4586 Lehigh Drive

Atlas Pinnacle Pristine Burnt Hickory — 4586 Lehigh Drive, Troy

This roof in Troy had been on the house since 2001, which puts it right at 25 years old. At that age, you're not dealing with a catastrophic failure situation, but you're well past the point where a standard three-tab or entry-level architectural shingle is going to hold up reliably. The homeowner made the right call getting ahead of it rather than waiting for leaks to show up on the ceiling.

The roof itself is a straightforward 5/12 pitch across all 2,202 square feet, which is a comfortable working slope. Nothing extreme about the geometry here. That said, a 25-year-old roof in Southeast Michigan has been through a lot of freeze-thaw cycles, and the details around the chimney, pipe penetrations, and wall transitions tend to be the first things that give out even when the shingles still look passable from the street.

We started with a full tear-off down to the deck. Once the old shingles were off, we found four sheets of 7/16 OSB that needed to come out and be replaced with fresh decking. Four sheets isn't a huge number on a roof this size, but you find what you find once the old material is stripped. After new decking was fastened in, we ran Epistik ice and water shield at the eaves and around all the penetrations, walls, and transitions where water tends to concentrate. Summit 60 synthetic underlayment went over the rest of the field up to the ridge. Then came new drip edge around the perimeter, 31 pieces total, installed before the underlayment at the eaves and over it at the rakes, which is the correct sequence.

Step flashing and wall flashing were replaced along the vertical transitions, and we did a full chimney flashing replacement at both chimney locations. That's new base flashing, counter flashing, and sealant. Flashing is where 25-year-old roofs almost always show their age hardest, and it's not something you want to leave in place when you're putting new shingles over it. Two new pipe boots and pipe boot covers went in over the plumbing penetrations. Ten Smart Plugs were installed to close off any existing nail holes or penetrations that weren't being reused.

Ventilation got a proper overhaul on this job. We installed 20 attic rafter baffles to keep the airflow channel clear from the eaves up through the attic space. At the ridge, 18 units of OmniRidge Pro ridge vent were installed and hand-nailed across 70 linear feet of ridge. That gives the attic a continuous exhaust path at the peak. Balanced intake and exhaust ventilation matters for shingle longevity and for keeping the attic from building up heat and moisture, so getting the baffles and ridge vent right together is worth doing.

For shingles, the homeowner went with the Atlas Pinnacle Pristine in Burnt Hickory. We installed 74 bundles across the field, with 3 bundles of Pro-Cut starter shingles along the eaves and rakes and 3 bundles of Pro-Cut Hip and Ridge shingles capping the hips and ridge. Burnt Hickory is a warm, earthy brown tone that reads well on a lot of the traditional brick and colonial-style homes you see throughout Troy, including the neighborhoods off Crooks Road and Big Beaver. The Pinnacle Pristine is a solid performer in Michigan's climate, with good granule adhesion and a heavier mat than the builder-grade options.

Roofing Army completed this Troy roof replacement for a total of $14,000 after applied discounts. For a 2,202 square foot roof with full flashing replacement at two chimney locations, new decking where needed, a complete ventilation upgrade, and Atlas Pinnacle Pristine shingles, that's a fair number for the scope of work that went into it. The homeowner gets a clean start with a roof that should carry them well into the 2040s.