Ryan Restorations is unique because we have specialized in the historic restoration of slate roofing, tile roofing and copper roofing systems since 1999. We also fabricate a wide range of architectural copper ornaments, including finials, dormers, vents, crestings and other decorative roofing elements for historical restoration projects.
We recently put on a New Roof for a beautiful home in the lake shore historic district of Evanston, IL. Let’s show you some of the intricate details of this project. One challenge for our specialty is the problem solving skills. We have to appear like a detective trying to find missing pieces. Configurations of these roofs are complex and it can be a guessing game.
During some periods in the history of architecture, the roof imparts much of the architectural character. It defines the style and contributes to the building’s aesthetics.
In this particular situation we already had contact with the owner of this 90 year old Vermont Slate Roof home that was having various leak issues. We were planning on fixing the leaks by reroofing sections, then it got hit by the hailstorm in April 2020.
Now we rise above to get a better look at the craftsmanship of your local historic roofing specialist. There are just so many details we will show but it is impossible to miss this illustrating how extremely steep the roofs is.
The new roof on this Evanston home is Vermont Slate Like In Kind, in unfading green and purple.
We take a break from the new pictures to briefly introduce how the roof looked before Ryan Restorations arrived. There was an active leak on the left valley that was not seen, especially from the ground. The tar paper was also failing.
Now we go back to the new Evanston roof where we introduce the inset window wells to the right hand side next to the trees. Just outside of the windows are a flat roof of copper panels soldered together to be water tight. Just to the left of the closest window well you will see barrel shaped dormers (sometimes referred as barrel tops) also all replaced in copper.
And here is some more of the copper roofing as part of the new Evanston roof showing the copper pan that flows to the copper gutters. As we change the view of image you will also see the copper flat roof and copper gutters from the left windows.
Here is the back of the house with so many details that are easy to be overlooked. Aluminum gutters are the easiest to notice. Something easy to notice but that cannot be missed is the flat section by the chimney and the little pocket about 3 ft down. That area makes it harder to install the chimney flash. Where the Slate Roofing meets the Cooper Roofing is called transition flashing. There is also ledge flashing that is all copper too. This is directly to the left and right of the window in the top center. Do you see it? If not, don’t worry since that is the experience Ryan Restorations brings to the relationship!
And now we leave you with a beautiful view of this beautiful new Evanston Like In Kind Slate and Copper Roof.
All of the above is the work done by Ryan Restorations. You will know you are in the most experienced hands when you see our trucks in front of your residence. Contact Ryan Restorations to discuss your roof needs including slate roofing, tile roofing, and copper roofing.
