Rutland Architectural Blog - Sunday, June 19, 2011

Sunday, June 19, 2011

A perfect way to dress up a home or building with a chimney is with a copper chimney cap custom crafted to accentuate your home's architecture. There are endless designs of custom chimney caps possible and they can be fully functional and protective while also providing additional architectural interest to your building. A good chimney cap design will definitely make a statement and enhance your home while also keeping out rain, promoting proper draft or air flow for your fireplace or stove and screening to keep out birds and animals and serving as a spark arrestor. Below are a few examples of custom copper chimney caps which have these qualities.

copper chimney cap with domed chimney top, bottom vents and spark arrestor copper screening pictured

copper chimney cap with copper dome top, bottom louvered venting and animal - spark arrestor copper mesh screen pictured

Copper Chimney Cap - Domed Top - Bottom Vents and Screening

copper chimney caps with covered pyramidal chimney top, bottom venting and spark arrestor mesh copper screening or woven lattice work pictured here

copper chimney caps with covered pyramidal chimney top, bottom venting and spark arrestor mesh copper screening or woven lattice work pictured here

copper chimney cap with copper dome chimney top, bottom vents and spark arrestor - animal copper screen pictured

Copper Chimney Caps - Covered Chimney Top and Screen Openings

Rutland can custom build copper chimney caps or chimney pots in any size and in any shape or design. Choose from one of Rutland's many unique chimney cap or chimney pot designs or provide your own design and Rutland will custom fabricate your chimney cap to your exact specifications and drawing. Rutland uses heavyweight copper with TIG welded polished seams for enhanced durability, strength and a polished superb appearance. Rutland can also craft your custom chimney cap in thick gauge aluminum, either mill finish or custom painted and in stainless steel if you prefer. See more of Rutland's Copper Chimney Caps designs and you may also view some of Rutland's many standard design architectural Chimney Cap CAD Drawings.

6/19/2011 4:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Green Roofing - Cool Roofs

Buildings, including residential, commercial, public, and industrial consume about one third of all energy use and about two thirds of all the electricity generated. Demand for electricity in the U.S. is increasing three times faster than new power plants and lines are being built to accommodate this rapidly increasing demand. Heating and cooling costs dominate most building's energy usage. A building's roof can have the greatest impact on the energy consumption by a building so any technological advances and improvements in roofing energy efficiency and performance will greatly affect both energy usage and consequent cost savings. Energy efficiency, durability, performance, sustainability, recyclability and life cycle costs are the focus of green building. Architects, builders and consumers have been changing the way they select building materials and designing buildings. They are increasingly shifting their focus to green building materials and energy performance with so called cool roofs becoming a key focus. Cooling costs significantly affect a building's energy consumption in most parts of the country and cooling is the predominant cost in the southern states. Cool roofs can save up to 40% in cooling energy as reported by several studies including Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Heat Island Group. Cool roofs essentially are roofs which reflect much of the sun's radiation away from a building, employ above sheathing ventilation (ASV) cooling under the roof, readily emit any heat which they do absorb back away from the building and cool quickly at night. The less solar radiation and heat entering a building's interior space through the building's roof, the lower the building's cooling costs and energy use will be.

Net Heat Flux Through Roof (courtesy coolmetalroofing.org)

Cool roofs or reflective roofs can be comprised of a variety of materials including asphalt or fiberglass shingles, clay or concrete tile, EDPM rubber or PVC roofing membrane and variety of metals as long as they can reflect away much of the sun's radiation and readily release any heat they absorb into the atmosphere. White and the more lightly colored roofing materials are the most reflective but different material composition as well as special designed and engineered coatings or paints used on them can also greatly affect reflectivity and emissivity. Some of these new coatings or paints, especially those applied to newer more advanced metal roofing, incorporate special pigments designed to provide higher reflectance of solar infrared and ultraviolet radiation. Infrared and ultraviolet radiation can contribute even more to absorbed heat energy from the sun than visible light so any type of roofing material incorporating these special reflective coatings may outperform conventional light colored materials without them. Even darker colored roofing which incorporates these special IR and UV reflective coatings will outperform older non treated darker colored roofing saving as much as 25% in cooling costs.

