495 Knollwood Dr

CertainTeed Landmark Moire Black — 495 Knollwood Dr, Lake Orion

This Lake Orion roof replacement on Knollwood Drive was a full tear-off and reshingle on a nearly 2,000 square foot roof that had simply run its course. The inspection told the story clearly — tar patches in multiple spots, worn-out shingles, and a roof that had been held together with spot repairs for too long. No storm damage, no insurance claim. Just a roof that aged out and needed to be replaced the right way.

We stripped everything down to the deck and found 15 sheets of OSB that needed to come out. That's not unusual on a roof this age — once shingles start failing, moisture works its way into the decking over time and you end up with soft spots. We pulled those 15 sheets and replaced them before anything else went on. Starting with solid decking is non-negotiable.

Once the deck was clean and tight, we ran ice and water shield six feet up from every eave, and wrapped it around all the penetrations — the chimney, the walls, and both skylight openings. Those are the spots where water finds a way in, especially through Michigan winters when ice dams form and push water back up under the shingles. Above the ice and water shield, we covered the rest of the roof in RoofRunner synthetic underlayment right up to the ridge. Then came 29 pieces of premium drip edge along the eaves and rakes, followed by SwiftStart starter shingles at the eaves and rakes to give the first course of shingles a proper sealed edge.

The main field shingles are CertainTeed Landmark in Moire Black — 65 bundles covering the full 21-plus squares of the roof. The pitch here is predominantly 6/12 with a small section at 7/12, so it's a walkable slope but still has enough pitch to shed water fast. We finished the hips and ridge with CertainTeed Shadow Hip and Ridge shingles, and installed 64 linear feet of CT ridge vent along the peak. Ventilation matters on any roof, and this one got it done right at the top.

Two Velux skylights went in as part of this job — a C04 and a C06, both with built-in solar shades and remote controls. The old skylights had reached the end of their life alongside the roof, so replacing them at the same time made sense. Pulling them out and reflashing new units while the roof is already open is the right move. Trying to save old skylights on a new roof usually just means a callback in a year or two. Both units got proper Velux flashing kits, and the skylight openings were wrapped in ice and water shield before the new units went in. We also replaced two bathroom exhaust vents through the roof so those bathrooms are now venting outside instead of dumping moisture into the attic — that's a building code requirement and something that gets skipped more often than it should.

At the chimney, the wood trim at the top had rotted out. We replaced the damaged wood and wrapped it in color-matched aluminum trim so it won't rot again. The storm collar on the chimney cap got caulked as well. We also replaced the single pipe boot on this roof and fitted it with a protective cover to keep the rubber gasket from drying out and cracking in the sun. Three pieces of 1x6 rough sawn fascia board were replaced where the existing wood had deteriorated. The whole project came in at one day on site, which is standard for Roofing Army on a job this size. If you're looking at Lake Orion roofing or anywhere else in Southeast Michigan, the approach is the same — do it once, do it right.