(FAQ) Frequently Asked Questions about our products:

FAQ questions for a Cupola or Multiple Cupolas for your home decor.


1. How do I measure the cupola so that I know what size I am looking for?

A cupola is measured just like a roof line – from left to right. So the largest part of the cupola, which is normally the roof of the cupola, is the starting point. Place a measuring tape on the far left edge of the roof of the cupola and stretch it to the far right edge of the cupola. This will give you the length of the cupola roof and if a square cupola will give you the square of the roof measurements too. So a 36” square cupola is a 36” squared roof for the cupola.


2. What size Cupola should I get for my home?

This is a fun question – it really breaks down to what the customer likes, what the customer wants to spend and over all how nice the customer would like the cupola to look on their home.

Really what you need to be thinking about is where and how you wish to put your cupola. The minimum rule of thumb is 1” of cupola for each foot of roof line. We recommend a little larger size of 1 1/2” of Cupola for each foot of roof line. This is because bigger is better when choosing a cupola. Cupolas are a lot like hot air balloons, the higher in the air the go – the smaller they look.

So let’s play a bit on this – if you have a garage that is attached to the home and it is 24’ across – and you also have a break between the garage and the house, then you are looking at a minimum 24” cupola. Now a little larger cupola will give a more majestic look to the cupola. So we would recommend a 29” – 32” cupola.

If the garage does not have a break in the roof line – this now makes the home, garage combination 60’ long. Now you will either want a super large cupola – such as a 60” cupola centered in the middle of the home or as we would recommend – you could do 2 36” cupolas, one on either side of the home. You could even look at doing 3 cupolas – a 36” cupola in the middle of the home’s roof line, then 2 smaller 24” cupolas on either end of the home.

There are so many ways to decorate your home with a cupola that you need to have a little fun with this. One of the great and wonderful ways to try and get an idea what the house would look like with a cupola or two on top – would be to get some larger cardboard boxes, cut the bases of the boxes and move them around on the roofline.


3. What size cupola should I get if I have a 2 or 3 story home?

Well now that the cupola is going to be installed way up high on the home – you go back to the hot air balloon scenario. The larger the cupola the better! So if you are installing a cupola on a 30’ 2nd floor home, we would then say that the minimum would be 1 ½” cupola for each 1 foot of roofline. So 30” X 1 ½” = 45” so now we would recommend the 48” cupola for this roof line.

Here again is often when multiple cupolas can be used – really long roof lines it is really nice to put up 3 -4 cupolas. You can play with this a lot to choose your own style of outdoor decor for your cupolas and weathervanes. This is one of my favorite places to start recommending a large center show piece cupola with a lot of smaller supporting cupolas to either side. This looks great when done properly. When building a home you can talk with your architect on this, they normally have many ways to design a cupola layout for your roofline.


4. How do I cut the base for the cupola?

This is always fun, what you need to do is first find a couple of boards, - nail the ends together, then pull them downward in an upside down V. Once you have the upside-down V formed, you will then place it on the roof line where you are planning to put the cupola. Take the boards off and move them over to the base of the cupola. Put them right up against the base of the cupola – draw a line right onto the base of the cupola. Then make the cut to fit the roofline. Here is the fun part – always cut a little light the first time so that if not exactly right you can then make a deeper cut of the cupola base. This method also works for the hexagon and octagon cupola bases. These I would really stand back and take a good look at the roofline before making the cut for the cupola base.


5. What cupola material is best to use? Cypress or PVC?

Now this comes down to customer choice for what cupola material to use.

The cypress is a long lasting wood that is very durable and also very solid. It has some weight to it. A good example is you may have heard of the old cypress bogs located in the southern states. Cypress just does not rot like other types of wood and is almost maintenance free which makes it great for outdoor decor uses. As for finishing a cypress cupola this is up to the customer to prime and paint the cupola. We supply only the unfinished cupola.

PVC which is short for polyvinyl chloride, also many people refer to PVC Cupolas as vinyl cupolas. PVC is vinyl which also makes it a great choice for outdoor decor use since it is a maintenance free material and will not rot and is also waterproof. PVC cupolas just like cypress cupolas are a heavy material but unlike the cypress cupola the PVC will break and shatter when dropped hard. (So please do not drop off the truck when taking receipt of your cupola.) You will get the cupola in white but it can be painted if you wish – we recommend using an outdoor latex paint for the cupola.


