What Is A Copper Nail?
What is a Copper Nail?
Nails come in all shapes and sizes but there are also manufactured from a whole range of materials. The reason that nails are made using different materials is due to the certain properties that those nails need in order to be most effective.
Copper nails are manufactured primarily for use in construction (particularly when installing structural elements that are also copper such as roofs. The reason copper nails are used is because of their anti-corrosion property which prevents them from eroding over time.
In this Wonkee Donkee guide, we look at what are copper nails, what are copper nails used for and some interesting facts that you may not know about copper nails.
When to use Copper Nails?
As we mentioned in the introduction, copper nails are primarily used in construction in conjunction with other elements that use copper. The task that copper nails are most commonly used for is the installation of copper roofing. Saying this, they are definitely not a one-trick pony. Copper nails are also commonly used in the installation of similar elements such as eaves, gutters, farrier and saddlery projects. They can also be used in more general tasks such as the installation of plywood for flooring, roofing, skirting, insulation panels and much more.
The reason that copper nails are chosen for these types of projects is because of copper’s ability to be resistant to corrosion. Copper can regularly get wet and dry without losing structure. This means that in areas where moisture is likely to be present they are greatly preferred to nails manufactured out of other materials, such as steel, as these will rust and lose their structural stability.
Can you use a Copper Nail to kill a tree?
This has the ring of an old wife’s tale about it and there are many contradictory arguments on the internet on whether a copper nail can be used in order to kill a tree. But fear not, at Wonkee Donkee tools, our team of experts is here to clear it up for you.
In short, copper nails can kill trees. They do this by poisoning the tree as the copper oxidizes. The main argument online is around whether one copper nail can kill a tree and technically the answer to this is yes, but only a very small tree. For large trees, you will need to hammer in a ring of nails around 1 inch apart in order to achieve the results you want. This is also a relatively slow process and the time it takes to occur will also depend on the size of the copper nails you use as well as how deep you hammer them into the tree. Our advice is to also use 100% copper nails as the higher concentration of copper in the nail, the faster the process will be.
At Wonkee Donkee, we would like to note that we are huge tree lovers and lovers of the environment and we do not condone killing trees unnecessarily. However, if you have a protruding tree that needs to be killed and then removed and you have time to spare, then using copper nails can be an effective method in order to kill the tree off and make the removal process easier.
Copper Nails and Copper Disc Rivets
If you are using copper nails then you also may want to consider using copper disc rivets as well. Copper disc rivets are commonly used when installing roof slates and are effective in preventing wind from lifting slates after they have been laid. As with copper nails, copper disc rivets are used as they are strong and resistant to water. However, they are also used for another unique reason; during rainfall, some copper will naturally mix with the water and form a layer over the slates. This copper sediment is really effective in preventing the formation of moss on roofing.
