Nestled in the village of St. Davids, Pa., in Delaware County, a 120 year old home of absolute distinction received custom copper work in the winter of 2010. The gable end pent eaves, some refer to as “water tables” had been cladded twice prior. The last (tin roofing) metal roofing was 40 lb. Terne Coated 28 gauge steel soldered roofing formed in two ft pans and face nailed at the eaves.

A custom fabricated edging eliminated the need for face nails at the eaves. With copper, thermal movement has to be considered and the use of specially sized and seamed metal pans that are allowed to move through natural expansion and contraction are the best long term solution for this type of metal roof.

The slope did not allow standing seams. Seams had to be flat and soldered because of the low slope of this roof. Mechanical fasteners were incorporated into the seams and allow for the flexing that comes with a metal roof. The copper pans lay on rosin based felt that provides a non-acidic barrier that also acts as a slip sheet for movement.

A recent installation of a faux collector box and downspout, to act as air conditioner conduit cover, presented unique challenges in this installation. The back of the downspout had been removed with several rack and mason drive attachments stitching the shell of the makeshift conduit cover to the wall.

An attractive method of covering the ugly mechanicals, the covering was carefully removed and salvaged. With most base flashing details, definite base and counter flashing are clearly defined. With this faux spout, the back had been removed and the covering was not really a viable covering for our intricate copper base flashing. A type of “pitch pocket” had to be fashioned to accommodate the several tubes and wires that penetrated the plane of the right side copper shelf roof. After our work was complete, the conduit became part of a complete system of base and counter flashing.