cool metal tile roofing shown having solar reflective coating cool roof and green roof energy saving properties

cool metal tile roofing shown having cool roof and green roof properties

Reflective Cool Metal Roofing Tile (courtesy coolmetalroofing.org)

Even with the advent of newer reflective coatings, white and light colored roofing still is the best performing cool roof providing the most energy and cost savings. Consumers, builders and architects however still like the aesthetics in having varied colors and materials and many still favor darker roofing hues. Ultra violet (UV) represents about 3% of the total solar energy striking the earth’s surface. Visible solar energy amounts to 40% while infrared (IR) energy accounts for the largest percentage 57% of the solar energy spectrum and is felt as heat. Thus roof materials which can be coated with newer UV and IR reflective coatings, even the darker shades of roof color, can now be much more energy efficient than in the past. Darker shades of roofing still won't reflect near as much of the visible solar radiation as lightly colored and white roofing. Though with engineered reflective coatings they will now block a high percentage of the UV and IR radiation which actually constitute more of the solar energy radiation and heat gain than visible solar energy. In addition to solar reflectivity, heat emissivity of roofing materials must also be considered as a large factor affecting building energy usage and possible contribution towards heat island effects. Any solar radiation which is not reflected by the roofing surface is then absorbed, converted or transferred to heat energy and some of this heat can conduct and radiate down into the interior building space affecting cooling costs. If the roof material has good emissivity much of this heat can re-radiate back to the sky in the form of IR energy especially cooling off during the night and there will consequently be less heat build up. Any concentrated heat build up, especially in tight grouped urban areas leads to heat island effects where temperatures in the air above these heat islands can be up to 12 degrees hotter than normal, leading to higher air conditioning costs, higher use of energy and higher levels of ozone and smog.

thermal image of Atlanta at night time showing warming heat island effects

Atlanta at Night Thermal (Blue=cool, green=lukewarm, red=warm, white=hot)

In addition to emphasizing high solar reflectance and emissivity properties, roofs can additionally be kept cooler, limiting or preventing heat gain or heat flux down into a building' interior space below, by promoting convection cooling underneath the roof material using above sheathing ventilation (ASV). Heat emanating from the underside of the roofing can be removed using convective air flow (balanced ventilation) moving from soffit vents or eaves up to and out a ventilating roof ridge cap. Testing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory showed that by employing the natural convection of heated air below the roof covering, temperatures in an attic space are reduced. Air enters at the eave, is heated by the roof, and because hot air rises, it is naturally drawn up and vents to the outside. This natural convection controls heat gain and reduces the temperature in the
attic below. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory study found that dark-colored metal-shingle roofs using above-sheathing ventilation had similar heat energy flows compared to their lighter cooler colored counterparts. About 30 percent of measured reduction in heat gain was contributed by ASV. When a cool reflective roof surface was used with ASV, an additional 15 percent reduction in heat gain was achieved for 45% total. The improved summer performance of cooler roofs coupled with the reduced heat losses during the winter show cool roofs can both reduce energy usage in summer months while negating any supposed heating penalty in cooler months or northern heating dominated climates.
* (see http://www.metalconstruction.org/pubs/pdf/ORNL-TM-2006-9.pdf)

A convective air space below the roofing material can be easily set up by using a batten, cross batten or metal purlin framework on top of roof sheathing or a roof deck, on which sturdy roofing panels can be attached. Less sturdy roofing material can employ a 1 1/2" metal roof deck or else just a purlin spaced layer of OSB below the existing roof sheathing. Even darker roof materials such as weathered bare copper which does not have a great solar reflectance index (SRI), can provide good to outstanding energy efficiency results with the use of either an underneath or above sheathing ventilation approach. Additionally winter or cold weather heating performance is improved with the use of below or above sheathing ventilation as that convection air space between the roof material and lower roof deck or sheathing further acts as an insulative layer and helps to prevent heat loss and condensation. Ventilated cooled roofs work great and are energy efficient in any climate. They tend to last much longer too with less heat degradation.

roof deck batten - cross batten construction framework shown on top of which cool roofing will be installed

