Copper Shines
Making Use of Copper For Striking Roof Looks
by Marcus Dodson, Editor & Publisher
Like a shiny new penny, a copper roof sparkles. During its first years on a home or commercial project, copper roofing makes a glistening, stunning statement. Then, as it ages and patinas, that declaration becomes richer.
According to the Copper Development Association, Inc., copper offers both a durability and character unmatched by any other metal. There’s a warmth and beauty to copper that draws architects to specify the material for both accent areas and full roofs. Traditionally copper can be used for standing seam, batten seam, chevron and flat seam roofing. It can also be designated for horizontal seam and mansard roofing, plus long pan systems.
As many designers and architects have determined, copper has low life cycle costs attributable to low maintenance, long life and the salvage value of the metal. Realistically, who doesn’t like copper? Through the years its popularity continues to soar. Whether on church steeples, government buildings, or mountaintop homes, copper is an exquisite rooftop accent.
Growth of Copper Projects
In Colorado the team at Umbrella Roofing, Basalt, Colorado, understands the appeal of copper roofing. They recently met the desires of a homeowner by installing a complex full copper roof on a custom home. Along with metal shingles in copper, there was standing seam copper on a unique spiral turret. Because of the home’s location, the house also required a complete snow retention system.
“We chose Rocky Guard 10” (RG 10) snow guards in copper from Rocky Mountain Snow Guards for the majority of the home used in conjunction with the Drift III snow fence in copper,” said Josh Yandle with Umbrella Roofing out of Eagle, Colorado. “Then, for the turret, we installed a SnowCap II clamp-to-seam fence in copper. Together the snow retention system works beautifully to accent the roof while providing much-needed protection for the homeowners during heavy winter snowfalls.”
According to Lars Walberg, President of Rocky Mountain Snow Guards, his company has experienced an annual growth of 20% per year of copper snow retention products over the last ten years. He relates that most of the sales are on higher end homes and commercial buildings, like the University of Denver, where the majority of the campus has copper standing seam roofing.
“We see most copper snow retention product sales in resort areas like Vail, Aspen, Telluride, and Big Sky,” said Walberg. “Rocky Guard snow guards in copper are our most popular product. Our Snow Trapper products in copper are also specified quite a bit by architects. These are low profile snow guards with an appealing gusseted half round design that are very effective in handling large snow loads.
“Interestingly, there’s a project in Iceland where an architect specified a large quantity of Yeti copper snow guards. We believe those were chosen specifically for their ability to handle snow loads in excess of 800 pounds. Plus, the Yeti snow guards feature a flange around the pad face to hold snow in place so it can’t slide side to side. With the flange included, the face area of the Yeti is more than five square inches. That’s exactly what they need in Iceland.”
Matching a Copper Patina
Not every copper roof has a copper snow retention system specified. In the case of Park Plaza in Beaver Creek, Colorado, while the roof is copper, the Blizzard Heavy Duty III snow fences with S Clamps are dark bronze powder coated.
“In higher altitude drier climates, copper tends to patina to a dark bronze over time,” said Walberg. “Rarely does the copper get to a bluish green. So, in those locations some people will go ahead and specify the dark bronze right from the start.”
For this project, Turner Morris Commercial Roofing out of Arvada, Colorado, installed two rows of snow fences because of the potential for large loads of snowfall in the Beaver Creek ski area. “Combined with the weaker nature of copper standing seam roofing, that can have a relatively low load rating because of the softness of copper, it makes good sense to have two rows of snow fences on this location,” says Walberg. “The roofing team was being pro-active by installing the double rows of snow fences to provide extra safety over the area for pedestrian traffic at a renovated pool and spa area.”
The Blizzard Heavy Duty III S aluminum 3-pipe clamp-to-seam bracket with two attached S-5!® S standard size clamps for clamp-to-seam fence-style snow retention systems works especially well in areas with high snow loads.
The expertise of both Turner Morris Commercial Roofing and Umbrella Roofing in working with these copper roofs have been recognized as award winners in the 2024 “Show Us Our Snow Guards” contest sponsored by Rocky Mountain Snow Guards.
