Perma-Tite Coping

Perma-Tite Coping is a metal coping system from Metal-Era's Perma-Tite family, made to cap parapet walls at the edge of a roof. The cover snaps down over a row of anchor clips fastened to the top of the wall, so no fasteners are exposed and no crimping is done during installation. Covers are supplied in 12-foot lengths and are joined by concealed splice plates rather than lapped and face-fastened.

The three standard Perma-Tite coping versions are tapered, flat and existing slope. The same family also includes Perma-Tite Continuous Cleat Coping, Perma-Tite Double Tapered Coping, Perma-Tite Arched Coping, Perma-Tite Gold Coping and Perma-Tite Cantilever Coping, which are listed separately in this library. Double tapered and arched copings carry no wind testing and no FM or Miami-Dade approval.

On a parapet, the roof membrane is turned up the inside face and over the top of the wall, and the coping then covers that termination. Perma-Tite coping is one of the perimeter metal components used to finish low-slope roof assemblies such as single-ply and built-up roofs.

The tapered version has a top that slopes toward the roof side, the flat version has a level top, and the existing slope version follows a wall top that already slopes. All three share the same anchor-clip and splice-plate system.

• Wall width: 3 1/2 in. minimum and 39 7/8 in. maximum, with wind testing carried out up to a 16-in. wall.
• Outside face: 3 in. minimum and 12 in. maximum, tested to 6 in.
• Inside face: 2 1/4 in. minimum and 12 in. maximum, tested to 4 in.
• A 3/8-in. allowance is built into each cover to take up variations in the actual wall width.

For Perma-Tite Coping, covers are ordered by stretch-out, the flat width of metal needed to form the profile. On Perma-Tite Coping, category I covers a stretch-out of 0 to 10 in., Category II over 10 to 14 in., Category III over 14 to 22 in., Category IV over 22 to 30 in., Category V over 30 to 46 in. and Category VI over 46 to 70 in.

On walls 14 in. wide or more, the anchor clips use a different clip profile from the one used on narrower walls. Larger faces and wider walls are more prone to oil canning, a visible waviness in flat metal, and for a face height over 8 in. or a wall width over 12 in. the heavier 22-gauge steel or the .050-in. or .063-in. aluminum covers are the recommended choice.

Covers are formed from galvanized steel or aluminum:

• 24-gauge galvanized steel
• 22-gauge galvanized steel
• .040-in. aluminum
• .050-in. aluminum
• .063-in. aluminum

The 24-gauge steel and .040-in. aluminum covers are limited to wall sizes from 3 1/2 in. to 24 in.

For Perma-Tite Coping, standard colors are coil-coated with Kynar 500 and carry a 30-year finish warranty. Ten express colors (Dark Bronze, Bone White, Cityscape, Almond, Medium Bronze, Sandstone, Sierra Tan, Slate Gray, Stone White and Clear Anodized) are offered in 24 gauge, .040 in. and .050 in. only. Custom post-coated Kynar 500 colors come with a 10-year finish warranty, extendable to 20 years on request. Anodized finishes carry a 5-year warranty, and post-coat Class 1 batch anodizing can be raised to 10 years; coil-anodized material has no finish warranty. A mill finish is also offered.

Each anchor clip is 12 in. wide and formed from 20-gauge galvanized steel, with stainless-steel springs attached at the factory. The springs hold constant tension on the cover once it is snapped in place, and no adhesive is used. Metal-Era sets the clip spacing from the wall width:

• Walls up to 12 in.: clips at 4 ft. on center.
• Walls from 12 1/16 in. to 24 in.: clips at 3 ft. on center.
• Walls from 24 1/16 in. to 39 7/8 in.: clips at 2 ft. on center.

Radius coping uses double-spring anchor clips throughout.

Every joint between cover lengths is backed by an 8-in.-wide concealed splice plate carrying two factory-applied strips of non-curing butyl sealant. The splice plates seal the joint while leaving the covers free to move with thermal expansion and contraction. Fastening holes in the clips are pre-punched and slotted for the same reason.

All fasteners ship with the coping, matched to the substrate named on the order:

• Wood: #10 x 1 1/2-in. stainless-steel screws for the top fasteners.
• Masonry: 1/4 x 1 1/4-in. Tapcon anchors.
• Metal: #12-14 x 1-in. TEK3 screws.
• Face fasteners on all substrates: #14 x 1 1/2-in. Profiler screws.

Where no substrate is given, wood fasteners are supplied. Substitute fasteners of equal or greater equivalency may be shipped in place of the listed types.

Perma-Tite coping is tested to ANSI/SPRI/FM 4435/ES-1, the roof-edge wind test referenced by the International Building Code. The tapered, flat and existing slope versions are rated to test pressures of up to 226 psf horizontal and 391 psf vertical. Those results apply within the tested dimensions: a 4-in. inside face, a 6-in. outside face and a 16-in. wall width.

The system is FM Approved for wind uplift. It also holds a Miami-Dade County Notice of Acceptance, No. 23-0912.08, expiring December 11, 2028, for use in the High Velocity Hurricane Zone of the Florida Building Code.

Corners, ends and wall transitions are shop-fabricated, so no field forming is needed. Inside and outside 90° miters, left and right endcaps, and endwall flashings come in two versions: a coping version and a splice-plate version, the latter only in .040-in. welded aluminum painted to match. The standard leg length of a miter equals the wall size plus 9 5/8 in.

Further accessories include:

• transition miters and straight transition miters, with or without capped ends;
• inside and outside T miters, Z miters, step-up miters, and peak and valley miters;
• non-90° miters and the Space Maker outside coping miter;
• pilaster caps;
• radius coping in quicklock or welded construction, and arched coping.

Miters and accessories are made with a non-penetrating quicklock joint and factory-sealed watertight as standard. Welded construction is available at extra cost and needs a minimum material thickness of .050-in. aluminum.

Installation starts at the corners. Galvanized corner support clips are fastened to the wall first, followed by the anchor clips along each run at the spacing set for the wall width. The top fasteners go in the third full hole from the bend of each clip and are not over-tightened.

Splice plates are placed onto the anchor clips at each joint after the release paper is removed from their sealant strips. Endcaps are fitted by hooking the outside face over the anchor clips, rotating the piece into place and pressing the rear leg down until it snaps. Straight cover lengths are snapped on in the same way. Before the coping goes on, the roof membrane is laid over the top of the wall so that the coping covers its termination.

On Perma-Tite Coping, a 20-year, 120 mph Perma-Tite wind warranty is available on orders that call for it. It covers repair or replacement of any part of the roof edge system that fails because of a defect in materials supplied by Metal-Era, up to 20 years and 120 mph. The finish warranties described above are separate.