Copper Roof Turning Green

As the years pass and the roof ages the patina will thicken and change colors.

Copper roof turning green.

Most of the roofs at uwf turned a green built about 1964. Its beautiful mature green patina gives the statue a graceful glow that seems to bring her to life as she stands over liberty island and the. Copper roofs naturally turn green from exposure to the elements. This layer known as a patina is incredibly thin.

Use disposable equipment that you don t mind ruined. 3 tablespoons white vinegar 5 45 ml 1 teaspoon table salt 5 ml 2 stirred very well until the salt dissolved completely. When exposed to the natural elements such as wind and rain copper develops this patina which actually protects and preserves the metal underneath. Colors often include shades of copper green dark brown and turquoise.

This process will take several months or years depending on the atmospheric conditions in your area. This change occurs as a result of a chemical reaction between the copper moisture and oxygen referred to as oxidation. 3 let the copper soak for 30 minutes. 4 removed the copper and let it dry.

Copper roofing is bright pink to begin with and in time it can gain a brownish color and then a nice blue green patina. Copper can also turn gray brown or blue in some circumstances. The exterior of the statue of liberty is made of copper about the thickness of two pennies. Copper turns green because of chemical reactions with the elements.

A word of caution. Copper normally changes in appearance from a shiny red metal to a dull green. Check with the original metal mfg. Eventually the roof will even out to a brilliant green.

I think that it has more to do with the alloy of copper than anything else. This layer is known as the patina. Over time copper will naturally change colors transforming from a shiny brown color to darker browns then blues and finally greens after a number of years. The copper metal reacts with oxygen resulting in the formation of an outer layer of copper oxide which appears green or bluish green in color.

In about one year the roof turned a nice chocolate brown color except for the areas where they soldered it and got excess flux on the roof.