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Our Custom Roof Cap Installation Instruction Page Updated 3 / 13 / 2012 |
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Click here for a separate printable Word 'doc' file or a PDF file of these instructions for easy printing If your browser asks for a password, click cancel and you should still get this file. Save it to your PC in a folder where you can find it and print it out. The stainless steel screws we provide and not as soft as brass screws, but they are noticeably softer then steel screws, so we strongly advise that you set the stainless steel screws using a special cordless impact driver. These drivers will set the SS screws much better than a standard drill without damaging the Phillips slot, and much better than even a hammer drill. Trust me on this one. If you have not yet bought yourself an impact driver, do so. It will be one of your best investments. Personally I like Makita's light weight BL144 impact driver with the new Lithium batteries best. |
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Lightning Rod Issue: |
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If you were to attach a large copper wire to these copper roof caps and run it all the way down to the ground and attach it to a metal water pipe or a grounding rod driven deep into the ground you would certainly make the roof cap into a lightning rod to attract lightning more than perhaps a nearby street lamp. My concern would be if that wire connection were to get loose over the next few decades, then was hit it could generate a great deal of heat and maybe start your building on fire. My understanding is that the static electricity of a lightning strike will follow the path of least resistance. The wood structure and asphalt shingles of most structures act as an insulator, so if it is not grounded it would not attract lightning at all, and I have not heard of any occurrences where this was an issue. Interestingly houses do not seem to be a primary target of lightning strikes. Modern electrical Building Code requires all your electrical wiring system to be connected to a steel or copper grounding rod with a large 4 gauge copper wire. With all the house wiring well grounded through the fuse box this means any wiring up in the attic should act as a lightning rod. Your house wiring would be at far greater risk of attracting lightning strikes than an ungrounded turret roof cap, but this does not seem to be a big problem either for some reason. I would advise that you do not bother to ground your turret roof cap. So far I have yet to hear of a single turret roof cap or a gazebo roof cap that was not grounded having had suffered a lightning strike, so I do not see this is an issue of concern by not grounding it. Although, I have heard of steel chimney pipes that had been hit and caused a serious house fire. if you want to set up a near by lightning rod I would suggest you position it at least as far away from your house as you can. You could simply run a 4 gauge copper wire winding up the trunk of a near by tree; as high as you can get it up through the branches. Then attach the bottom of that wire to a grounding rod down near the base of the tree. This would be very inconspicuous, but may not be best for the tree's health in the event of a strike. But better to loose that tree than your house. Not to mention the shear terror of the loud crashing sound you'd suffer with a strike on your house. |
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Do We Need a Roof Vent? The real reason they are not vented is because of shear ignorance and laziness to work a weather tight vent into the design at the peak. The funny thing is how with all these rafter beams conjoining in the center most Framers do not know how to build these right with or without a vent. For a roof vent it requires a solution that will not leak in stormy weather. Carpenters and roofers are not sheet-metal workers. They know nail-guns and saws. For many Framers it's all they can do to read a tape measure correctly. Problem solving this issue is a foreign subject to them and there's very few Craftsmen left to teach them. The fact is it's a lot easier to just pretend venting is not needed, knowing that the homeowner a decade later cannot legally come back on them for their negligence. For some strange reason very few Carpenters realize how much easier it would be to join the stringers over an octagonal hub like the one shown below. This hub is made with common 2x6 studs cut 12" to 18" long. Then angle cut on the long sides at 22.5 degrees on both sides and assembled into this simple hollow core to allow for around 100 square inches of vent through the center. It is 13.5" wide OSD. There's not be enough room inside to swing a hammer, so they will tell you it will not work, but nails are for Neanderthals, so that would not be the right way to attach the stringers any way. All they have to do is attach the rafters to the outside of this hub with deck screws from the center out. I recommend they predrill the screw holes with a 3/16" drill bit and set the screws in the holes before assembly. That will avoid the possibility of them cracking this hub and destroying it. This makes