Soldered copper valleys, step flashing, chimney crickets, standing-seam copper accents, and copper bay/dormer/porch roofs for estate-class homes across the North Shore and Lake County. Copper is the appropriate flashing material for cedar shake and slate roof systems and the appropriate primary material for accent sections on Tudor, Colonial Revival, and historic architecture. We fabricate in-house for standard profiles and work with regional metal shops on custom architectural detail.
Copper is a generational specification. Properly fabricated and installed copper flashing routinely delivers 80 to 100+ years of service life — outlasting most other components of the roof and frequently outlasting the cedar shake or slate it accompanies. For estate homes where the roof system is being installed for multi-generational ownership, copper is the only flashing material that matches the longevity profile of the primary roof material. Aluminum lasts ~25 years and fails from oxidation; galvanized steel lasts ~30 years and fails from rust; copper develops a protective patina and just keeps going.
The cost differential between copper and aluminum at the flashing scope is small relative to project total — typically a few thousand dollars on a project running $80,000–$200,000+. The longevity and aesthetic match make copper the appropriate call on cedar shake, slate, and historic-architecture work. We don't substitute aluminum where original specifications called for copper, and we don't push copper where aluminum is appropriate to a standard architectural shingle suburban replacement. The right material is the one that matches the project's actual profile.
The full scope of copper work that estate-home roofing requires — flashing, accents, full standing-seam sections, and gutters and downspouts where the drainage system is part of the architecture.
Open-valley designs expose the copper as a visible water channel down the valley line — common on Tudor Revival and English country architecture where the visual character of the visible copper is part of the design. Closed-valley designs hide the copper beneath interlaced shake, slate, or shingle courses — common on Colonial Revival and traditional architecture. We fabricate both with appropriate copper weight (typically 16-ounce for residential, 20-ounce for harsh exposure), full soldered overlaps, and proper underlayment and ice-and-water shield beneath. Valley copper is sized to the watershed area above; oversizing the valley is cheap insurance against ice-dam events.
Step flashing is the interlocking copper detail that goes between each course of shingle, shake, or slate at any wall-roof intersection. Each piece is bent to a specific angle, lapped with the course above, and bonded to the wall surface. Counter flashing is the cap that protects the top edge of the step flashing where it meets the masonry — for chimneys, parapet walls, dormer cheeks. We fabricate step flashing from 16-ounce copper, hand-bend each piece to the project's specific roof pitch, and hand-solder counter-flashing at every chimney crown. Step flashing is the most common failure point on aging asphalt-shingle roofs; properly installed copper step flashing essentially never fails.
A chimney cricket — also called a saddle — is the small triangular roof structure built behind a chimney that's wider than 30 inches measured perpendicular to the slope. Its purpose is to divert water around the chimney rather than letting it pile up against the back face. Cricket flashing is detail-intensive: the cricket framing is built first, then a copper cricket cap is fabricated and installed with soldered overlaps to the surrounding step and counter flashing, and integrated with the field roofing material. We fabricate cricket caps in 16-ounce copper or heavier. On estate-class chimneys with multiple flues, the cricket may be a substantial copper component visible from elevated viewpoints.
The copper details that aren't flashing — they're the primary roofing material for an architectural accent. Bay window roofs, oriel projections, dormer cheeks and tops, cupola roofs, porch and entry roofs, and small section roofs above architectural features all sometimes specify copper as the primary material. Standing-seam construction has the seams running vertically up the slope, with each panel locked to the next at a soldered or rolled seam. We typically use 20-ounce copper for visible standing-seam accent roofs because of the higher visual stakes and the longer expected exposure to view. Proper underlayment and an air-space-respecting installation extend life beyond what the copper alone would deliver.
Copper gutters and downspouts are the appropriate drainage system for estate homes with copper flashing or roof accents. The visual continuity of the copper roof system is preserved — soldered seams, half-round gutter profiles common on traditional architecture, copper or copper-bronze hangers and brackets. Service life matches the rest of the copper system. The cost premium over aluminum gutters is meaningful but justified on properties where the drainage system is visible from grade and is part of the architectural design. We install K-style and half-round copper gutters; for restoration projects, we match existing profiles and gauge.
Copper is specified by weight per square foot. 16-ounce copper (~0.0216 inches thick) is the standard residential specification — appropriate for valleys, step flashing, and most flashing work, with full 80-100 year service life. 20-ounce copper (~0.027 inches) is heavier-grade and appropriate for visible standing-seam roof sections, areas with mechanical stress, harsh wind exposure, or aesthetic-grade thickness. We specify the appropriate weight per component on each project — typically 16-ounce for flashing combined with 20-ounce for visible standing-seam accents. Heavier weights (24-ounce, 32-ounce) are available for specific historic restoration projects where the original specification called for them.
Copper work concentrates on the estate-class homes where the architecture, the primary roof material, and the multi-generational ownership horizon justify the specification.
Estate homes with extensive copper inventory
Service area details →Indian Hill, Hubbard Woods — Tudor and Prairie copper details
Service area details →Soldered copper standard on Tudor and Colonial Revival
Service area details →Lakefront and ravine homes with copper-clad dormers
Service area details →Sherwood Forest, Ravinia heritage copper work
Service area details →Blufftop and historic in-village copper details
Service area details →Custom estates with copper accent roofing
Service area details →Estate properties — copper as standard flashing material
Service area details →Estate homes with copper valley and step flashing
Service area details →Custom architecture appropriate for copper accents
Service area details →Custom estates with copper roofing details
Service area details →Estate-scale architecture with extensive copper
Service area details →Many estate-class roofs we work on have original copper that's now 80-100+ years old. Some of it is still serviceable. Some has reached end-of-life — typically failing at solder joints from extreme thermal cycling rather than at the copper sheet itself. Restoration involves selectively replacing failed sections (resoldering joints, replacing pieces that have suffered mechanical damage) while preserving the original copper inventory wherever possible. For homes within the Lake Forest Historic Preservation Commission's jurisdiction or in Highland Park's Sherwood Forest area where original architectural character matters, this restoration approach is often the appropriate first option.
