3000 South Lapeer Road

Atlas StormMaster Chestnut — 3000 South Lapeer Road, Orion Township

This job was a full roof replacement for Divine Grace Lutheran Church on South Lapeer Road in Orion Township, Michigan. The church sits right along one of the busier corridors in the area, just north of the M-24 and Clarkston Road intersection. The scope covered two sections: the main front roof of the church and a shingled section at the back near the playground. A middle section that had already been redone recently was left alone. At 5,900 squares, this is a substantial commercial church roof, and the pitch mix made it an interesting project to work through.

Speaking of that pitch mix, this roof is anything but uniform. The measured data shows 4/12 across about a third of the roof, a significant flat or near-flat section at 0/12 and 1/12 making up more than half the area combined, and then a steep 11/12 section accounting for roughly 10 percent of the roof. That kind of variety means you're dealing with different installation methods, different material requirements, and different safety considerations all on the same building. The flat and low-slope sections require careful attention to waterproofing in a way that a straightforward pitched roof doesn't.

The church went with Atlas StormMaster Shake shingles in Chestnut. Bill Wainwright, who was coordinating the project on behalf of the church, had done his homework on shingle options. He was drawn to the StormMaster line for its impact resistance, and it's a well-founded choice. These shingles carry a Class 4 impact rating, which is the highest available, and they're built to handle high-wind conditions. Going with the full Atlas system, including the WeatherMaster ice and water shield, Summit 60 synthetic underlayment, and the StormMaster Hip and Ridge shingles, also unlocks the extended 50-year warranty option, which makes sense for a church that isn't going to be re-roofing again anytime soon.

We installed 199 bundles of StormMaster Shake shingles, which works out to just over 66 squares of field shingles, plus 4 bundles of StormMaster Hip and Ridge along all the hips and ridges. The WeatherMaster ice and water shield went down in 7 rolls, covering the eaves and all the penetrations and transitions. Summit 60 synthetic underlayment ran over the rest of the deck up to the ridge. Drip edge went on in 33 pieces around the perimeter. For the pipe penetrations, we installed 8 new pipe boots and covered 6 existing ones with pipe boot covers in dark brown to match the shingle color. Three bundles of Pro-Cut starter shingles went in along all the eave and rake edges before the field shingles were laid.

The tear-off and replacement was broken into two categories based on pitch. The moderate sections, running 3/12 to 7/12, came to 38 squares. The steep 10/12-plus sections added another 31 squares. That steep section requires different staging and footing, and it slows the crew down compared to working on a walkable pitch. It's worth noting because it affects both labor time and safety planning on a job like this.

Roofing Army handled permits and disposal as part of the scope. The project also included ridge vent replacement and full flashing replacement at all the transitions and penetrations. For a building this size with this much pitch variety and this many penetrations, getting the flashing details right matters as much as the shingles themselves. The Chestnut color on the StormMaster Shake gives the church a clean, traditional look that fits the character of the building and the surrounding Orion Township area well.