Copper and zinc.
Henrik came to Cascade — and to Portland — by way of copper. The three years he spent on the standing-seam copper roof of Stockholm’s Royal Palace, 1989 through 1992, are the apprenticeship that defines the firm. Copper is what we know most thoroughly. It is what most of our specialty crew is best at. It is the material we recommend, almost unconditionally, for any roof element where service life is the primary consideration: gable returns, chimney saddles, dormer caps, bay-window roofs, copper gutters and downspouts, and standing-seam roofs on small architectural pavilions or attached structures.
We install sixteen-ounce and twenty-ounce cold-rolled copper. Sixteen-ounce is the standard for residential gutters, flashings, and most accent applications. Twenty-ounce is the spec for full-roof copper, for any restoration we anticipate a hundred-year horizon for, and for any commercial application. Both gauges are cleat-fastened and hand-soldered at every seam. We do not pop-rivet copper. We do not caulk copper joints. The standing-seam method is mechanical — copper is one of the few residential materials where the construction technique itself is responsible for the longevity.
We also install zinc — primarily VMZINC and Rheinzink — on contemporary residential and small commercial projects where the architect has specified zinc for its slightly cooler patina (soft gray rather than blue-green) and its slightly lower cost than copper. Zinc is a European specification that has become more available in North America since 2010. We have installed twelve zinc standing-seam projects since 2018.
Pricing.
Seventy to a hundred years.
Sixteen-ounce cold-rolled copper installed correctly in the Pacific Northwest will last seventy to a hundred years. Twenty-ounce copper will last a hundred and twenty. The corrosion environment in this region is mild enough that the historical Pacific Northwest pattern — slate roofs from the early 1900s where the slate itself remains sound but the original twelve-ounce copper flashings have failed at the ninety-year mark — is the realistic service life of properly installed copper.
Within fifteen miles of the coast, saltwater accelerates the patina but does not meaningfully shorten the service life. On Bainbridge Island, on the Olympic Peninsula, and on the Oregon Coast we install sixteen-ounce as the minimum and have not seen a coastal failure earlier than year sixty.
Zinc service life is comparable — seventy to a hundred years for the European specification we install — at meaningfully lower material cost than copper.
Provenance and spec.
Four projects from the last year.
NW Portland · 16-oz copper gable returns
Hand-soldered · Cleat-fastened · June 2025
Eastmoreland · 20-oz copper chimney saddles
Four saddles on Queen Anne · Hand-soldered · April 2025
Lake Oswego · Copper half-round gutters
16-oz · Hand-soldered fish-mouth outlets · February 2025
SE Portland · VMZINC standing-seam
1,800 sqft contemporary · Soft-gray patina · November 2024
Questions we hear most.
Is a copper roof worth the price?
For owners on a multi-decade horizon, yes. A sixteen-ounce cold-rolled copper roof installed correctly in 2026 will outlast the building it covers in most cases. The patina that develops over five to fifteen years — from the bright new-penny color of unoxidized copper, through a chocolate-brown intermediate, to the final blue-green of stabilized patina — is, in our opinion, the most beautiful weathered finish in residential roofing. On a tax-credit historical project, copper is usually the original specification; replacing it in kind is the only correct answer.
Copper or zinc — what’s the difference?
Copper patinates to blue-green over five to fifteen years; zinc patinates to soft gray over the same window. Copper is more expensive (roughly sixty to eighty percent more); zinc is a European specification that has become more available in North America since 2010 and tends to read cooler on contemporary architecture. We install both. For historical restoration, copper is almost always the correct answer (the original material was copper, not zinc). For contemporary new construction, the choice is the architect’s, and both are credible.
How long does copper roofing last in the Pacific Northwest?
Seventy to a hundred years for sixteen-ounce cold-rolled copper. The corrosion environment in the Pacific Northwest is mild enough that the slate-roof failure mode — copper flashings giving out at year ninety — is the historical norm. Twenty-ounce copper, which we spec on any restoration with a hundred-year horizon, will last meaningfully longer than that.
Request a copper consultation.
Henrik or Wyatt will personally attend a copper consultation. We’ll bring samples of new and patinated copper.