Rutland Architectural Blog

Sunday, July 31, 2011

To break up the monotony of large expanses of roof, especially non variegated roofing and oftentimes long unbroken rooflines, consider adding a roof top finial. Roof finials provide focal points of interest and accentuate your home or commercial building's roof and architecture. Finials and larger roof structures such as cupolas, domes, dormers and chimneys help to visually break up large expanses of roofing or long unbroken roof lines and make them much more attractive and interesting. Below are pictures first of plain monochromatic roofing and then pictures of more variegated roofing with roof finials and other roof structures.

metal rooflines shown with expansive metal roofing

Monochromatic - Non Variegated Roofing

copper finials - roof top finials shown being installed

copper finials - roof finials shown installed on top of building

Copper Finials on Top of Roof

roof finials - copper dormers and chimneys shown on large residence

roof finials - shown installed on top of high steep roof

Roof Finials - Roof Dormers and Chimneys

Roof finials are available in many shapes, sizes and materials. Finials can be simple, streamlined designs, contemporary designs, classic designs or very ornate and intricate designs. Finials can range from under a foot in height to 4 foot, 5 foot or even taller. Most roof finials are constructed from metal with copper and aluminum being the most popular finial materials. Aluminum finials are light in weight, lower cost and are available either in unfinished mill aluminum or can be custom painted to match or color coordinate with any building's trim or roofing. Copper finials are typically left unfinished and really dress up any architecture with copper's beautiful, elegant, timeless appearance. While copper does cost a bit more than aluminum and other materials, copper is also the most durable and longest lasting building material and requires no maintenance or painting. Therefore copper has proven to be a very cost effective material for finials, cupolas, dormers, vents, domes and other roof structures or accessories.

copper finial design with copper finial ball shown

Copper Finials - Roof Top Finials

roof finial design with copper finial ball shown

roof finial design with aluminum finial material shown

copper finial design with ornate copper finial balls shown

Roof Finial Copper - Aluminum Finial - Copper Finial

Rutland has over 50 roof finial designs available in a wide variety of sizes including both copper finials and aluminum roof top finials. Rutland also fabricates custom styles and sizes of roof finials according to customer specifications and drawings, including finials with weathervanes. In addition to roof finials, Rutland manufactures a wide assortment of styles and sizes of roof cupolas, roof vent dormers, roof domes, custom chimney caps and chimney pots. Rutland has extensive expertise in custom architectural metal and copper work and utilizes their in house CAD design, machine shop, TIG welding and professional paint shop facilities.

copper dome roof with copper finial design shown

copper roof dome with copper finial design shown

Copper Roof Domes with Copper Finials

7/31/2011 2:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Monday, November 01, 2010

Cupola

Cupola is typically a smaller structure mounted on top of a larger structure such as a roof. The roof may be virtually any shape and material. Cupola are frequently seen on top of homes, public buildings, businesses and pavilions. Cupolas may also be mounted on top of structures such as dome roofs, turrets, towers, steeples, spires and gazebos. A cupola is designed to admit light and air to the structure or building below and also provide architectural interest and elegance. Functional cupola louver vents are designed to promote air flow and provide ventilation to the roof or attic space below. Cupola has also been described in architectural terms as a small domed structure on top a building which provides light, ventilation and decoration.

cupola - custom copper cupola with copper roof finial cone top view pictured here

Custom Copper Cupola - 4 Sided Roof Cupola w/ Copper Finial
copper cupola - custom roof cupola with copper finial cone pictured front view

roof cupola - custom copper cupola with roof finial copper cone pictured corner view

Cupolas are a very popular architectural enhancement on top of homes, gazebos, pavilions, barns, government or public buildings and businesses. Roof top cupolas may also be surrounded with a roof deck railing or widows walk for additional architectural interest. Cupolas are an attractive architectural feature wherever they are present. Cupolas also can provide substantial ventilation to the roof, attic or building space below. Cupolas may be built in various shapes including circular, square, hexagonal, octagonal or custom shapes. Cupolas typically are then topped with a domed, conical, bell-shaped or curved pyramidal, hexagonal or octagonal roof. The cupola roof is then often finished or crowned with an ornamental roof finial perched on top. Cupolas may be constructed from a variety of materials with wood and metals being the most common. Among metals, rust-free aluminum and copper are the most preferred materials. Aluminum is a light weight material and can be painted to coordinate with building wall or trim colors. Copper cupolas are typically not painted or coated, provide an elegant and distinguished appearance, will weather beautifully, are virtually maintenance-free, are a very green design, are very durable and are the longest lasting of all cupola construction materials. Any style of cupola will provide a pleasing attractive appearance and elegance to any building structure including a gazebo cupola for example, while cupola ventilation louvers provide excellent roof ventilation.