Batten - Cross Batten Above Sheathing Ventilation (ASV)

roof structure cut out showing an energy saving cooling ventilated convection space positioned below the roof sheathing of a copper standing seam roof installation

ORNL Copper Roof Ventilation Test (images courtesy CDA at copper.org)
roof heat gain chart comparing different kinds of roofing including asphalt and cool metal roofing to a ventilated copper roof

roof heat gain chart comparing different kinds of roofing including asphalt and cool metal roofing to a ventilated copper roof

* These test results reflect using a 1½” fluted metal roof deck, ¾” OSB (plywood would work just as well), underlayment and red rosin paper underneath a standing seam copper roof. The use of a fluted metal roof deck is optional; similar results can be obtained by using other designs that provide an air space below the deck. The test roof had a 4/12 slope and faces south. The ventilated copper roof system was compared with a control roof of typical black asphalt, a typical non-ventilated copper roof assembly and two very good examples of above-the-sheathing, ventilated stone-coated steel roofs using special Cool Roof reflective coating colors. The graph above shows the ceiling heat flux crossing the attic floors of the respective attic assemblies. The light gray stone-coated cool metal roof (SR246E90) dropped the ceiling heat flux by roughly 29% of that measured for the asphalt shingle roof (SR093E89). The copper roof with the fluted metal deck further dropped peak ceiling heat flux an additional 23% of that for the coated steel shingle roof, bringing the total reduction for the copper roofing system to 50% of the asphalt control. Peak heat flux dropped an additional 1.5 Btu per hour per square foot for the copper roof as compared with the stone-coated metal roof. These results show clearly that a vented copper roof assembly will greatly reduce heat gain resulting in lower energy costs for the structure. Further, it dispels the notion that copper roofing must have high reflectance and emissivity in order to be effective in saving energy. * See Copper Roofs Are Cool

Cool roofs with their large energy saving and cost saving benefits can be realized by employing light colored roofing materials with very good solar reflective properties or roof materials using special engineered reflective coatings or most any type of roofing utilizing balanced and well functioning below or above sheathing ventilation (ASV). White or lightly colored highly solar reflective roofs employing ASV still provide the greatest energy and cost savings. It must also be stated that using higher R-values for ceiling insulation or better insulation below the roof in structures without attics will also control or limit heat gain into a building interior and consequently also lessens the heat gain differential using less reflective roofing materials or darker roof colors. Adding a radiant barrier and insulation board underneath your lower roof deck and convection space can further prevent the intrusion of heat gain from roofing into attic and living space. Additional attic vents, gable vents, dormer vents and roof vents will also reduce heat gain from roofing. More sloped roofs also perform much better and have less heat gain than flat or low sloped roofs and should be considered for any new construction. Some buildings with flat or low slope (<2:12) low-rise roofs may also be candidates for retrofitting them with a lightweight sloped roofing structure framework when re-roofing them especially with lighter weight roofing such as metal roofing. That framework could simultaneously also provide a convective roof cooling space underneath the new roofing. Resulting lower energy costs, less maintenance and no roof replacement for 50 years or longer could provide a good return on that investment. The bottom line is that when evaluating roofing energy efficiency, heating and cooling costs, looking only or primarily at roofing material properties such as SRI, reflectivity and emissivity is not sufficient to see the whole picture. You have to look at what effect the entire roofing system and structure has on heat gain, cooling load, heat loss and energy usage of the building and it's systems. The performance of the whole system must be examined in totality when the end goals are reducing energy costs and going still further, in achieving the most eco-friendly green buildings. In a subsequent blog article, the green building aspects of roofing will be discussed in more detail. Then again there are specialized roof systems such as KME's Tecu Solar System copper roofs below which are expressly designed as efficient solar heat collectors for heating a building's interior space, it's hot water and even swimming pool. Where do such technically advanced roofs fit into energy efficient roofing guidelines, requirements, ratings and green design certification?

copper roof integrated solar heating collection system shown in patinated green copper finish

Copper Solar System Roofs (photos courtesy KME.com - Italy)

copper roofing solar heating collector system for heating building and hot water system - shown in new raw copper finish

