CBD's Functional / Decorative Custom Turret & Gazebo Roof Cap Fabrication Main Information & Navigation Page

Introduction

Why a Metal Roof Cap?	Beware of Poor Workmanship
Why so Few Craft-persons?	What Metal is Best?

Why a Metal Roof Cap?
Besides the aspect of this being the crowning jewel of a classic Victorian style house or a cute gazebo; when roofing a structure like this where the roof comes to a peak with a 4, 6, 8, 12, or 16 sided roof it is always a problem for even the most professional roofers to figure out what to do at this peak to bring the roofing shingles together, making it look right, and seal the peak from rain, as seen in these photos to the right.

Another important issue is roof venting, that for some reason is rarely implemented into these roof designs, but is still very important. You can read more about this on our Roof Venting web page and how we combat this issue.

This happens to be a good example of high quality roofing work, yet you can clearly see where it would still leak through the top seams. If the roofer caulks these seams at the top it would last for several years, but who would know to strip it clean and re-caulk it before it begins to fail and cause dry-rot? It was very nicely done, but it will clearly not be able to seal the rain out. Also, this is a popular place for birds to roost (and poop). For these issues a steeper copper roof cap has proven to be the best lasting solution and can add a nice finishing touch.

Additionally the copper will help to retard the growth of moss and mildew on the roofing below, just like zinc does. A zinc plated steel cap may be cheaper, but the zinc coating will dissolve off within 10 to 15 years. Then the rusty steel will permanently stain the roofing below, so copper is clearly the best metal to use and not have to worry about it again. We supply the stainless steel screws as well, so the copper roof cap can be safely removed and reused when re-roofing is needed.

For custom work like this, the cost of the metal used is only a small fraction of the cost, so using a cheaper metal would only save about 10%. It seems silly to use anything less than a good thick copper so the cap will stand up to a century of the elements and several re-roofings. Copper will last 5 to 10 times longer than steel, so it is the best value in the long run.

Note: We do not intend to be misleading with prices listed on these web pages for roof caps made prior to to 2006, but as you may know metal and fuel prices have doubled since then and we have had to compensate. So keep in mind how the prices listed may not reflect the current cost accurately. They are here as a guide to see what these cost at that time. You can go to our Latest News web page to read more on this subject.

Why are there so few custom fabricators around these days?
With our current automated mass-production with slave labor in China and other parts of the world, we are use to paying far less for most items we commonly buy. Sheet metal stamping machines are very expensive, but if they can produce thousands of the same units swiftly; that cost is dispersed down to pennies per item. There is no way small custom fabricator shops could begin to compete with products like those. That is one reason we sell decorative weathervanes and finials from Good Directions, Inc.. It would cost 3 to 4 times as much to have me make what they can mass-produce. And it probably would not look as nice being hammered by hand.

The issue you face here with ordering a roof cap is how most all of these roof caps need to be custom made to order, because each roof is so different. I have yet to see an outlet for generic roof caps. It is rare I have been able to reuse a roof cap template twice (shown here). These seem to be so unique, they cannot be just mass-produced and set on the shelf waiting to be ordered. There are too many variable between roof pitch, size, options, and style. We do not stock even one popular roof cap design, as we have not found a single design that seems to be more common than others. The scallop tails seem to be the most popular, but the width is always different.

Also, there seems to be very few talented sheet-metal fabricators who are promoting their work on the web. At least not those who are willing to take the time to correspond through e-mail with photos and diagrams for small orders like this. Then willing to crate it up and ship it off to you. It is not uncommon for us to trade a dozen or so e-mails to work out all the details with a client. It takes a good deal of swift attention and investment, but few are willing to give that effort.

Looking for a skilled Coppersmith locally in the phone book would be taking a stab in the dark, since you cannot see what they have done or get referrals. Even if you can, you will feel rushed to make a quick decision, and not able to go over the different options and costs. To do good lasting custom work like this requires good geometry skills, artistic imagination, and a high mechanical comprehension. Some decent ethics would be nice, but that seems to be a rarity as well.

