, , , , ,

Copper – A Little Bling-Giddy Bling Bling on da How-wow-wowzz

It’s DJ P-Diddy Handy Gee in da Howzz today!

Yo, yo, you, listen up! I have a rhyme for you. Give me da beat boyz:

There was a little roof called Barn-ey, oh yeah…
and he was too purple and greeney, oh no…
So, he got the yank and hit the curb-ey, yeah yeah
In its place is some shiney de-light woot woot!

Yes, I can rap with the best of them! Don’t you think?  Oh alright, I’ll stick to my day job.

When I left you last week, I was trying to decide what type of roofing to use on the little side entrance roof.

Many of you were onboard with the copper idea. If that was you, you’ll be happy to see that I decided the same thing.

I did want to show you one more picture I took at the Southern Ideal Home Show before we move on. Look at this adorable dutch colonial with all the copper roof accents. Gorgeous, right?!

Built by 2sldesignbuild.com

When I saw that photo, I pretty much made up my mind that we needed to have a little copper roof on our home. I got a few quotes from some local companies, but ultimately decided to use The Aluminum Company of North Carolina. We’ve used them before to install gutters and gutter helmets on our house. (Which we are super happy with! No more tree debris filled gutters on our home.)

We’ve always been pleased with the Aluminum Company’s workmanship and their customer service is top notch!

Last year after we had a new gutter installed, we discovered some new wood rot over our front door (a recurring theme on our house.) I had a question about how the gutter helmets were installed and if water could be leaking behind them. I called the Aluminum Company and within 24 hours they sent out their inspector to double check the workmanship. Not only did he come out and was super polite, but he took an hour to take apart some of the gutter to show me the hidden flashing behind the shingles. Then he took a hose and painstakingly ran water on top of the gutters and then each dormer until we narrowed down that the leak was coming from our middle dormer window.  When the roofing was installed (before we lived in the house) there wasn’t enough flashing put around the dormers. But, the new gutter and gutter helmets were working perfectly. I don’t have to tell you that this was above and beyond the call of duty.

Back to the present day. Within a few days of getting an “over the phone quote” for the copper roof, this smiling young man, Joe Nemeth (no relation to the football player) showed up to take some measurements for the job and get an exact estimate for me.

As you can tell from his truck, they do a lot more than gutters and copper roofs. (Windows, siding, doors, shingles, and a whole lot more!)

Next, I received a phone call from the scheduler who gave me some options for a date to install the roof. I love that they give you options and a definite time. (Ahem! Local Cable Company, please take note: The Aluminum Company gave me options for an exact date and time, not some crazy 4-8 hour window on a day that you chose, not me!)

A day before the work was scheduled, a big 18-wheeler rolled down our street and left all the materials for the job. The next morning, bright and early, this kind gentleman (my apologies for forgetting his name) showed up on time to start constructing the copper roof.

He took exact measurements and cut the copper with tin snips. Then he used a metal break to create the folds in the copper for the standing seams.

Each section is installed and the seams are fitted together so there are no exposed screws or fasteners. Really sleek, right?!

I also learned that a copper roof is very energy efficient because it reflects the suns rays. Whew, let me tell you when I climbed up the ladder to get a closer look I felt the heat reflecting off the copper. It was enough to roast a marshmallow on top of my head! Plus, the copper should last a long, long, long time. Which means, there is no waste going to the landfill after 15-20 years like an asphalt shingle roof. That makes me happy.

Within a few more days the Aluminum Company sent their gutter guys out to install the short run of gutter and connect it to the existing downspout on the front of the house.

Those guys were really great!

They put up with a lot of my questions and even a last minute decision to change the downspout from white to black so it would blend in with the roof.

{Squeeall!} I’m super excited by the little bit o’ bling that adorns our home now. I find myself rubbernecking as I drive away to do the kids to school shuttle every morning.

What do you think? Did you doubt my choice to use copper? If so, do you like it now? Or do you think I’m crazy? (This is definitely debatable, ask my husband.)

Granted, that bar wasn’t set too high when it came to improving upon the purple awning.

In the meantime, I’m going to sit back and enjoy the show as the copper mellows from that shiny color to a warm brown and maybe one day if we’re lucky a pretty patina!