6/8/2011 8:55 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Monday, May 16, 2011

Roll Formers - Roll Forming Machines

Rutland supplies a complete array of metal roll formers or roll forming machines including single panel and double panel roll formers, decoilers (metal roll uncoilers), slitters (metal slitting machines) and embossers (metal embossing machines). Roll forming is a continuous forming or shaping process in which a long sheet of metal or metal coil roll is fed through a series of metal rollers, each only incrementally performing the forming until the metal reaches it's final shape or cross-section profile when it passes the last rollers. When metal needs to be formed into an exact profile in either large quantities or in long lengths, roll former machines accomplish this task in an ideal fashion. Roll formed metal has an advantage over metal extrusions of similar shape with roll formed sections typically being much stronger and lighter with the cold metal having been work hardened. Metal passed through and shaped in roll forming machinery can also be pre-finished or painted saving an additional fabrication step and labor. Finishing labor is greatly reduced with the high volume capability of roll forming. Roll formed metal is used for many architectural or construction purposes including metal roof panels, metal roofing tile, metal wall panels or siding, metal purlins or wall studs, metal door frames, metal shutters, metal floors or decking, guardrails and many other applications.

roll former machines - metal roll forming machinery pictured

Roll Former - Metal Roll Forming Machine

A decoiler, also known as an uncoiler, is a spindle type uncoiling machine which feeds the metal coils used in roll forming operation at an exact rate to the roll former. These metal coils can be rather large and very heavy and the large decoilers are often provided with hydraulic operation. Metal coils come in many assorted widths and lengths and also in a variety of metals including aluminum, copper, galvanized steel, galvalume, stainless steel and zinc. The metals may be in a raw state or unfinished, especially in the case for your green materials like copper, zinc and stainless steel and sometimes even galvalume which are more resistant to corrosion. Metals which are more subject to corrosive effects such as aluminum, galvanized steel and galvalume may be pre-finished or painted before passing through the roll former without the finish being damaged. The precisely shaped metal exiting the roll former machines is usually cut to pre-determined lengths by the machine. The pre-cut metal panels can then be transported to the job site and installed.

decoiler - uncoiler for uncoiling metal coil rolls for metal roll forming operations

Decoiler - Metal Roll Uncoiler

An embosser or metal embossing machine can emboss or impress one of many attractive patterns into the metal and used as is or fed into roll forming machines, providing additional architectural interest to wall panels, roof panels or flooring decks. The embossed patterns can also add strength or rigidity to the metal material. Usually a decoiler is situated at both the feeding and receiving ends of the embosser machine for volume operation.

embosser machines - metal embossing machine pictured

Embosser - Metal Embossing Machine

Metal Embossing Samples

A slitter or metal slitting machine cuts sheets or rolls of metal coil into exact widths when the metal material needs to be trimmed to size before being fed into roll forming machines. Decoiler machines positioned before and after the slitter can both feed and receive the metal material when long lengths are cut to size.

slitter machine for metal coil roll slitting pictured

Slitter - Metal Slitting machine

Roof panel, wall panel and floor deck profiles or shapes which are formed into the metal material by the roll formers provide added strength, rigidity and architectural interest. The metal panels formed can be shaped to interlock with each other and an attractive roof tile look can also created by metal roll former machines.

Roofing Tile Sample Profile - Roof Panel Sample Profile

Roll Former - Metal Roll Forming Machine Video Below

See more on the different types of roll forming machinery, samples of various wall and roof panel profiles and samples of metal embossing patterns including pictures, videos, detailed information and specifications available at Rutland's Roll Formers website.

