LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT COPPER ROOFING

I found this brief blog post at CopperWorks Corp. Pretty Interesting. http://copperworkscorp.com/little-known-facts-about-copper-roofing/.

Many people are quite unaware of how impressive this roofing material is compared to alternatives. Here are several facts we bet you may not know:

Copper kills bacteria. The way it is arranged at a molecular level causes it to strip single-celled organisms of their energy. Part of the patina that you see is actually bacteria it has neutralized.

Copper doesn't corrode or rust. The green layer called patina is sitting on top of the metal and is not decomposition of the material. This attribute keeps the metal protected for an extremely long time.

You probably won't find much copper in the landfill. It is highly eco-friendly and recyclable and there is no better metal when it comes to these environment conscious concerns.

There are building from the 1700s that have their original copper roofing. It lasts that long! As long as it is installed properly and used in non-extreme environments, copper roofs are widely known to outlive their original owners.

Copper is the oldest metal of human history, meaning that thousands of years have been spent perfecting its uses. That age also tells you that it is no fad and will continue to be used for many years to come.

Anything to add?

All metals "move", some more than others.Copper expands 1/64 of and inch per foot per 100 degrees. In the winter it might be zero, and in the middle of the summer, the same piece will be so hot it will burn your hand if you touch it (150-175 degrees?) That means that a 10 foot length of copper will expand about 16/64ths of an inch or 1/4 inch from summer to winter. This expansion pressure is all directed to the joints, so you have to allow for it. Can you spell expansion joints?

Lefty, There is an outfit up here that recycles vinyl siding and we dump all or ours into their bin.

About ten years ago I went to a copper roofing training put on by The Copper Development Association.If I remember correctly the main instructor learned his tinner trade in Europe.My hat's off to you guys that do a lot of copper roofing the right way.

Sending 2 of my guys to a class on soldering copper on Tuesday. One is from the roofing division and one is from the gutter division.

Spend a lot of money on education for my employees.

Wish Tinner was closer to us. He could do the training.

Copper does kill the algea that plagues are roofs today. Some shingle manufactures put copper granules on the shingles to keep the algea from growing.

Copper does give us the largest cash per pound of anything we recycle. That is why it does not find its way into the land fill.

We recycle our cardboard, paper, aluminum, tin, copper, bricks - mortar, plastic, leaves from gutter cleanings, and shingles. Plastic, cardboard, paper, and shingles cost us to recycle. They metal we get paid to recycle, but when we figure the time it takes us to sort out and take to the scrape yard or have a dumpster for aluminum at the shop, it is a break even proposition. I have been recycling these things the whole time I have been in business. Never could understand putting something in a land fill that could be reused.

For 10 years I recycled wood by heating my house with it. I also had a friend that had a business that he burned all the wood that I had from jobs.

I put a lot of vinyl siding in the landfill. I wish I had a place to take the vinyl siding.

The copper will eat the galvanized for breakfast.

Thanks Old School and WyWoody.

If you take a copper drip edge and lap it onto a galvanized steel gutter, you have created your own science fair project. You might have to wait about a year to get your results, though.

Vickie: Actually the Patina is copper rusting! At least it is oxidizing, which in the ferrous metals we call rust. Oxidation on steel is brown, and on copper it is green. Copper does weather and it gets thin. If you look at a copper roof, especially where water is running over a joint or it is dripping from above, you will see that it is a brown color. that normally means that it is about worn through. Those spots will be paper thin, and if you picked it up you would see pin holes in it. If you know of a 300 year old copper roof, it was probably about a 48 ounce metal which is about 4 times as thick as we normally use today. (16 ox is standard)