Full copper replacement is appropriate when the original was undersized for the application, when extensive damage has compromised more than a small fraction of the original inventory, or when the original was insufficient-weight (some early 1900s residential copper was 12-ounce, which has outlived its design life). On replacement projects we match the original profile and color where possible — restoration-grade copper is available with pre-aged finishes that approximate the patina of existing adjacent components.
Copper is the right specification when (a) the home's architectural value justifies a flashing material that lasts 80-100+ years, (b) the existing roof system is cedar shake, natural slate, or a system designed to outlast aluminum's serviceable life, (c) the home was originally specified with copper and replacement work should match, or (d) the visual character of the home calls for the patina copper develops over time. Aluminum is acceptable for standard architectural shingle replacements on suburban homes where the flashing's expected service life matches the shingles' (~25 years). Galvanized steel is rarely the right call in modern roofing — it's been displaced by aluminum on the budget end and copper on the premium end. For estate-class homes, the cost differential between copper and aluminum at the flashing scope is small relative to the project total — typically a few thousand dollars on a project running $80,000-$200,000+ — and the longevity, visual character, and appropriateness to the architecture make it the right call. We default to copper recommendations on cedar shake, slate, and historic-architecture projects.
Properly fabricated and installed copper flashing typically delivers 80 to 100+ years of service life — outlasting most other components of the roof and frequently outlasting the cedar shake or slate it accompanies. The longevity depends on a few specifics: copper thickness (16-ounce minimum for most residential applications; 20-ounce for harsh exposure or coastal-style conditions), proper soldering at all overlaps and detail work (sweat-soldered joints rather than mechanical fasteners alone), and isolation from incompatible metals (copper develops galvanic corrosion when in direct contact with aluminum, so any transitions need proper isolation). Cedar shake's natural acidity also reacts with copper but in a way that produces patina rather than degradation — a benefit, not a problem. We've worked on estate homes with original 1920s and 1930s copper flashing that's still functional today; the failures we encounter on heritage properties are almost always at the underlying substrate or other components, not the copper itself.
Full scope: copper valley flashing (open-valley and closed-valley designs), step flashing at wall intersections, counter flashing at chimneys and parapets, chimney crickets (saddle structures behind chimneys to divert water), pipe flashing and vent collars, drip edge and rake metal, and standing-seam copper accents on bay window roofs, dormer cheeks and tops, oriel projections, porch roofs, cupolas, and small section roofs. We fabricate components in-house for straightforward profiles and work with regional metal shops on custom sections — anything requiring an architect's drawings, ornamental detail, or matching of historic profiles. Soldered copper gutters and downspouts are also part of the scope on estate-home projects where the roof drainage system is part of the architectural design.
Copper is specified by weight per square foot — 16-ounce copper is approximately 0.0216 inches thick, 20-ounce is 0.027 inches. For most residential roofing applications in Chicagoland — flashing, valleys, accent roofs — 16-ounce is the standard specification and delivers full expected service life. 20-ounce is appropriate where the copper is exposed to higher mechanical stress (areas with heavy foot traffic, harsh wind exposure, or where aesthetic-grade thickness is preferred), on standing-seam roof sections that are the primary roof material rather than an accent, and on certain historic preservation projects where the original specification was 20-ounce or heavier. We specify the appropriate weight for each project component — sometimes 16-ounce for valleys and step flashing combined with 20-ounce for visible standing-seam accents.
Copper requires almost no maintenance — that's one of its key advantages. The natural patina that develops over 5-15 years (from bright copper to brown, eventually to the characteristic green of full oxidation) is protective; it doesn't need to be cleaned, sealed, or treated. The few maintenance considerations: keep copper clear of debris that traps moisture (leaf accumulation in valleys), don't allow water from incompatible metals (aluminum gutters above copper details) to drain across the copper for extended periods, and inspect soldered joints periodically for any stress cracks (rare but possible on older systems with extreme thermal cycling). Compared to cedar shake's annual inspections, periodic treatments, and selective replacement, or slate's eventual flashing-failure restoration cycle, copper is the lowest-maintenance component on a premium roof system.
Copper flashing scope on a typical cedar shake or natural slate roof project — full valleys, all step flashing, chimney work, and standard penetration flashings on a 4,000 sqft home — typically adds $8,000 to $25,000 to the project versus aluminum flashing at the same scope. Standing-seam copper accent roofing (bay window, dormer roofs, porch roofs) runs $25 to $45 per square foot installed depending on profile complexity, soldering scope, and substrate prep. A complete copper bay window roof on a Tudor Revival might cost $4,000 to $12,000; a copper porch roof $8,000 to $25,000; and full standing-seam copper main-roof sections push significantly higher. We provide written estimates with copper weight specifications, scope breakdown, and fabrication source for every project — copper work is specification work and the proposal should reflect that.
Free written assessment with copper weight specifications, fabrication source, and scope breakdown — for new copper work, restoration of existing copper, or copper accent additions to a roof project.