To work this all out across these wires takes prompt discipline and good communication skills that very few people seem to have in any industry. Diagrams and digital photos have to be passed in order to work out crucial details, so this will work out just right without complications. Fortunately most people now own a digital camera and have learned how to share photos through e-mail. Especially since in most cases I am not able to take measurements myself with most of our clients living on the East Coast. I have to rely on clients to get all the accurate information I need. I need to know the right questions to ask, and actually care how it turns out.

Sadly few are willing to invest this kind of personal time and effort to ask the right questions.

This shows how we do the careful calculations to design the right angles for the roof caps we build

Poor Workmanship Examples:

These turrets have small 12" wide copper colored steel roof caps installed by the roofer
for our client Mr. Bergstrom. See below for a close-up shot of these crappy roof caps.

The pair of turret roofs shown above were covered by the roofer with a pair tiny 12" wide roof caps that we replaced on a new house still in construction (9-7-05). They were made by the professional roofing contractor to cover each of the two turrets they were hired to roof. Besides their very poor fabrication (it is the worst example I have ever seen), it was just a cheap piece of steel sheet metal that was bought pre-painted to resemble untarnished copper in order to fool the Homeowner into thinking it was actually copper (which it did). The roofer saved only $3 on each turret roof cap with this cheap imitation in stead of using actual copper. That was a grand total of a mere $6 savings to inspire that roofing contractor to deceive their client and risk getting caught in this fraud. Intentional fraud for only the cost of a good burger? Amazing!

Worse yet is how he did such a poor job of it. Instead of simply cutting out a circle then making one cut to the center to simply overlap the seam to form a cone shape and caulk that one seam, as you can see here they made these 4 crude cuts to the middle and nailed this to the peak of the turrets. As to the exposed nails you can clearly see here; the whole concept around any roofing material is to have all the fasteners (nails) hidden. This goes against that concept entirely. Any exposed fastener should be no less than a stainless steel screw, so it cannot rust while holding tight pressure. Also, there was not even any caulk used to seal those 4 overlapping seams.

After my 2 decades in exterior construction work, this was the most pathetic attempts to seal a roof peak than I could have imagined. The reason roofing contractors will short cut these sort of details are because the State's Construction Contractors Board only requires licensed contractors to complaint within the first year of their work. These cheap products will skate them past that brief deadline in most cases. Even if this did not even last through that first year, they know how most Homeowners will never find the strength or means to pursue this issue for resolution after their attempts for resolution go ignored by the contractor. Most clients simply loose confidence in that contractor and seek out a different contractor to fix the problem, in hopes they are not going to get taken yet again. I heard several recent cases where a Homeowner complained to their contractor about poor workmanship, and were threatened with bodily harm if they didn't drop it!

Above is a look at the new larger 'copper' roof caps I made in a small 1/8 scale proportion to the turret roof size.

Excuse me if I sound a bit bitter on this topic of unethical behavior, but this has been a sore spot for me for quite a long time, and I see no signs of these ethics getting better in the near future. You can read my thoughts on Ethical Responsibility at:

http://mind-temple.com/ethics.htm

A set of 3 turret roof caps we made for a client in Allen Texas prepped for shipment
just before the crate frame was covered over

What do our roof caps cost?
New roof cap orders will be priced reflecting the current cost of materials and shipping with the costs of copper and fuel having doubled since early 2006. Our prices have not doubled, but they have needed to go up a bit to accommodate these changes. We have hundreds of examples here with the price listed that the client had paid at that time to help give you an idea of what a roof cap in the size, style, and roof angle that you need would run.

For projects under $2k we price our quotes with all the installation hardware and shipping expenses included, instead of playing the pricing games with you. That way there are no deception or hidden charges to consider. This includes a custom wood frame crate, and ground shipping within the continental USA. Our custom roof caps start at a $200 minimum charge. The cost is calculated on how much copper it takes to build them, based on weight of the final product divided by 1.25 to get the calculation of the square footage left in the roof cap once complete. This way there are no charges for loose estimates or the cut-off waste to build it at that quoted rate per square foot.