cupola hexagonal aluminum roof cupola with horse weathervane finial pictured roof cupola hexagonal aluminum cupola with horse weather vane pictured here
Cupola Hexagonal Aluminum w/ Horse Weathervane

Cupola designs on this page were custom manufactured by the architectural metal and copper work craftsmen at Rutland. Rutland will custom craft a cupola out of copper or aluminum in any size to your own design specifications. Cupolas can be fabricated for installation on any roof pitch and with different base shapes. Copper cupolas are made from pure heavyweight copper and have TIG welded frame. The polished, welded seams provide strength, durability and a refined appearance. Aluminum cupolas may be constructed entirely of aluminum or optionally have a copper roof. Aluminum cupolas are available in mill finish aluminum (unfinished) or optionally may be custom painted in a wide variety of colors, including two-tone. Other cupola options include louver vents for ventilation on the sides and a wide variety of decorative finials or weather vanes mounted on top. Cupolas can be shipped or delivered anywhere in North America. More custom cupola designs and standard cupola designs including 4-sided, hexagonal and octagonal may be seen at Rutland Cupolas with architectural CAD drawings also available for viewing.

11/1/2010 4:37 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Sunday, August 01, 2010

Roof Vent - Attic Ventilation - Gable Vent - Copper

Roof vents provide ventilation for the space underneath a roof. If an attic is present, roof vents, soffit vents and gable vents also provide attic ventilation. Roof ventilation and attic ventilation are necessary to help remove moisture in the air that may damage wood, insulation and other building materials underneath the roof, susceptible to damage or deterioration from moisture or condensation. The air conditioned living space underneath your roof or attic is usually at a much different temperature than the airspace underneath the roof or in the attic and can lead to condensation forming from humidity rising up from the living space below or especially in summer months from humid outside air. Winter attic ventilation must be sufficient to remove moisture vapor rising from the living space to the attic. In general, ventilation adequate for summer cooling is more than adequate for winter ventilation. Constant air movement or ventilation can help keep the building materials under a roof or in the attic dryer. In hot summer months, a cooler attic or space underneath your roof will also help keep trapped super heated air from pushing down into your living space and will promote more efficient cooling of your living space below. Attics or spaces under a roof can reach temperatures of 150 to 160 degrees F during a summer day, although outside air temperatures may only be 95 to 97 degrees F. The cooling load for a home air conditioning depends on the difference in temperature between the inside and outside air, and reduction of roof space or attic temperatures from 155 degrees to 105 degrees F will result in a significant reduction in cooling load. In a home with poor ceiling insulation, heat movement through ceilings may account for 30 percent or more of the total cooling cost. Heat movement through well insulated ceilings may still account for 12 to 15 percent of the total cooling cost. Roof shingles, roofing tile and other roof structure materials benefit from optimum roof ventilation, which can help prevent deterioration from this excess heat and lengthens the life of roofing. Natural cross ventilation for roofs is typically supplied with high mounted roof vents such as ridge vents or domed pot vents and low mounted roof edge vents or soffit vents, typically mounted in the overhangs (soffits or eaves) of a building. The cooler air enters through the low mounted soffit vents and exits through the high mounted roof vents, providing cross ventilation. Heated air becomes less dense and rises and wind movement around and over a home creates areas of high and low pressure. Natural cross ventilation utilizing this chimney effect and wind movement is the most common and energy efficient method of achieving lower attic temperatures and moisture control. Air powered turbine vents can provide increased ventilation over regular vents.

roof vent - domed pot vent shown in pure copper

Roof Vent - Copper Domed Pot Vent

turbine roof vent - copper roof vent turbine vent pictured

soffit vent - continuous soffit vent copper and square copper soffit vent with copper mesh shown here

