By “Hard Metals” we mean Traditional – Fully Supported Metal Roofs. Sheet material such as copper or zinc laid over a vented timber substrate.
Hard metal roofs are durable, long lasting, beautiful, low maintenance, lightweight, fully sustainable and can be laid on roof pitches from vertical down to 3 degrees.
Hard metals are generally installed using a standing seam construction. Elegant in appearance, panels approximately 600mm in width joined together down the length using a 25mm high standing double lock welt. The panels are secured by clips secured to the substrate and folded within the seam.
In the past, the lengths of these panels were restricted to about 1.8m in length and were incredibly labour intensive to install but now using modern “long strip” methods we can install continuous strips in much greater lengths, making metal roofs far more cost effective to install.
Other methods of installation include batten cap and shingles.
Copper is one of those materials that have been used by mankind for millennia. Copper has been the choice roof covering for prestigious buildings all over the world.
Over the years copper develops its own protective patina, which transforms copper from a bright orangey-brown colour, to a deep brown and then to blue/green. This natural patina protects the copper from atmospheric conditions.
Unlike other “hard metals” copper does not suffer from underside corrosion, installed correctly has an immensely long lifespan. This makes it incredibly cost-effective.
There is no maintenance required with a copper roof.
Zinc has been used as a roof covering for 200 years and installed correctly will last a lifetime. The Zinc used for roofing in more recent years is now an allow of zinc, titanium, and copper which reduces the rate of thermal expansion and allows it to be installed in long strips.
Like lead and copper-zinc develops its own natural patina that is highly resistant to corrosion. Bright rolled Zinc naturally weathers down to a blue/grey colour much like that of lead. Modern processes can pre-weather the material to blue/grey or grey/black tones if desired. Zinc is self-healing and any surface scratches will disappear as the patina quickly redevelops. Zinc roofs require little or no maintenance.