PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SOLDERING ROOFING FOR CENTURIES, from tinning old steel panels tin roof) to todays copper roof whis were very popular in italy and the mediteranian...but for a roof with good fall a seam like standing single or double lock is a little more reliable only cause the work requires less complex work ..the law of averages..
There are many examples of old soldered copper that is still intact generations later. The object is to allow the copper to expand and contract. If you nail the copper down tight, the solder joints can be strained to the point of breaking. So you cleat the copper to the roof rather than nailing it directly. This allows it to move and takes the strain off the solder joints.
A book from the1940's says copper sheet should not be soldered because the heat expansion of the solder and the sheet are very different and that the joint can pop in time and no longer be water tight. The book advocates copper welting joinery like standing up seams and double lock cross welts. In certain circumstances brazing is allowed, but never soldering. But I see a lot of people soldering copper sheet these days and am curious about that difference.
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SOLDERING ROOFING FOR CENTURIES, from tinning old steel panels tin roof) to todays copper roof whis were very popular in italy and the mediteranian...but for a roof with good fall a seam like standing single or double lock is a little more reliable only cause the work requires less complex work ..the law of averages..
lalalaluvish in reply to jadeturt (Show the comment) 3 months ago
There are many examples of old soldered copper that is still intact generations later. The object is to allow the copper to expand and contract. If you nail the copper down tight, the solder joints can be strained to the point of breaking. So you cleat the copper to the roof rather than nailing it directly. This allows it to move and takes the strain off the solder joints.
jcjenkins01 in reply to jadeturt (Show the comment) 4 months ago
A book from the1940's says copper sheet should not be soldered because the heat expansion of the solder and the sheet are very different and that the joint can pop in time and no longer be water tight. The book advocates copper welting joinery like standing up seams and double lock cross welts. In certain circumstances brazing is allowed, but never soldering. But I see a lot of people soldering copper sheet these days and am curious about that difference.
jadeturt 8 months ago