Doors, Windows, Hardware
Floors, Walls, Ceilings,
Surface Finishes
Landscapes, Streetscapes,
Parks & Garden Fixtures
Lighting & Electrical
Masonry, Stone, Brick,
Chimneys
Molded & Cast Ornament
Ornamental Metalwork
Roofing & Roof Specialties
Specialties
(Arts & Crafts and More)
Timber Frames, Conservatories,
Special Construction
Woodwork, Millwork, Stairs
More from Restore Media
Clem Labine's
Traditional Building
The comprehensive resource for professionals involved in restoring old buildings or designing and constructing new buildings in traditional styles.
Clem Labine's
Period Homes
The comprehensive resource for professionals involved in residential restoration and renovation, as well as the design and construction of new homes built in traditional styles.
Tradweb
Targeted information about service providers in the field of building restoration and renovation, both commercial and residential.
BuildingPort.com
A portal site that brings together information about building products and materials, including data on more than 5,000 manufacturers.
Traditional Product Galleries
Traditional Product Galleries is a micro site showcasing—in big, colorful photography—thousands of items tailored to the requirements of restoration and renovation projects and new designs done in a period style, both residential and commercial.
Traditional Building Portfolio
Traditional Building Portfolio is a micro site containing a world of information about traditional building and design, both commercial and residential. It includes hundreds of articles on design and building projects, leading architectural firms, topics of note to working professionals, and major awards programs, along with forums and blogs bearing the opinions of leaders in the field.
Restore Media's electronic newsletters provide a continuous stream of information on key topics in the world of traditional design and building: likely products and services for both commercial and residential projects; special in-depth reports on projects and important product categories; and a bevy of blogs providing fresh perspectives from leading figures in the field.
Restore Media's Webinars cover a wide range of topics, from window
restoration to sustainable building materials. They feature leading experts
in the field and provide an effective, efficient way to learn about
important topics, while earning credits toward professional and vocational
certifications.
The Palladio Awards Program
is designed to honor outstanding achievement in traditional design. The program recognizes individual designers, design teams, or both whose work enhances the beauty and humane qualities of the built environment through creative interpretation or adaptation of design principles developed through 2,500 years of the Western architectural tradition.
The Traditional Building
Exhibition and Conference
World-class educational opportunities and a wide array of resources and products for professionals who work in the field of building restoration, renovation, and historically inspired new construction.
|
Weathervanes, Finials & Cresting: Jewelry for the Roof
Designers in the late 19th century knew how to embellish a roof so that it made a bold, dramatic statement. Happily, there are suppliers today who can furnish the same roof adornments.
Click here for suppliers of weathervanes and finials
Click here for suppliers of cupolas
Click here for suppliers of gutters and leaders
Today, if you need to know which way the wind is blowing, you're most likely to turn on the Weather Channel. Nonetheless, weathervanes are more popular than ever -- not for the wind information they supply, but for the visual punctuation they provide at the top of a roof. Weathervanes, finials and similar metal ornament -- such as cresting -- have been aptly termed "roof jewelry."
However, the remote location of "roof jewelry" causes a couple of deadly related problems: (1) The top of any building experiences the most severe weather, causing heavy wear and tear on any metal elements installed at roof level and (2) because roof metalwork is remote and hard to access, it tends to get very little maintenance. The combination of (1) and (2) on buildings more than 50 years old usually means that at some point a maintenance person became dismayed at the corrosion and deterioration and just stripped the ornamental metalwork off, rather than deal with the restoration and repair involved.
Fortunately, it's possible today to find suitable replacements for just about any type of roof ornament. The most commonly specified items are weathervanes and finials, cupolas and cast-metal cresting; all are suitable for both old and new traditionally styled buildings. The weathervanes are available in a wide range of types and styles -- at an equally wide range of prices. The most economical are standard "silhouette" models; a pattern, such as a running horse, is cut from a flat metal plate -- usually steel or aluminum -- and painted. At the other end of the cost spectrum are custom, one-of-kind full-bodied sculptural vanes fabricated to the client's design and specifications. Usually made from hand-hammered copper, weathervanes like this are truly art objects -- and are priced accordingly.
|
|
|
