Copper flashing for south dormer

There were four of us working on the house today. I worked on several pieces of flashing, while the other three started wiring (more on that later!) the house. I'm finally starting to learn how to do this flashing thing... I think. The trick, I was recently told by an expert roofer, is to fold and crimp two pieces of copper together before you try to solder them. The resulting solder joint will be much stronger. The picture to the left shows a piece of flashing that I fabricated today. Even though the joints are not yet soldered in this picture, you would not, using your bare hands, be able to seperate the pieces of copper that make up this flashing. That's because the seams are folded and pounded flat with a hammer. This makes a very strong joint. More importantly, it keeps the pieces from falling apart while you're trying to solder them.

This next picture shows my ultra-sophisticated soldering iron. Maybe you've seen one of these in an antique shop. I think I used to have one laying in a barn here on my farm - but I never took it seriously as a means for soldering anything. (The college student that occasionally helps out says his mom uses one of these to plant flower bulbs!) Before turning to this crusty technology, I tried an electric soldering iron, a butane powered soldering iron, and a propane torch - none of which were adequate for the job. Credit card in hand, I stared down a $400 soldering outfit on the internet, but decided that was too pricey (for something I hope I'll never have to do again!). I bought this iron new (yes, they still make them in Germany!) for $20. The propane tank is from my barbeque grill, and the burner is from an outdoor deep fryer. You put the iron in the fire until it gets hot, then you pull it out and solder with it until it gets too cool. It's that simple, and it works great. Contrary to what I've been told, I believe that I do not have enough irons in the fire. :) Seriously, I plan to buy (or find?!) another one of these irons so one can be heating while I'm soldering with the other iron.

The steps in soldering are (sorry, very briefly!): apply flux to copper, "tin" your copper joint with a thin coat of solder, apply enough heat and solder until solder "sweats" into the joint, "stitch" a bead of solder across the joint, wash flush from copper with water and baking soda. Seems to be working for me - but if anyone has any more suggestions or tips, please comment! Here's the finished piece, nailed with copper nails to the house. Sadly, the next course of slate, and the siding for the house will cover up 80% of this piece of copper. Hopefully it will shed water though for as long as I'm alive.