6. How will the cupola arrive at my location?

Smaller cupolas will come by either FedEx or UPS; the larger cupolas will normally arrive by freight. When you get the cupola – please immediately take it out of the boxes or crates that it arrives in to check it for damages. Every now and then we do have damages especially with the UPS or FedEx shipping methods. The cupola will come in three sections, base, body and roof. Please check for damages and let us know if you have any. This is very important because all the major shipping companies only give us a few days to report damages and we need to hold them responsible if you were to have damages from the shipment.


7. What should I choose? A window cupola or a louvered cupola?


A window cupola is mainly used for outdoor decor – they are beautiful but can not be used for venting. Many customers like to add a hanging light inside the window cupola. A window cupola with a light really can set off your home decor at night.

A louvered cupola can also take a light and look wonderful. When a light is installed in a working louvered cupola you will get light beams shining in a downward motion. This is really spectacular to view when having an evening event at your home. Louvered cupolas are also great for venting – but please note you must have the person or roofer flash up against the edges of the cupola base to prevent moister and rain getting into the roof. Also louvered cupolas are great at attracting bats to your cupola. They love to live inside the cupola. So if you do not wish to have a cupola bat house, then I would recommend requesting the bug screening for the inside of the cupola or you can put it in yourself once you receive the cupola. Please note that bats are great for keeping mosquitoes away since they eat them by the thousands. So bats vs. mosquitoes – this is your choice when deciding to put in the bug screening inside the cupola. Also you do not need to use the cupola for venting if you do not wish too – then you can put the louvered cupola right over the shingles on the roof and it will look great. Of course nothing looks better then having the cupola professionally installed with flashing by a certified roofer.


8. Will I need a crane to install my cupola?

It depends on the cupola size . We would recommend this for the larger cupolas – these are very heavy. Large PVC 48” Cupola can weigh 300 – 400 pounds. The smaller cupolas it really is not an issue since you can take the cupola base up with you on the ladder, then the body of the cupola – followed by the roof of the cupola.


9. Do the cupolas come with real copper and if so what gauge copper do you use?

Yes the cupolas come with real copper! – We use a 16 ounce 24 gauge roofing copper.


10. Will the copper top on my cupola turn color and patina? Also is it possible for me to keep the cupola top shinny?

The copper will start to change color with the very first rain. As for keeping it shinny – you can use a clear coat lacquer over the top of the copper and the lacquer can be found at most local hardware stores. Please note that the paint on lacquer will work the best and last longer then the spray can lacquer. Please note that lacquer acts like paint and can peel quickly in extreme hot climates.

It will take the cupola copper top about 4-10 years to patina normally on its own. 10 years and longer is normally associated with the extreme hot dry locations such as Arizona or New Mexico.

If we patina the cupola copper top for you, please note: this is just a spray on patina acid that will help speed up the patina process for the cupola top. When we spray the patina on in the winter time it can have a lighter green look then when it is summer time – which normally will give it a green blue look. The way you receive your patina cupola does not matter because as soon as it rains it will change again as the patina acid washes with the copper roof. So if you get a light green cupola top – and it rains the next day it could be a blue green copper top after it dries.


11. How do I choose the right size weathervane for my cupola?

When choosing a weathervane for one of our cupolas it really comes down to customer’s choice. We do have a general rule of thumb for choosing a weathervane for a cupola. It is simple the weathervane can be either 6” either way from the size of the cupola. So a 24” weathervane will look great on a 32” cupola or a small 18” cupola. Now one thing we will state on this again – it really comes down to customer’s choice because you just never know what a customer really is looking for own their own unique home decor. We have sold really small cupolas with super large weathervanes and we have sold super large cupolas with really small weathervanes – all customers have seemed very pleased with their combo purchases even though they did not follow the general rule of thumb process for how to choose a weathervane for your cupola




FAQ questions for our V-Tech Resin Weathervanes and Copper Weathervanes.


1. What is a V-Tech Resin Weathervane?

A V-Tech Resin Weathervane is made of poured PVC which is short for polyvinyl chloride; also PVC is often called vinyl. The word resin is the PVC material that is poured into a mold then allowed to harden. The term we use to describe the weathervane is V-Tech which is short for Vinyl Technology.

The V-Tech Weathervanes are very durable on the roof and can take very strong winds. We guarantee them up to 75 mph winds which are also the same wind speed as small hurricanes. A hurricane starts at winds of 63mph so you see we are very sure of or V-Tech Weathervanes.

For a quick example some of the large V-Tech Weathervane figures weight up to 10 lbs. Now they work great on roof lines and high winds but they are made of PVC they will not survive a fall from a roofline.

V-Tech Resin Weathervanes are painted – and they can hold paint – you can paint them with an outdoor latex paint any color you wish. If you wish to keep the paint color – then we recommend clear coating the resin weathervanes with a coat of clear coat lacquer that can be found at any hardware store.