5/16/2011 11:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Sunday, April 17, 2011

Custom Range Hoods - Kitchen Vent Hoods

Interior designers and especially a kitchen designer often times request a custom range hood or kitchen island hood design to accentuate their kitchen decor. Due to their large size, a kitchen range hood or vent hood, can become a focal point of the kitchen and provide an elegant enhancement or dramatic statement to all manner of beautiful kitchens. Rutland custom metal working and copper work craftsmen have created many custom kitchen vent hoods over the years, most of them premium pure copper hoods, many with hammered designs and integral 3D murals. Occasionally however Rutland also receives requests for custom kitchen hoods made from other metals including stainless steel and aluminum. Shown below is a custom range hood created from mill finish aluminum in a durable thick gauge with swooping sides and a hammered pebble design band wrapping around the bottom. All custom range hoods are created exactly to the client's specifications, dimensional requirements with their design of choice.

custom range hood - kitchen vent hood - aluminum island hood pictured

Custom Range Hood - Aluminum Mill Finish

custom vent hood - kitchen range hood hood - island hood made from aluminum shown

Custom Kitchen Hood - Range Hood or Island Hood

vent hood - range hood - custom kitchen island hood pictured here

Custom Vent Hood - Aluminum Thick Gauge

Below is an example of a recently completed order for a custom copper hood used as a center of the kitchen island hood. This copper hood design features an array of copper Fleur de Lis castings evenly spaced around it's base between two rounded decorative bands. This copper kitchen hood utilizes heavyweight 48 oz pure copper material in it's construction. Notice the smooth, seamless welded and polished edges for a truly elegant finish and flawless appearance.

copper range hood - kitchen vent hood - island hood shown

Custom Copper Hood - Fleur de Lis Design

copper hood - kitchen hood - island hood pictured

Copper Kitchen Hood - Custom Hood Design

Rutland creates custom built kitchen range hood designs for residential and commercial applications. Rutland works closely with architects, builders, interior designers, chefs, homeowners, remodelers and contractors to craft and deliver the perfect kitchen hood. Rutland kitchen hoods are all custom and built to meet client's specifications and incorporate customer designs. Rutland has many stock design ornamental castings which can be incorporated or Rutland's extremely talented and skilled artisans can meticulously hammer custom designs from a customer supplied illustration, drawing or pictures including kitchen artwork or murals. The large surface area of a vent hood allows many design possibilities including coordination with the kitchen decor or scheme. Rutland also crafts custom vents hoods for an outdoor kitchen, barbecue, fireplace hoods and light canopy hoods. Integral exhaust fans with integral lighting and grease filters may be ordered for any custom kitchen hood. Rutland has a CAD drawings both of a generic range hood and one of a generic island hood, which may used to specify dimensions and materials for custom vent hood orders. Those CAD drawings and twenty-six examples of kitchen range hood and island hood designs along with a brief video which may be viewed at Custom Range Hoods - Copper Kitchen Hoods

4/17/2011 1:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Friday, April 15, 2011

Copper Chimney Cap Custom Installation

Copper chimney caps provide enhanced elegance and architectural interest to fine homes and commercial buildings. The beautiful home featured in this blog received two custom chimney caps made from pure copper to nicely accent it's charming stone tiled roof deck and multi-hued clay roof tile. As the copper chimney caps transition through the many stages of copper patination or weathering, these chimney caps will dynamically coordinate with the various colors presented in the roofing tile and roof decking.

Copper Chimney Caps

custom chimney cap design made of copper mounted on chimney top

Custom Chimney Cap Design

copper chimney cap custom design

Copper Chimney Cap Installation

Custom Chimney Caps Being Delivered and Installed

The custom copper chimney caps above, also called chimney hoods or chimney shrouds, are shown being delivered to job site via flat bed truck. A crane will hoist the heavy copper chimney caps into position on the chimney top. Installers on the roof top will help manually guide the chimney caps into their exact position and fasten them down to the chimney crown. Rutland has over thirty standard copper chimney cap designs and their copper work craftsmen also create any custom chimney cap to your own design and exact specifications which may be shipped anywhere in the U.S. and around the world. Rutland also crafts custom copper chimney pots with single or multiple flue design, with or without a chimney shroud or tray. To see more copper chimney cap designs and view architectural CAD drawings of them, visit their Chimney Caps - Chimney Pot webpage.