We only require a 1/2 deposit on orders over $500 and a 1/3 deposit on orders over $2k. Along with the wood frame crate and shipping cost, the roof caps we make normally run $50 per square foot depending on size and complexity. For a simple small caps that can fit in a 21" cubed box actually would cost as little as $35 per square foot. Our $200 minimum charge will get you about 6 square feet of the 20oz copper we use. If you happen to be local enough to come here to pick it up yourself, our cost begins at only $20 per pound and we will wave the minimum charge. Simple roof flashing can run as little as $15 sq' for the same 20oz copper we use for our custom work.

That is probably the best price you will find anywhere for custom work in 20oz copper or thicker that we insist on building these with. From what we have heard from our clients we may be the only custom shop to offer what we do. Other shops will not give you options that we consider standard, like the way we build stronger finial/weathervane support systems into our caps. There is a high chance they would make their products with the standard 16oz or even 12oz copper. How would you know for sure, and how difficult would it be to prove and fight this fraud after you received the item(s).

* We will mail you a sample scrap piece of this 20oz copper for free *
(we have lots of scraps, so don't be too shy to ask)

Our clients picking up their set of 2 turret roof caps & pair of finials in the boxes
Sammamish, Washington (6/08)

Delivery & Installation?
We would love to be able to come out to your house to get all the measurements and angles, but most of our clients are not local to the Portland Oregon Metro area because of this Internet exposure you see here. If you are not close to us and you are not able to install it yourself, you will need to hire a local contractor to do the roof cap installation. Click on the link below to help find a contractor in your area. We work hard to design these roof caps to be strong, easy to install, and re-install for re-roofing, as well as to easily change out the center decoration.

.
For a good honest free resource to find reliable contractors
in your area that your neighbors have used and reviewed

We have listed some general installation advice on our web site:
http://copper-by-design.com/rc/instructions.htm
I also personalize it through e-mail with each order at the time it ships. There is info on the lightning rod issue on that page. Over the last few years we have been successfully shipping custom copper works in custom wood frame crates to clients from all corners of the continental USA through FedEx Ground or Roadrunner/Dawes trucking for larger crates. We have shipped to Canada and the Caribbean, but the shipping costs and import taxes were alarmingly high; where it may cost more for the shipping than the unit it's self.

Throughout the fabrication process before shipping we send you digital photos of the progress we've made through e-mail for your review and approval. We welcome your feedback. We also provide the rust-free hardware and fasteners to install the new roof cap. You will see here that we have decided to name the roof cap styles after the clients who ordered them, instead of giving them a number or some silly name. This has been truly a collaborative effort, so that has made a lot more sense. It has been pretty fun to see our new clients refer to a cap style or combination of styles they want a quote for by the names of our former clients.

Temporary Roof Cap:
If you are concerned about sealing the roof peak until the new roof cap arrives; have the roof shingled up near the top where the shingles begin to converge. Then use some roofing felt paper cut in a large circle. Without even cutting the roofing felt you can fold and overlap one side up to the center point to form into a cone shape. This makes a good temporary cap that covers the top and the last roofing shingles. Tape the fold together and tack it in place on the roof peak. It can also give you a better idea of what size cap would look best up there. This will relieve any pressure to make a hasty decision of whom you will need to do business with, and what sort of roof cap or other decoration options you want to consider.

Fasteners
These are examples fasteners for installing your new custom roof cap. We do not supply copper nails unless requested. I highly recommend the stainless steel screws instead. There is no cost difference to your project.

Nails: on the left is a solid copper 1.5" to 2" roofing nail. We also have small head bronze nails with ribbed shaft for a good hold. These are rarely used. Only on request.

Stainless Steel Screws: I have not found a source for copper or bronze screws. These screws are high quality non-magnetic stainless steel with a #3 Phillips slot. I use to have some screws with a #2 slot, as seen in the center, but I do not stock those any more. They have a strong #14 shaft that comes in a 1", 1.5", or 2.5" threaded length with a wide dome shaped carriage head, tip (included).

The larger #3 slot is a lot less likely to strip out during installation. Besides the initial installation; these screws allow the copper roof cap to be removed without damage and reused decades later when the roofing under it needs any sort of service or replacement.

