In the battle to protect buildings against water ingress, aluminium copings are a vital ally. Often an afterthought, these metal fabrications prolong structure life by keeping water from penetrating horizontal surfaces. Skimp on the copings and you’ll pay for it many times over!
At HJA Fabrications we manufacture aluminium copings for a wide range of architectural applications. We realise, though, that not everyone is familiar with these products, so consider this your introduction.
Aluminium Coping: The Problem With Water
Water soaks into bricks, corrodes metal, causes mould and ultimately, hastens the end of the structure’s life. Keep water out and the structure remains functional almost indefinitely. Flat surfaces are at greatest risk, especially when water pools, but wind can drive rain horizontally and even upwards. The only way to protect the exposed tops of walls and parapets is to give them a completely impervious topping. That’s what the coping is for.
About Aluminium Copings
Over the centuries, builders have tried many ways to protect the tops of walls from weather. Today it’s widely accepted that in most applications, aluminium copings are the best solution.
At its simplest, an aluminium coping is a sheet of metal placed over the horizontal surface and folded down the sides. This can be flat-topped or given a slope that encourages water to run off.
Individual coping sheets must interlock and seal in a way that prevents water ingress. They also need mounting to the wall in a way that will withstand decades of wind and rain. Secure installation is achieved with brackets specially made for the purpose. Depending on how they are designed, the brackets and fixings may or may not be visible from the ground.
To ensure the best possible fit, many applications require bespoke aluminium fabrications. Curved walls, such as one meandering alongside a footpath, present a particular challenge. Skilled aluminium fabricators measure and shape each piece individually to achieve a weatherproof installation.
Advantages of Aluminium For Your Coping System
Why not use stainless steel or lead for coping? It’s a good question. Both are corrosion-resistant and durable, but so too is aluminium. Aluminium however has some other points in its favour.
- Easily cut and formed. (In fairness, the same goes for lead.)
- Lightweight. This is a big advantage both during construction and in reducing building mass.
- Can be given a wide range of decorative finishes. For example, it’s often considered desirable to match copings with window frames. We can offer a wide range of colours to suit your applications.
- Green credentials. A high proportion of aluminium is made from recycled material. When the coping or structure reach the end of their life the aluminium is easily recycled again.
- Less likely to be stolen than lead.
Why HJA Fabrications?
We are specialists in bespoke aluminium fabrications and have particular expertise in copings as well as soffits, gutters, fascias and cladding. Depending on what the application needs, our aluminium copings are fabricated from material either 2.0 or 3.0mm thick and can be up to 750mm wide and 3300mm long.
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