Modified from ColourLovers user: Koala988

I’ve heard all kinds of stories about how to patina your roof. The installer said he heard if you put ketchup on it, it will speed the aging process. I’m sure my neighbors would definitely call the state mental hospital if they saw me up on a ladder slathering Heinz 57 on our new roof. I think I’ll just leave it for now. Because this looks 300 times better…

than this…

Side note: I actually had a conversation with the birdhouse manufacturers at the Southern Ideal Home Show to find out how they patina their birdhouses.

Birdhouses by Tim Chorba (919)664-8383

I was told they order a special chemical that speeds the patina process from Triple-S Chemical in California. Hmmmm, that has me thinking.

Until next time.

aka DJ P-Diddy Handy Gee
(my apologies to Busta Rhymes for copying his look for today’s post.)

Disclosure: I offered to write this post and mention the Aluminum Company in exchange for a discount on our roof. They had no idea what I was going to say about them. But, I knew it wouldn’t be hard to say good things about the company because we’ve used them before and I’ve always been happy. I would never recommend a company to my readers that I didn’t like myself. One thing that I really value is that the owner, Jeff Monsein, stands behind every job his company does. He even gives out his personal cell phone number for customers to call if they are unhappy! How many CEOs do you know that will do that?

34 replies
Newer Comments »
  1. Janet
    Janet says:

    Amazing what that little big (relatively speaking) of copper roofing can do for the look of the house. Once purple & green was gone, improvement had begun :-). But the copper took it to a new level.

  2. Shannon at madiganmade
    Shannon at madiganmade says:

    Hahaha! Love the new pic! 😉
    And I’m loving the roof ‘bling’… the copper is pretty now and will age beautifully over time.
    I picked up some copper planters years ago on clearance that were super shiny… after a season outside in the element, they turned a pretty coppery brown.

  3. SheilaG @ Plum Doodles
    SheilaG @ Plum Doodles says:

    Hee-hee!!! Thanks for a good chuckle and good information- an excellent teacher holds the interest with something unexpected- you rocked it/ rapped it with this one! I love the new look- both for you, Handy G, and for the roof! 😀

  4. Kim @ Sand & Sisal
    Kim @ Sand & Sisal says:

    I love copper roofs! I mean seriously L-O-V-E them! Yours looks great and woo-hoo on the discount! Oh yes… you’re lookin’ rather jiggy today, I must say! 😉

  5. Mary Ann
    Mary Ann says:

    Good call on the copper, so “fresh”… & da bling bling blog-angle is cute, as well! Those chains look heavy! I always marvel at the great photos that accompany your blog. The men at work added to the story. Enjoy your new blingy roof!-

  6. Denise Humphrey
    Denise Humphrey says:

    Brittany,
    Ketchup will actually make the copper shiny. At one time I used it to clean the bottoms of my copper cookware. Your roof looks great by the way!
    Denise

  7. Kimberly Bruhn
    Kimberly Bruhn says:

    Love the copper roof! Also your house…so cute and cottage-y…wish we could have afforded the copper when we re-roofed last year. We actually went with a barn-red metal roof…not just to tick off the neighbors, that was a side-benefit, but all the other colors were so bland and red is one of my favorites. Now, we’ve painted most of the front of our house gray-blue with bright white trim and accent trim of the red…I get complements a lot (oh, and red gutters as well! This early summer we hope to finish shingles on the gables and painting (it was a natural redwood). Enjoy your blog and feel a bit more empowered to try more major projects. Thanks!

  8. Alice
    Alice says:

    After reading through the intro and rap session twice while busting a gut laughing along with my visual thoughts of your antics I went on to the beautiful copper part of your post. I’m loving it. Great choice!

  9. Megan B
    Megan B says:

    I think it looks great! I love the look of copper and I think once the patina takes over the brightness of it it will look even better. Good choice! I second Michele’s idea of making the first pic your profile pic in the sidebar.

  10. Michele @ The Scrap Shoppe
    Michele @ The Scrap Shoppe says:

    Oh, Brittany! You had me laughing out loud this morning!! I *love* the new copper awning! Definitely better than Barney (he’s not allowed in my house!). Um, and can that pic of you be your new profile pic in your sidebar? Pretty please? 😉

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

Newer Comments »

Comments are closed.