This set of turret roof caps have very delicate tails and had to be supported inside the
crate on saddles in such a way the tails would not be able to touch the sides of the crate
frame or shell. This shot was taken before attaching the hardwood skin over this frame.

What about our warranty?
Manufacturing:
We have seen claims on the web of 100 year warranties on copper gutter work, but that in it's self is very suspect. That sort of claim would have to be false, since that company is not likely to be around a fraction of that time. That is unless science comes up with the cure for old age. Most small companies do not last more than a few years any way, so it is easy for them to make such outrageous claims like this. We will happily offer a 20 year fabrication and material warranty. We feel it is ridiculous to offer more than a realistic warranty, since you know we will not be around to service your warranty over 20 year from now. I will most likely be too old and retired by then, but if Copper By Design is still selling products, we will likely be happy to warranty and service your needs beyond that time period. Perhaps my Son or Daughters will want to continue the business? I, David am 45 (as of 1-30-08). We pride ourselves on being honest and not making unrealistic claims. Much like you, we do not place much stock in long term warranties and refuse to play that sort of BS game.

More importantly, I go out of my way to build products that far exceed building code. We challenge anyone to find work as strong and well constructed as ours, anywhere. An example is how you are not likely to find another fabricator who puts this much care and quality into their web site, let alone their products at any cost. We feel that good clear communication is very important. It is like the saying 'If you aren't able to do it right now, how will you have time or money to do it over?' We have professionally specialized in rain management sheet metal work since 1993 under the same contractors license here in Oregon, and plan to continue this for the next couple decades if possible.

Better Shipping Crates:
We usually pay extra for the insurance FedEx offers for the items we ship, but it would still be a huge hassle for you to deal with all that paperwork in case of a damaged unit in transit, as well as lost time. That is why I put so much into the wood frame crates I custom make for each item. You will not find a better constructed wood frame crate as I build with predrilled holes, glued, and screwed together with an outer wood shell that are fairly easy to open. This way you are much less likely to need to deal with that sort of time delay and hassle.

So far (as of 3-24-08) we have only had 2 items damaged in transit, and no larger items that we had to send through Roadrunner/Dawes trucking. Both those items were clearly marked with a 'TOP' side designation, but were apparently dropped upside down off a forklift or something. We stopped using DHL over the first issue. We rebuilt that project even stronger than before: a crown style chimney cap and shipped it back to her at no charge. We have worked to make improvements in our packaging since then to anticipate this sort of accidental rough handling, because we sympathize with our clients over the huge delay it would cost to have the item sent back to us for repair or replacement. We have been told several times that we build the strongest shipping crates that our shippers or clients have seen.

Installation:
Since we are not the installer of your new roof cap, we cannot warranty the installation of course, or damage that could occur after it had arrived. I do my best to supply personalized detailed installation instructions and recommendations of what tools should be used. We also send the stainless steel screws with each order, so the right fasteners are used. That way decades later when the roofing needs replaced, the roof cap can be safely removed and reused over and over again. We have yet to hear of a client who was not able to get their roof cap installed without damage.

Client Satisfaction:
I cannot guarantee your project will be flawless or perfect. I will guarantee it will fit the specification you provided and will be built as well as I know how, given the limitations of your budget. In the case of an issue arising from the client being unsatisfied with a project before it ships; I will normally bend over backwards to make things right. Fortunately this has only been a problem with one client (2/08) where we were not able to resolve our differences, so it could happen. I cannot possibly cover all possible issues here, but if a clients aesthetic concerns conflicts with design quality; I will not compromise my standards, even if that client is fine that it would void the warranty.

A project can be canceled at any time. I am not looking to hold a client to a contract. All but $100 is refundable before I have started physically building your project. The deposit paid will not be refunded after I have begun cutting and bending metal for your project.

Information Bookmarks & Links:		Example Prices & Photo Pages:
Introduction	Ordering Details	Our Different Cap Style Pages
Why Copper?	Delivery & Install	Step-By-Step Fabrication Pages
Our Charges	Install Instructions	Finials & Weathervanes
Cap Sizing & Design	Turret Roof Venting	Warranty
Add Decorative Touch	Temporary Roof Cap?	Referrals Page