Exterior contractor in Shelby Township, MI
Shelby Township changes character as you move north through it. South of 22 Mile the housing is closer to the Utica and Sterling Heights pattern; further north the lots widen, the houses get larger and the rooflines get considerably more complicated.
Complexity is what defines exterior work here. A large colonial with multiple gables, dormers, a two-storey entry and a brick front is not simply a bigger version of a ranch, and it should not be priced as one.
Why complicated rooflines cost more than their square footage
On a simple roof, most of the work is laying field. On a Shelby Township roof with several valleys, two or three dormers and a chimney, the field is the easy part and the cost sits in the transitions: valleys, step flashing, kick-outs, ridge and hip.
The same is true of a wall. The flat runs go fast. Corners, bump-outs, brick-to-siding transitions and tall gable ends are where the days go, and they are also where a job fails if it is rushed.
What we do in Shelby Township
- Roofing — roofing in Shelby Township · residential roofing · repairs · storm damage
- Siding, soffit and fascia — siding in Shelby Township · vinyl · fiber cement
- Seamless gutters — gutters in Shelby Township · seamless gutters · leaf protection · copper
- Everything else on the outside — drainage, windows, painting, masonry, decks, additions and commercial roofing
Working on a house where several materials meet
Most larger houses up here combine brick or stone with siding, and often more than one roof plane running into a wall. Every one of those junctions needs a deliberate detail rather than a bead of sealant.
That is the practical argument for one contractor on the whole exterior. When the masonry, the siding and the roofing are quoted separately, each trade details up to its own boundary and nobody is responsible for the line between them. We would rather own the whole junction.
What the estimate covers
A free on-site inspection, including the attic on any roof job, followed by an itemised written scope. On a house with this much detail, the scope matters more than the headline number: it should say which flashings are being replaced, which trim is included, and what happens if something is found once the work is open.
One contact from the estimate to the final walkthrough, daily clean-down, and a magnet run before we call it done.
Details we check on larger homes here
On a complex elevation these are the things most likely to have been skipped by whoever did the work last:
- Kick-out flashing at the bottom of every roof-to-wall junction. Missing more often than not, and the usual cause of rot inside a wall.
- Valley detail where two large planes meet. On a big roof a valley carries a great deal of water and it is the wrong place to economise.
- The brick-to-siding transition, which needs flashing behind it rather than caulk in front of it.
- Downspout sizing and count. A complex roof concentrates water into fewer outlets than people expect, and undersized downspouts back a gutter up even when nothing is blocked.
- The underside of bump-outs and cantilevers, an exposed horizontal surface that needs finishing and venting and is regularly left unfinished.
Questions from Shelby Township homeowners
Why is my quote higher than my friend’s for a similar-sized house?
Almost always the roofline rather than the area. Corners, valleys, dormers, storeys and access drive the price far more than square footage does. Two houses of the same size can be a long way apart on both a roof and a wall.
Our subdivision has an association. Does that affect the work?
It can affect colour and material approval rather than the work itself. We would rather you check before we order material than after, and we will supply the product details they usually ask for.
Do you handle brick and stone as well?
Yes, masonry is part of what we do, which matters on houses where the siding and the brick meet. The junction between them is one of the places we find the most problems.
How do you reach a two-storey entry?
Staging or a lift, decided at the estimate and priced into the job rather than added later. It is the main reason a tall elevation costs more than the wall area suggests.
Nearby
- Exterior contractor in Utica, MI
- Exterior contractor in Macomb Township, MI
- Exterior contractor in Rochester Hills, MI
The full coverage list is on our service area page.
Free estimate in Shelby Township
On a house with a complicated roofline, an inspection is worth more than a phone quote. Both the visit and the written scope are free.
Request a free estimate or call (586) 533-8343.
