry.
Completed copper chimney flashing repair
This roof will be good for another five years, when replacement of the roof becomes necessary our flashings can be reused. If your chimney or skylight is leaking we have a bulletproof solution, call any time and we will be on our way.
Tom 703-299-8888
P.S. If you are out our of our service area we can make and ship a complete skylight or chimney flashing kit to you. All you need to tell us is the measurements of the chimney or skylight and the slope of your roof and we can have it on the way to you in a day or two. Just call 703-299-8888
Tags: chimney flashing kit, chimney flashing kits, chimney flashing repair, chimney leak, copper roof flashing, copper skylight flashing, diy chimney flashing, DIY flashing repair, flashing kits, how to flash a chimney, skylight and chimney flashing
Posted in Alexandria VA Slate Roof, Alexandria VA roof repair, Alexandria VA roofing contractor, Arlington VA roof repair, Roof leak alexandria, VA roof repair, VA roofing, falls church roofing contractor, metal roofing, northern va roofing | 1 Comment »
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.
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.
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.
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.
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: copper roof, copper roof eave detail, copper roof flashing, falls church metal roof contractor, Standing seam copper roof, standing seam metal roof
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 »
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
This is one of those classic examples of a “Roof in a Can”.
Roof in a Can is a term we came up with when describing a repair job we’ve seen; it’s when the person working on the roof can’t figure out the right way to do something so he just squirts caulk over the problem. I have a collection of these pics somewhere, I’ll put them up someday.
Before:
Leaking pipe collar and caulk
These plumbing vents are really close together; too close for the installer to use two pipe collars. The pipe collar is installed on the pipe on the left, the pipe on the right got the Roof in a Can treatment.
I would love to know how the person decided which pipe got the collar and which one got the caulk. Flip a coin? Did he ask a coworker? Did he think the larger pipe was mocking him? Maybe he just wanted the smaller pipe to have the collar, pulling for the underdog on the roof.
copper pipe flashing
This took me about thirty minutes; it’s made out of 16oz copper and will last for the next three roofs. No caulk to dry out and crack, just copper and lead solder. Solid.
There they stand ready to face the weather again. Both pipes treated with practical dignity; flashed with copper and installed with pride.
Caulk is not a roof and caulk doesn’t last, don’t let someone “repair” your roof with a caulking gun.
If you have leaking pipes on your roof give us a call.
Tom
Tags: copper pipe flashing, copper roof flashing, leaking roof, leaking roof vent, pipe collar, Roof repair, shingle roof repair
Posted in Alexandria, Alexandria VA roofing contractor, Arlington VA roof repair, Northern VA roof repair, Roof leak alexandria, VA roof repair, VA roofing, northern va roofing, va | No Comments »
Monday, August 17th, 2009
I’ve had a bunch of people ask me how I made the copper vent in the last post. I had to make a smaller one for the the master bath steam shower; so I took pictures along the way.
Copper vent tube
Make a tube: single lock a copper sheet into your desired diameter and length. You should remember geometry from junior high but if you don’t; multiply your desired opening by 3.14, that will be the size of your flat stock before you roll it. Since the vent tube will be in the weather make sure you solder the back seam. This one is a six inches across.
Copper vent ring
Make a ring: the protection ring will keep out wind driven rain. The outer ring should be about 2.5″ wider than the vent pipe you just made. Same as the other pipe; single lock and solder the seam.
Beaded outer vent ring
Roll a few beads into the copper; it adds strength and beauty to the job.
Struts on inner vent tube
Fabricate three struts to support the outer ring, these can be riveted on. Don’t forget to turn down all of your free edges; you want a place for water to drop off before it reaches the inner vent pipe. I test each vent I make, and I have forgotten to turn down the tabs, it leaks, trust me.
Outer vent ring riveted in place
Rivet the outer ring to the struts, use two rivets per strut and the whole assembly will be rock solid. Also use copper rivets with BRASS mandrels; don’t use the phony copper rivets with steel mandrels; after the rivets are set the head of the mandrel stays behind. When it gets wet it will rust and leave streaks on your beautiful new vent. Spend a couple extra bucks and get the right rivets.
Copper cone vent
Make a cone: the cone should be at least 2″ wider than the inner vent pipe. Rivet the seam and solder.