Turbine Roof Vent - Copper Soffit Vents

A rough rule of thumb to figure out much roof ventilation is needed is to take the square footage underneath your roof and divide that by 300 (for new homes with good vapor barriers). That gives you the square footage of total ventilation opening or net free area required. About 60% of that total ventilation opening should be for low mounted roof vents or soffit vents and the other 40% for high mounted roof vents. For example say a home has dimensions of 40 feet by 75 feet and 3000 square feet of space under the roof. Divide 3000 by 300 to get 10 square feet of ventilation space or opening needed. 60% of that 10 square feet or 6 square feet should be low mounted or soffit vents and 40% or 4 square feet should be high mounted roof events. If there are no soffits or overhangs on a building then roof vents alone may be used but the recommended square footage of roof ventilation doubles. So in this example of a 40 foot by 75 foot, 3000 square foot building, 20 square feet of roof ventilation without soffit vents is suggested rather than 10 square feet with soffit vents. Older homes or those without good vapor barriers should use 150 (instead of 300) to divide into the total home square footage to get ventilation area. Local building codes specify the minimum attic ventilation requirements and while you should always at least meet building code requirements, a larger total roof ventilation area usually will provide even better performance.

dormer roof vent - arched roof dormer vent shown in pure copper

dormer roof vent - triangular roof dormer vent pyramidal shown in pure copper

Dormer Roof Vent - Arched and Triangular Copper

In addition to or otherwise in lieu of soffit vents, low mounted dormer roof vents may also be employed for their decorative touch and functional roof and attic venting.opening area required. Gable vents or attic vents such as the ones pictured below, whether they be round, octagonal, square, arched or triangular in shape also contribute to cross ventilation for roofs and attic spaces. A cupola mounted right at a roof's peak provides excellent roof and attic ventilation while also providing visual appeal and architectural interest. Roof dormers can be one piece metal dormers with flashing and louvers such as the copper roof dormers shown above or can be custom built dormers such as the one below. These roof dormers typically have a louvered vent opening similar to gable vents or wall vents and contribute to and provide some of the roof and attic ventilation

dormer roof vent - custom roof dormer vent with copper panel roof and copper louver vent shown here

Dormer with Copper Vent and Copper Panel Roof

attic vent - round gable vent shown in pure copper

gable vent - octagonal attic vent shown in pure copper

Attic Vent - Gable Vent - Copper Round and Octagonal

cupola - roof cupola- octagonal copper cupola with 8 sides pictured

cupola - copper cupola - roof cupola with 4 sides and copper finial shown here

Cupola Roof Vents - Octagonal and Square Copper

Rutland supplies a large assortment of metal roof vents, attic vents, gable vents and soffit vents. These roof and attic vents are available in elegant, durable, eco-friendly pure copper or other metals such as aluminum and paint-grip steel. Rutland carries many in stock standard sizes and also offers custom designs and custom sizes to meet project specifications. Dormer roof vents for roof ventilation with integral flashing are available in any size and cupolas which may be used for roof and attic venting are available in both standard and custom sizes with mounted finials and weathervanes available as a cupola option.

8/1/2010 3:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Friday, February 05, 2010

Horse Barn Cupola Construction

Cupolas are a very popular architectural enhancement on top of horse barn roofs and riding arenas. Roof top cupolas are also popular features on homes, gazebos, pavillions, public buildings and businesses. A cupola may be built to be accessible from the inside and thereby provide a lofty perch for viewing pleasure of the surrounding area. Often such cupolas are encircled by a widows walk or roof deck railing. Usually cupolas are chosen for their heightened architectural interest and also to provide substantial ventilation to the roof, attic or building space below. Cupolas may be built in various shapes including circular, square, hexagonal and octagonal. Cupolas typically have a curved conical, bell-shaped or pyramidal domed roof and are often crowned with a ornamental roof finial perched at the very top. Cupolas may be constructed from a variety of materials with wood and metals being the most common. Among metals, rust-free aluminum and copper are the preferred material. Aluminum makes for a generally light weight, manageable cupola design and the aluminum is usually painted to color coordinate with the underlying building's wall and trim colors. Copper cupolas are most always left uncoated and provide the most elegant and distinguished appearance, weather beautifully, are the most maintenance-free, eco-friendly green choice, most durable and longest lasting of all cupolas. Cupolas provide a pleasing, very attractive elegance to any building while cupola ventilation serves as an excellent roof vent.

