Photo courtesy of Keystone Roofing Inc., Oceanside, Calif.
San Diego's Hillcrest neighborhood is one of the city's oldest communities and known for its historic architecture. In October 2008, Keystone Roofing Inc., Oceanside, Calif., was contacted by a homeowner in Hillcrest; the owner wanted a copper roof system installed on her home that replicated the building's curved wood framing, which has a corkscrew shape similar to a conch shell.
"The owner had called some of the best metal craftsmen in southern California only to be frustrated with their approaches and the configurations and samples they provided," says Mark Katona, Keystone Roofing's president. "By the time she was recommended to Keystone Roofing by the framing contractor, she felt no one could make her dream a reality."
Keystone Roofing offered to fabricate and install all the roof system's copper elements, including panels, flashings, counterflashings and soffits, as well as a skylight.
"I made a deal with her: Don't sign a contract or give me a dime until she loved what she saw, and if we didn't completely thrill her, she would never have to pay for the work," Katona says. "She agreed to my offer, and we began work on one of the most complex roofing projects of my career."
A custom corkscrew
Keystone Roofing began work on the estate's 800-square-foot roof in January 2009.
A crew of two to four workers, each wearing personal fall-arrest systems, installed a self-adhering polymer-modified bitumen underlayment over the roof's wood framing, which wraps in a corkscrew around a wood pole at the roof's center. Over the underlayment, 20-ounce copper panels with flat S-lock seams were installed and sealed with a combination of butyl tape, Vulkem 116 caulk and floating clips.
The installation method allows the metal panels to expand and contract without damage.
"Every piece of soffit, fascia and flat S-lock seam was handmade," Katona says. "The panels, which vary from 5 to 32 feet in length, are made from standard rolls of copper. All tapered segments are full-length with no intermittent seams. The widest panel is 4 feet wide at the outer edge, and the top segments at the center wood pole are about 6 inches wide.
"We covered all round, tapered, circular, conical and canted surfaces, valleys, flashings and counterflashings," Katona continues. "Tapered and conical fascia is one of the most challenging configurations to wrap; by hand-bending the segments, we made 10-foot-long segments look like mirrors."
Keystone Roofing also customized and flashed a step skylight.
"We threw out the rule book for this job," Katona says. "Every piece was different from the rest."
Five years running
Keystone Roofing finished the copper roof system installation in April 2009.
"The small, complicated copper roof took three months to complete, the same amount of time it might take us to complete a large home's more traditional copper roof," Katona says. "The reason for this was the difficulty of every detail."
Katona is proud of Keystone Roofing's work on the project: "We feel this is a masterpiece of a roof, where art and function meet in perfect harmony."
Most important, the homeowner also is happy with the completed roof system. And for its exemplary installation, Keystone Roofing received a 2010 NRCA Gold Circle Award in the Innovative Solutions—Reroofing category. The award is Keystone Roofing's fifth consecutive Gold Circle Award.
"Having won a Gold Circle Award five consecutive years is record-breaking and a great achievement in our industry," Katona says. "I feel a great sense of personal reward, as well."
Ashley St. John is Professional Roofing's associate editor.
Project name: Private estate
Project location: San Diego
Project duration: January-April 2009
Roof system type: Flat S-lock seam copper
Roofing contractor: Keystone Roofing Inc., Oceanside, Calif.
Roofing materials manufacturer: Keystone Roofing
Gold Circle Award category: Innovative Solutions—Reroofing
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