metal coping
Metal Coping refers to a vertical/horizontal wall flashing that is placed on the top of a wood stud, masonry, or concrete parapet wall on the roof of a building, with width ranges anywhere from 4-32″. The coping is placed to protect the wall from the elements, to shed water inward towards the roofs drainage system (canted), and to provide an aesthetically pleasing look.
A popular material type is 0.040, 0.050, or 0.063 inch thick aluminum cap (Kynar painted, bronze anodized, clear anodized, black anodized, or powdercoated), 24 gauge galvanized steel (up to 24″ wide wall), galvalume, copper, or stainless steel. The anchor plate or ‘cleat’ is commonly 20 gauge galvanized steel.
When installed on a framed wall, the metal coping assembly is attached to the double top plate. When attached to a masonry block or brick wall, a piece of 2x blocking will be attached to the top of the wall with lag bolt/masonry anchors with the coping assembly following thereafter.
For most metal coping systems, an anchor plate or ‘cleat’ (which can be continuous or by the unit) is typically fastened first into the 2x nailer which receives the finish coping piece. The ‘on-center’ spacing for unit cleats is typically 40-60″ on-center depending on the wall width. The anchor plate or ‘cleat’ is installed on the 2x nailer, often both from the top and the side of the cleat which wraps around the side of the nailer, with #9 x 1-1/2″ stainless or galvanized screws/neoprene washers vertically and stainless steel ring shank nails installed horizontally through the joint splice and cleat. If a canted design is desired, this may also be achieved by utilizing a canted nailer or nailer assembly
The continuous finish top cap will commonly come in pieces +/- 10-12′ in length. Other accessories are typically utilized like inside corner pieces, outside corner pieces, end caps, clips, nailer membrane wrap, splice cleats, sealant/adhesive, etc.
Pre-punched holes may also come standard with the appropriate fasteners for the assembly. Corners and ends are commonly built first with long straight runs following afterwards overlapping. Metal Coping will commonly come with a +/- 20 year warranty for wind loads up to +/- 100mph when installed per specification. Several styles are available pre-manufactured/bent with accessories, the following are several types that are available: Snap Coping, Canted Coping, Flat Coping, Arched Coping, Specialty Copings (Indented/depth visual profiles, bullnose, etc)