Rutland's architectural craftsmen hand made several custom large cupolas designed for a massive horse barn riding arena. Structural .063 aluminum was used, with large aluminum louvers in the four walls, a swooping bell-shaped pyramidal domed roof and topped with a finial ball and spiked cone. All joints or seams were TIG welded and polished, which provides the most strength, durability and refined, pleasing appearance. One very large cupola would perch in the center of the horse barn arena's expansive roof line and two slightly smaller cupolas would sit to either side of the larger one. The cupolas would help break up the roof line, provide a high degree of architectural interest and attractiveness and supply substantial ventilation of the underlying roof space. The cupola sides were painted a bay brown to coordinate with the stained wood walls of the riding arena and adjacent horse barns. The cupola's roof was painted hunter green to match the green metal roof on the horse barns. Below are pictures showing the progression of the cupola construction from structural framing to final installation shots on top the horse barn.

cupola TIG welded structural aluminum frame shown here during cupola construction
Cupola Structural Aluminum TIG Welded Frame - Polished Seams

cupola has large louver vents installed for roof or attic ventilation
Large Aluminum Louvers are Inserted Into Cupola Sides

cupola domed roof and roof finial are attached to finish cupola design
Domed Roof and Roof Finial Attached On Top of Cupola

aluminum cupolas finshed in two tone paint job pictured here
Cupolas Finished in Two-Tone Paint Job

roof cupola perched on top of metal horse barn roof shown
Cupolas Are Installed Top of Horse Barn Arena

horse barn cupola installed on metal horse barn roof in picture
Horse Barn Cupola Construction Project Completed

Obtain more information on roof top aluminum cupola designs and copper cupolas at Rutland Architectural Cupolas.

2/5/2010 11:42 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Copper Gazebo Roof

Gazebos are an outdoor pavilion or tent like structure which are usually round, square or octagonal in shape. A gazebo is a familiar sight, found just about anywhere, in parks, gardens, back yards, on a lake or seashore, outdoor restaurants, etc. Gazebos are usually roofed but open on the sides, sometimes with railings or balustrades and sometimes screened in. The gazebo floor might be grass, stone, concrete, brick or raised wood deck. The gazebo's base or deck and the optional railing usually follow along the bottom outline of the gazebo roof (round - square - octagonal - etc). A gazebo is oftentimes free standing in an open area or can be attached to another building or connected by decorative wall or path. Gazebos are popular spots, especially in warm weather, to rest, entertain, eat, relax and socialize. A gazebo provides shelter, shade and often seating and tables. Gazebos are unusually appealing structures and provide a most attractive and ornamental feature to a property's architecture and landscaping. The most common gazebo is built out of wood with ordinary roofing shingles used on the roof. A simple metal or copper roof cap with finial might be found on top. A gazebo upgrade might involve a small cupola perched on top of the gazebo roof, once again with a roof finial crowning the very top. The ultimate gazebo roof is a copper roof made from copper tile or copper panels. A copper gazebo roof may be conical in shape, bell shaped, octagonal, pentagonal, pyramidal, domed or any number of different shapes.

Copper Gazebo Roof - Bell Shaped - Bermuda Style

copper gazebo roof conical shape with copper roof cap and copper finial pictured

Copper Gazebo Tile Roof with Copper Roof Cap and Finial
copper roof tile diamond shaped handmade copper tile shown here

Copper Roof Tile - Alternative Diamond Shaped

A copper roof cupola can be positioned on top of a gazebo providing additional architectural interest and can functionally help vent hot air out the top. A simple, rustic or ornate copper roof finial can crown the very top of the gazebo or cupola. Copper clad columns, copper fixtures and copper railing or balustrade provide additional sheer elegance to a copper gazebo. To make a copper gazebo even more inviting on cool evenings, a copper fire pit with or without copper vent hood would coordinate nicely. A copper gazebo roof, copper cupola, copper finial, copper balustrade (or copper railing) not only have divine aesthetics and AWESOME looks but will last a LIFETIME.

copper roof cupola with weathervane and copper deck railing for gazebo pictured here

Copper Cupola with WeatherVane and Copper Railing

* Photos above courtesy Rutland Architectural Copper Work, whose copper artisans created the copper gazebo roofs, copper cupola, copper finials and copper deck railing shown above. Even the copper tile shown above is custom handmade and hand cut copper roof tile. See additional pictures at Copper Dome - Copper Turret - Copper Gazebo Roof.