A full exterior on a property in Ortonville, Michigan: house and barn, roof to deck, done as one job rather than as five separate trades over five seasons.
What was done
- Full tear-off on both the house and the barn
- CertainTeed Landmark Pro shingles
- Velux solar powered venting skylights
- CertainTeed Board and Batten siding with Cedar Impressions shake
- Aluminium trim and CertainTeed vinyl soffit
- Removal and expansion of the existing deck
- New Armadillo composite deck
- New 5-inch seamless gutters
Why a full tear-off rather than a layover
Laying new shingles over old ones is faster and cheaper on the day. It also means nobody looks at the deck underneath, and on a property with a barn as well as a house that is a lot of surface to take on faith.
A tear-off puts the whole deck in view. Any board that has gone soft gets cut out and replaced before anything new goes down, and the ice barrier and underlayment go onto sound wood rather than onto another layer of shingle. On this job both structures were taken back to the deck.
Shake without the maintenance of cedar
Cedar Impressions is a moulded polymer shake. It carries the depth and the irregular butt line of real cedar, and it does not need the staining, the splitting and the replacement of individual shakes that real cedar asks for in a Michigan climate.
Pairing it with board and batten, as here, is a combination that works well on rural and semi-rural elevations: the vertical batten runs read correctly on a large plain wall, and the shake breaks up the gables so the elevation does not go flat. Our siding and trim page covers the profiles in more detail.
Skylights that vent, not just glaze
A venting skylight does two jobs: it brings light in and it lets warm, moist air out at the highest point of the room. The solar powered units used here open and close on their own power, so no electrical run was needed through a finished ceiling.
Skylights are also the part of a roof most likely to leak later, and the reason is almost always flashing rather than the unit. They were flashed as part of the new roof system rather than fitted into it afterwards, which is the difference between a skylight that is part of the roof and one that is a hole in it.
Composite decking, and why the deck came off first
The original deck was removed and the replacement built larger. Composite boards do not need the annual sanding and sealing that timber does, and they hold their colour through Michigan summers without the greying that untreated wood goes through.
Doing the deck alongside the roof and siding is deliberate. A deck ledger is bolted through the wall into the framing, and if it is not flashed properly the water goes straight into the house. With the siding off, that connection can be flashed correctly instead of sealed around after the fact. Details on that are on our deck page.
Five-inch gutters, sized to the roof
New seamless gutters finished the water path. Gutter size is worked out from the roof area feeding each run and the pitch it arrives at, not from the length of the eave, which is why two houses the same size can need different systems. Our seamless gutter page sets out how we size and hang them.
On a property with a barn, where roof water is landing on open ground rather than into a storm connection, where the downspouts discharge matters as much as the gutter itself.
One contractor across the whole envelope
Roof, siding, trim, soffit, skylights, deck and gutters on this job were one scope with one crew and one point of contact. When those are quoted separately, each trade details up to its own boundary and nobody owns the joint between them, and the joints are where water gets in.
We work across Macomb, Oakland and St. Clair counties from our shop in Fraser. You can see the areas we cover on our service area page.
Questions about a project like this one
Is polymer shake a substitute for real cedar?
It is a different material that reproduces the look. It will not weather to silver the way cedar does, and it will not need staining, splitting shakes replaced, or the maintenance cycle cedar asks for here. Whether that trade suits you is worth discussing at the house, in front of the elevation.
Can a barn and a house be roofed in the same job?
Yes, and it usually costs less than two separate jobs because it is one mobilisation. The detailing on an outbuilding is simpler, but the same rules about deck condition, fastening and edge detail apply.
Do skylights always leak eventually?
No. Leaks around skylights are nearly always a flashing problem rather than a unit failure, which is why the time to fit or reflash one is while the roof is already open.
Should the deck be done before or after the siding?
Before the siding goes on, if both are planned. The ledger passes through the wall, and flashing it into an open wall is one operation. Bolting it through a finished wall afterwards is the most common structural water problem we find on newer houses.
Planning something similar
If your house is facing more than one trade at once, it is worth pricing it as one job. The inspection and the written, itemised scope cost nothing either way.
Request a free estimate or call (586) 533-8343.