This material might change color over time, but its value lasts

By Emma Peterson. 

From beauty to strength to a 100-year lifespan, copper roofs come with a variety of benefits. 

Copper as a building material is probably most commonly thought of in reference to the color-changing skin of the Statue of Liberty in New York City, but it actually has a lot of other applications. In this episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Mark Hubbard, president of Turner Morris Commercial Services, and Josh Yandle, co-owner of Umbrella Roofing, stopped by to talk about the beauty, durability and versatility of copper when used in roofing – and its iconic color-changing nature which is called a patina. 

Josh started off by sharing some of the reasons copper is an underrated material option. He shared, “It has a pretty distinctive and elegant appearance, and it can enhance the value of the home. It also has a beautiful patina over time.” The especially unique thing about copper’s patina is it can appear slightly different on every roof depending on environmental factors. So one copper roof in a coastal area might get a more grain-light patina where inland you might see a more dark-bronze color. This means that every copper roof has its own personality and uniqueness. Mark added, “Because of the patina, there are lots of copper roofs that can last 100-plus years... Pretty much anywhere, copper you can just expect it to last until you take it off. If it doesn't get damaged or removed then that's your roof. It's not unusual to see a copper roof that's 100-plus years old.” 

This long lifespan not only makes the roof one less thing for homeowners to worry about, but it helps offset the higher up front cost of copper. This is both because homeowners do not have to pay for new roofs as frequently and because, as Josh explained, “Copper is low maintenance, it's weather resistant, it has a good fire rating. It is very energy efficient. It can reduce cooling costs by up to 25% because of the reflection. It's a sustainable product because it's a recyclable material.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the episode to learn more about copper roofing!