When you make the cone be sure to leave three tabs to rivet the cap to the three struts.
Copper vent
Ready to be brought to the job site. This vent is completely baffled; meaning it won’t leak during heavy wind driven rain or snow. Since it is made from copper it should last at least 100 years.
Standing seam copper roof and copper vent
Solder a flange to your new vent a the proper angle. Clean the roof area, flux and solder the new vent flange and you are good to go.
I hope the photo descriptions helped; if its too much of a job for you or you just don’t have the time I’d be happy to make one for you.
Tags: bathroom roof fan, bathroom roof vent, copper roof flashing, copper roof vent, custom roof vent, metal roof skylight flashing, roof vent, Standing seam copper roof, standing seam metal roof
Posted in Alexandria VA roofing contractor, Standing seam copper roof, arlington VA roofing contractor, metal roofing, northern va roofing, sheet metal, solder, standing seam | No Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
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
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
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
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
Tags: coper pipe flashing, copper roof, copper roof flashing, copper skylight flashing, copper wall, seamed roof, Standing seam copper roof, standing seam metal roof
Posted in Alexandria VA roofing contractor, Standing seam copper roof, arlington VA roofing contractor, metal roofing, roofing, sheet metal, standing seam | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
Slate Roof Repair Attempt
This is a slate roof in Alexandria, VA. The homeowners had been having some sporadic leaking and hired a company to correct the problem. The solution they came up with was not carefully examining the slates for cracks or checking flashings for pits or holes; that would have been the right thing to do.
What they chose to do was spread no less than five gallons of tar over the entire roof plane; making any legitimate repair impossible. When the roof is covered in tar it locks all of the slates in place, you can’t gently remove one or two without destroying all that adjoin it. Think of it like playing Jenga with all of the pieces glued together, not fun I think you’ll agree. Although some are cracked, most of the slates that are covered in tar were still in pretty decent shape. What happens in the following pictures could have been avoided and the homeowners could have saved a good pile of cash.
Copper Apron Flashing Covered With Tar
The roof was leaking right at the angle change and could have been repaired very simply. All that was necessary was to remove the courses of slate above and below the copper apron flashing; install new copper flashing and new slates. But instead someone with bucket of tar and not even a pair of gloves trashed the whole roof.
I knew he didn’t have gloves because I could see finger prints in a few spots; kind of like the La Brea Tar Pits of poor workmanship.
New Slate with copper snowguards
The old trashed slates were removed and we had to replace a few rotted pieces of 1×6 roof decking. Once the old roof was removed it was plain to see that the leaking was from one place only, however with the roof covered in tar the water was coming in the house in three spots.
We installed new copper drip edging at the eave and along the rakes to keep water from wicking back into the roof. We also installed these copper loop snow guards, the snow guards prevent accumulated ice from sliding off the roof. The guards keep the ice on the roof until it can melt away without destroying anything below.
Finishing Up
New copper valley flashing, new copper apron flashing and new slate roof tied properly into the old slate roof. No can of tar, no mess, just another stone roof ready to serve for a hundred years. By using copper nails to fasten the slates and copper flashings there is nothing on this portion of roof to rust or corrode.
Finished Slate Roof
The slates we installed on this job are from the Buckingham Slate Quarry, it’s about four hours from Washington DC and it produces some of the best roofing slate in the world. Buckingham Slate is graded S1 and has a service life of 125-150 years if properly applied and cared for. The slates above our new roof are not Buckingham and will probably require replacement in the next ten years or so. This will not be a problem, our new roof and apron flashing can stay right in place and the rest of the roof can replaced around it.
If your slate roof is giving you some trouble call a qualified roofer with some demonstrated slate experience. A bucket of tar might seem like a bargain now but it will cost you a fortune in a few months. Even if your roof isn’t having any problems it should be inspected every year, a quick inspection will head off any problems before they get out of hand.
Call if you need me.
Tom
Tags: copper flashing, copper nails, copper roof flashing, roof replacement, slate roof, Slate roof repair, slate roof replacement, slate roofing
Posted in Alexandria VA Slate Roof, Alexandria VA roofing contractor, Arlington VA Slate roof repair, Slate roof repair, VA Slate roof repair, arlington VA roofing contractor, northern va roofing, roofing, slate roof, snow guards | No Comments »