The V-Tech Resin Weathervane does not change color like the copper weathervanes. They are painted in the copper color and blue/green finish because many of our customers purchase copper top cupolas to mount them on.

The V-Tech Resin Weathervane is a real working weathervane – it will point into the direction of the wind. Because of their weight they do take about a 5 mph wind to move them. Please note that most of our copper weathervanes also take about a 3 mph wind to move. If you are looking for a weathervane that is quick to move with the slightest breeze then I would suggest a copper arrow weathervane. A plain arrow from copper is the original working weathervane. The 24” arrow weathervane can move with the slightest breezes of 1 mph.

The V-Tech Resin Weathervane is designed by Master Coppersmith William H. McElvain Sr.; each resin weathervane has then been shipper overseas to China and reproduced with the sole purpose of getting the prices down to an affordable cost for our customers.

All of our V-Tech Resin Weathervanes will fit all of our roof mounts and cupolas. Each has a ¾” Post that will slide into a cupola or any of the roof mounts.


2. Please tell me about your copper weathervanes:

Our copper handmade weathervanes are made here in Maine. Each is designed by Master Coppersmith William H. McElvain Sr. and many are also made by William. We do have 2 other coppersmith assistants that assist William in the making of the copper weathervanes. Each handmade weathervane is just this – handmade – we take 2 sheets of 16 ounce, 24 gauge copper and make a weathervane for our customers. We use molds to make our weathervanes. William also still does the lost art of free hand copper weathervane making. How he accomplishes a free hand weathervane is he places the copper sheet on an old stump and forms it with small hammers and chisels to make it into a weathervane. Each weathervane is then soldered together using 40/60 solder.

Our Weathervane Parts and Mounts are all mass produced overseas in China, Indonesia and India to be able to offer lower prices on our handmade weathervanes. Please note that if you want an all American weathervane we can still make the parts, but because of the complicity and time to make one set of parts it can add hundreds of dollars to the price of the handmade weathervane.

Our other copper weathervanes are all manufactured in Indonesia, China, or India – these weathervanes are either machine stamped or handmade with a mold. These are good copper weathervanes and we can offer them at a much lower price then our handmade in the USA weathervanes.

All of our copper weathervanes will fit all of our roof mounts and cupolas. Each has a ¾” Post that will slide into a cupola or any of the roof mounts.


3. Weathervane Roof Mounts and Parts.

This is always a fun choice for the customers – we have so many types of mounts. Some are steel and some are stainless steel. For the V-Tech Resin Weathervanes we recommend the BHP010 Flex V Mount or the BHP013 Stainless Steel Flex V Mount or either of the two three or four prong mounts. The biggest choice is the steel vs. stainless steel. If you are on the ocean we would recommend the stainless steel mounts. If you are in Kansas – well then the steel mount will work just fine.

If you need a mount for going over the top of a ridge vent then we would recommend the BHP009 Extended Cast Aluminum Adjustable Mount.

The Easiest Mount is the BHP006 Cast Aluminum Adjustable Mount.

The side mounts are called eave mounts and they mount right on the face of the eave. These are great for not putting holes in the roof of the building you are mounting the weathervane on.

The post mount which is also one of our more popular mounts works great on a 4” x 4” post out in the garden. For great outdoor decor add the post mount to the post – add some climbing vines to the bottom of the post – the climbing vines will climb the post stopping at the base of the weathervane – wow great outdoor decor for the garden.


4. Please tell us something about your dog art products.

Our dog art products are made right here in the USA – they are each handcrafted and hand painted. The outdoor dog art products such as the bird houses, birdfeeders and signs are all clear coated with lacquer for longer lasting paint color.

The dog art wooden weathervanes are hand carved and hand painted – each is then covered in three coats of lacquer to give the weathervane a lustful color and to help keep the color for a long period of time. Please note that the parts of the weathervane are imported to attempt to keep our pricing reasonable – please see the above comments on weathervane parts.

The largest amount of customers that purchase the dog art products do so to honor a favorite friend or to purchase an outstanding dog gift for a person that has a great canine pal. Please note that a lot of our dog art is designed for indoor use, such as the bookends, figurines and ornaments etc…

Our most popular dog art for indoor use is the mirrors and bookends. For outdoor use the most poplar sellers are the birdhouses and bird feeders.

Thank you for shopping Wise Winds if you have any more questions on our weathervanes, cupolas and dog art products please feel free to give us a call.
For great outdoor decor or a great dog gift idea please make sure you book mark our website for easy access.

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