4/15/2011 3:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Monday, April 11, 2011

Gargoyles - Water Spout - Rain Gutter Spout

Gargoyles at Sunrise

One of Rutland's clients graciously sent in some gorgeous pictures of her collection of copper gargoyle water spouts mounted at the ends of copper rain gutters. The copper gargoyles rain gutter spouts are installed on a lovely gazebo up high on a hillside overlooking the ocean. The pictures capture the dramatic view of a gazebo built at the edge of a cliff with an elegant pool situated between the gazebo and this lovely coastal home. This gorgeous property overlooking a panoramic view of the ocean dotted with small outlying islands and the lush valley floor below is ultra inviting and peaceful. The gargoyle spouts are shown off most optimally in this gorgeous setting and this photo collage has been appropriately and aptly titled, "Gargoyles at Sunrise".

gargoyles - water spouts - rain spouts - copper rain gutter spouts shown mounted on gazebo

gargoyles water spout - copper rain gutter spout shown by ocean shore at home sitting high on a cliff

gargoyles at sunrise - copper gargoyle water spout - rain spout - copper rain gutter spout on gazebo at daybreak

Rutland copper work artisans crafted these gargoyle water spouts faithfully from original gargoyle rain spout designs created centuries ago in Europe. Rutland creates copper gargoyle water spouts which may be used at the ends of copper rain gutters in lieu of regular downspouts for a dramatic and very natural flair. Rutland also creates gargoyle water spouts for mounting at edges of flat roof parapets rather than the more garden variety of roof scupper spouts or downspouts. Shown below are non-weathered new copper gargoyle gutter rain spouts and gargoyle roof water spouts - rain scuppers.

Rain Gutter Spout - Gargoyle Water Spout

Roof Water Spout Scupper- Gargoyle Rain Spout

See more pictures of water spouts including gargoyle rain spouts and fish rain spouts and view Rutland CAD drawings of fish and gargoyle rain water spouts at Rain Water Spout

4/11/2011 4:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Roof Finial - Copper Finials Custom

Decorative roof finials are typically made out of pure copper or aluminum and provide a decorative enhancement to any residential, commercial or public building architecture. Custom finials of nearly any size and design may be fabricated by metal work artisans along with integral custom finial bases. Decorative finial types include roof finials, garden finials, fence or post finials. Finial bases for roof finials may constructed to fit or conform to the shape and pitch of the roof on which they will be mounted, providing a more streamlined, tight fitting and elegant appearance. The finial bases may also provide appropriate weather resistant integral flashing in their design. To illustrate this point, a copper finial, model FL023 custom designed by Rutland, is shown below with a custom roof finial base designed for mounting at junction of intersecting roof peaks.

copper finials roof custom decorative design finial

roof finials copper decorative custom finial design

Copper Roof Finial FL023 with Custom Finial Base

finial base custom design finial roof mounting shapes

Finial Base Shapes for Various Roof Mounting

Rutland's architectural copper work and metal working artisans have created over 50 standard finial designs in many different styles, shapes and sizes. Rutland also is able to manufacture any custom size of finial and an unlimited array of designs provided by or specified by their clients which include architects, builders, contractors, designers, home and building owners. All of Rutland's standard metal finials and custom finials may be constructed with the base shape specified by the customer as copper finials or aluminum finials. Additional finials and spires including roof finials, architectural finials, garden finials and decorative finials may also be seen on Rutland pages featuring Finials.

2/22/2011 2:21 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Thursday, December 16, 2010

Gutters Colors Chart

Gutters and downspouts made from aluminum, galvalume and galvanized steel are available pre-painted or may be custom painted in a large variety of gutters colors to match your building or home decor. Other architectural metal work such as roof vents, wall vents, chimney caps, cupolas, roof finials, dormer vents, chimney pots, awnings, canopies, deck railings, soffit vents, etc., may also be painted to coordinate with your home colors or building decor. Oftentimes, standard products are only available in a limited color range of colors and styles. The regular paint finish might also not be very durable and may fade, peel, chip, crack, blister or flake rather quickly or in a matter of years. You want your painted architectural metal surfaces to last under normal usage and conditions for at least about 20 years with 30-35 years even better yet. Deteriorated or damaged paint coverings not only detract from your home's appearance and lowers value, but also accelerate corrosion and wear of the underlying metal. Replacement, refinishing or repainting of deteriorated metalwork can be both time consuming and costly. Starting out with a better paint finish better protects your investment and is a far better value in the long run.

