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I do a fair amount of asphalt shingle roofing, but I have never installed a copper valley before.
I have a customer who wants 4 installed, they range in length from 8 to 16 feet.
My questions are these:
1- The copper comes in 3 foot wide rolls, which I think makes for too big of a valley. I want to rip the copper down the middle, but that only leaves me 9 inches on either side of the valley, minus any hem and shingle overlap. Do you think that this is too small?
2- What about expansion? Do I have to use clips and a hem, or can I just nail along the outside edges? The copper comes in 8 or 10 foot sheets,is that short enough that I dont have to worry about expansion?
3- What about a hem? I am worried about water running down one side of the valley and up the other. The roof is about a 6 pitch. If I dont use a hem, should I cement the ends of the shingles down? Should I crease the valley?
Thanks everyone, for your advice, and yeah, I bought copper nails, too 🙂
Replies
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You should be able to get 2' copper I got some just last summer .
*Call a local sheet metal shop. They will know just what you need and can fabricate pieces with a W shape and hems on the sides. The customer wants a first class job and shouldn't mind paying for it.
*You don't need to worry about water from one side returning under the other unless you have unequal pitches or one side of roof considerably larger than the other but the W crease in center really looks mighty fine. Most sheet metal shops will have done this before and are familiar with what is common in your area. I see no problem with using 18" copper if you back it up with ice and water shield.
*I prefer the standing seam valley myself. With copper I also hem the edges and use clips with copper nails. I cut it to 8'ish lengths. It is available in 24" rolls, aka 100#, 50' roll of 16 oz stock.Copper coated lead is also available. But I have not ran across it at my suppliers.