St. Mary Cathedral Roman Catholic Church in Lansing, MI. is the seat of the bishop of the Diocese of Lansing. The church was designed by E. A. Bond. Building began in 1911 and was completed in 1913. Although the tile roof itself was still serviceable, the underlayment had deteriorated to powder and was no longer keeping out water. The original copper saddles and flashings were at the end of their serviceable life as well. Our crew enjoyed installing the new 116 squares of Clay Red Ludowici French Interlocking Tile to exactly match the original with new copper flashing, valleys and accessories - all done while working under the shadow of the State Capitol Building.

Detroit Cornice & Slate and Waterworks Park grew together with the young city of Detroit.  In the year 2000-2001 the company started restoration on two of the buildings in the park.  Tile was removed, gypsum deck panels were replaced as necessary and new Imperial Tile by Ludowici Celadon was installed on one while the second was recovered with existing tile.  All accessories and gutters were custom fabricated in our shop.

The years have been kind to this beautiful church.  The elements, however, (and some very poor repair projects) had started to take their toll on the roofing and gutter systems.  One half of the tower tile had to be replaced carefully to match in design and color.  New 2" x 4" nailers were installed after removal of the entire roof system. The clay tile were sound and were reinstalled.

Very slowly, but surely, the elegant old theatre moved down the road, around the corner and was reestablished on a new foundation.  We rebuilt structural overhangs, fabricated and installed new 5' copper brackets to match the existing that were completely deteriorated under the eaves.  The beautiful old York Tile roof was removed. Ludowici-Celadon, the original producers of the tile, provided an exact match in color and size for the new roofing system.  The flat, locked and soldered seam roofs were then installed.

A perfect example of an architect's very successful addition to an existing building.  The tile, copper and other natural materials have weathered to blend and match the existing.

The entire renovation by Detroit Cornice & Slate included new Pella windows, cleaning of exterior brick walls, replacement of flat built-up roofing system, and removal and reinstallation of clay tile roofing.

The copper domes were finished - and were turning brown - when the decision was made to maintain the copper finish. Custom copper paint was manufactured in Detroit and applied with an automotive clear coat to preserve the beauty of the painted copper.  The old world warmth of the clay tile roofing combined with the copper is a striking combination.

Windows, tile roofing, dormer metal roofs, and cupola were removed.  Tile was stacked for reinstallation.  Wood was scraped and painted, new imported windows installed, copper flat seam dormer and cupola roofing fabricated and installed, ice shield, copper flashings, underlayment and reinstallation of flat interlocking Ludowici Celadon Clay tile roofing. Restored!

Beauty and splendor of the glazed green clay tile roofing system, with the softly patinated finish of the copper roofs provides a glimpse of elegant design.  Tower tile was custom made by Ludowici Celadon.

The imposing landmark was scheduled for some very "serious" interior restoration, but first - stop the water from destroying the beauty.  Tile mansard was removed and stored.  New built-in copper gutter was custom fabricated and installed (70' in the air).  Waterproofing felt was applied and the beauty was restored with the Spanish Clay Tile reinstallation.

Another restoration project where old Ludowici Celadon clay interlocking flat tile were removed, underlayment and new copper flashing installed prior to reinstallation of the beautiful aged tile.

The difficult, time consuming preparation of the wood grids for the mission tile roofs have caused this past grandeur to be replaced with the similar look of the Spanish "S" tile. Color mixes are not as striking, but the warmth of clay tile cannot be diminished, only improved with time.