Copper is making a bit of a come back as a trim material for houses. If you are considering adding some copper to your house; either as gutters, downspouts, or in some other area, there is an important tip to consider when working with copper. Copper has galvanic reaction with most other metals. What this means is that if copper is in direct contact with other metals, both metals will end up getting corroded. Since copper has a natural patina (oxidization layer), it's usually protected from other metals when they are just up against each other.

The one place people tend to make mistakes with copper is in the nails. If you are going to be nailing copper, you absolutely must use copper nails. If you don't, your nail and your copper piece will be ruined in short order.