it easier to fit the drill inside when the screws are already run 1.5" in those holes. With a small head impact driver there will be plenty of room inside. With the right procedure it's quite easy, but but this logic does not seem to come naturally to most carpenters, so we need to help them along to learn their craft. If at the time that you are reading this it is not already too late we can make you one of these in a kit or pre-assembled: glued and screwed together, then shipped to you for just $75 to $150 php depending on the custom details to fit your needs. This can be put in after the fact, but it's not as easy to do that way, so do not accept their claim: it cannot be done, because it can be done. I've done it. As long as the metal roof cap is large enough to cover the vent holes by a good 3" to 6" margin on both sides (depending on the roof angle), this is a good time to rectify this oversight and add venting at the top of the roof. You may also need to see what can be done about fresh air entering this attic space at the bottom, so that fresh air can heat up and rise out the top to draw in more fresh air in through the bottom again. |
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Hidden screened roof vent under our copper caps
for a low profile cupola: Have the installer follow these instructions: |
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Without my simple vent kit preassembled inside your new roof cap
you can still cut some 2x3 or 2x4 blocks about 6" to 9" long with a 45 degree angle cut
on the ends. Pre-drill the holes for a pair of 3" deck screws for each
block staggered top and bottom with a 3/16" drill bit and
counter sink, so the screws won't crack
the block or touch the copper. Primer and paint them dark brown or black, so they are protected,
but more importantly; so they are not seen under the copper cap. Then
pre-drill the pilot holes for the SS screws in the center of the blocks
with a 5/32" drill bit.
Wax the top of these blocks to make sure they will not stick the the
underside of your copper roof cap.
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Detailed Installation Instructions w/o hidden roof
vent: |
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There are extra stainless steel screws, alignment nails, and a new
#3 Phillips tip to fasten the new cap to the roof included in a small
zip-lock bag. 2. If you are not installing the wood supports for a hidden roof vent just before installation you may want to add some foam weather stripping near the bottom edge of the cap to seal out insects from nesting inside the cap. You should not need to add any caulk, as this will make it very difficult to remove the roof cap without damage decades later when the roofing has to be replaced. That's why I provide you with the stainless steel screws that have a rubber washer under the screw head to seal it to the copper metal. Roofing is all about hiding the fastener from the elements as well as from sight, but in this case that is simply not an option, so any exposed fastener should be no less than stainless steel screws w/rubber washers.
If your cap has a finial or weathervane support pipe in it leave the
pipe cap over the pipe to keep it clean and dry. You will
need to set the cap level with the straight 3/4" shaft inserted in the
pipe and check that for vertical level on at least 2 different sides
90 degrees apart. The shaft may fit too loosely to get a good reading,
so you can add a band of electrical tape on the bottom of the shaft.
Just enough to have it not move much side to side, but still slide down
into the pipe freely. Another band of tape on the shaft near the top
of the pipe, so you can get a good reading with the level. 7. Then of course get yourself and tool safely to the ground and admire your work. It should be trouble free until the roofing shingles need replaced. It should not even need to be cleaned. The copper should actually help keep the roofing below clear of moss and mildew. Please send us photos of the installation, so we can display them on our web site, so others can have a better idea of how these will look on their roof before deciding what to order. We would also like to hear your thoughts on how the installation went, so we can better advise clients in the future. That kind of feedback has helped refine this set of instructions over the years. |
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Helpful
Roofing Information For some valuable advice with regards to roofing and rain management issues check out our:
(a)
Gutter Installation web pages for answers and solutions that could save you thousands of $ and a great deal of anguish. If you do find this information very helpful, feel free to send us a $ tip for the assistance we so freely have published on the web here for your benefit, like you might tip a waitress. Heck, send us a gift certificate for a candle lit dinner for two. |
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Below is a
photo of our |
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We were also a 1997 finalist for this same award. See our referral web page to see how we managed to be honored with this special award |
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