Gutter Color Chart - Regular Paint Finish

gutters colors for aluminum gutters and downspouts, pictured are regular paint finish colors

Gutters Color Chart - Premium Kynar Finish
gutters colors for gutters downspouts and architectural metal work pictured are premium Kynar 500 paint finish colors

gutters colors for gutters downspouts and architectural metal work pictured are premium Kynar 500 paint finish colors

Regular quality paint finishes for architectural metal surfaces may often utilize thermally set polyester acrylic paint and are often found on better aluminum gutters and downspouts. If properly applied with a nice thick coating, these should last for about 20 years or so without cracking, blistering, peeling, flaking or chipping providing there is no external physical damage. Any damaged or deteriorated spots should be refinished, restored or touched up immediately to prevent further deterioration. Kynar 500, a member of the teflon family, is an even better premium custom paint finish which is more durable and longer lasting than regular paint finishes. A Kynar paint finish is virtually self-cleaning and requires much less maintenance. Kynar also offers much less chalking effect, less color change or fading than regular paint finishes and Kynar offers better abrasion resistance as well. A custom Kynar paint finish may be applied to any aluminum, galvanized steel and galvalume architectural metal work including gutters, downspouts, cupolas, roof finials, chimney caps, metal dormers, awnings, roof vents, wall vents, etc. Rutland offers in-house custom Kynar paint finish as an option for their extensive selection of gutters, downspouts and architectutral metal work. Many of Rutland's products are also available in an unfinished state in mill finish aluminum, paint grip galvanized steel or galvalume, which may be custom finished on site by the local contractor, building or home owner. Sometimes galvalume gutters and downspouts are left in an unfinished state and the innate protection may provide about 40 years worth of durability and low maintenance performance. Rutland's gutter supplies, roof accessories and architectural metal work are also available in copper, stainless steel and zinc which are most always left unfinished and whose naturally protective and durable surfaces can last upwards to 70-90 plus years with little to no maintenance required.

12/16/2010 11:15 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Copper Chimney Caps - Custom Stainless Steel Chimney Caps

Copper chimney caps and stainless steel chimney caps can be fashioned in all shapes, sizes and styles by metal and copper work craftsmen. Chimneys can take on a whole new appearance with a custom chimney cap mounted on the chimney top, made from high quality pure copper or thick gauge stainless steel. Instead of a minimal afterthought, chimney caps can become an attractive focal point and provide additional architectural interest and elegance to fine homes and commercial buildings.

stainless steel chimney cap - custom heavy gauge stainless steel design pictured

Custom Stainless Steel Chimney Cap

stainless steel chimney cap - custom high quality stainless steel design readied for shipment shown here

Stainless Steel Chimney Cap Ready for Shipment

copper chimney cap - custom heavy weight copper chimney top design being lifted into position

Copper Chimney Top Lifted Into Installation Position

copper chimney cap - custom heavy weight copper chimney cap design shown installed

Copper Chimney Cap - Installed

copper chimney cap - custom copper chimney cap with copper lattice sides pictured

Custom Copper Chimney Cap - Chimney Top

Custom high quality, heavy weight copper chimney caps and thick gauge stainless steel chimney caps not only are more elegant and attractive, they also are extremely durable, low maintenance and have extremely long lifespans proving better long term value than low cost designs. The welded, polished seams provide strength, trouble free durability and more attractive refined appearance. The larger sized heavy weight copper and stainless steel chimney caps may require several installers or else a lift to maneuver them into place. But once in place they will provide a lifetime of beauty and functional elegance. Rutland works with architects, contractors and property owners to help design the perfect custom chimney cap for your architecture. Rutland utilizes architectural CAD working drawings in the design process and can custom manufacture any size and style of chimney cap, chimney top or chimney shroud to accommodate customer specifications. Custom copper chimney caps, stainless steel and if desired custom painted aluminum chimney caps can be crafted by Rutland's metal fabrication and copper work craftsmen.

11/18/2010 7:15 PM Eastern Standard 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.