Unless you or a good friend or neighbor has had a problem with it in the past, chances are you’ve never given your home’s flashing much thought. But we have. In fact, we’ve given it a great deal of thought, because we know that flashing—the metal placed over joints and other spots in your home’s construction—is a vital line of defense to keep water from seeping into your home.
Why We Only Use Copper Flashing
At Patterson Custom Homes we don’t just build the most beautiful custom luxury homes in Coastal Orange County, we also maintain them. And since we actively stand behind our work for decades, we want to be sure it will last for decades. Flashing can help make this happen…provided the flashing doesn’t fail.
This is why we only use copper flashing. Copper doesn’t react with salt, so it doesn’t deteriorate in the salt air. Copper doesn’t rust, it doesn’t need paint and it won’t fall apart. Galvanized metal, which is the standard flashing material used by most builders, simply doesn’t hold up on oceanfront homes. Here in our community, galvanized metal fails over time.
Where We Use Copper Flashing
To ensure the houses we build will last for years, we do not want standing water on any of our structures. Even morning dew is a problem, because it reacts with the salt in the air and causes erosion. To prevent this from happening we place metal flashing on top of all exterior horizontal surfaces on each house.
This means that a Patterson Home has copper flashing:
- On exhaust vents
- At the deck flashing
- Where the roof meets the wall
- On shade structures
- At window and door casings
- At the tops of columns
- At the tops of gates
- At door and window pans
- On electrical outlet boxes
- At the base of the house, where we put a 12” copper band flashing around the perimeter (going way above and beyond code in the process)
Copper Costs More…But It’s Worth It
Of course, there’s a cost differential between a superior material and an average material. In this case, copper flashing costs about four times more than galvanized metal flashing. On a typical 5,000 square foot house, this can add $35,000 or more.
Even so, the response from our clients has been overwhelmingly positive. They understand that copper flashing makes their homes more valuable because it can withstand the weather over the years.
Copper flashing: Just another reason why Patterson Custom Homes is the top custom home builder in Newport Beach and Coastal South OC.