Roof Replacement & Ventilation Overhaul in Mickleton, NJ

The Situation

This brick home in Mickleton was carrying a 24-year-old roof of aging composition shingle, with an old zinc strip along the ridge as its only defense against moss and algae. It was time.

A Color Nobody Else Has

The homeowners wanted a red, white, and blue look for their brick home, so we recommended Owens Corning Duration Designer shingles in Pacific Wave, a rare designer color that we knew no other house in the neighborhood had. The result completely transformed the home's curb appeal. Instead of a zinc strip, the new shingles have copper granules blended in that prevent algae growth, backed by a 25-year algae resistance warranty.

The Work

Finding the Hidden Ventilation Problem

This roof had a problem you could only catch with real ventilation training. At some point, someone had installed perforated vinyl soffit panels over top of the original solid wood soffit. From the ground it looked like the attic had intake ventilation. It didn't. The solid wood underneath blocked all airflow, which meant the old attic fan was likely pulling conditioned air out of the living space instead of ventilating the attic, costing the homeowners money every month.

The fix: we pulled down vinyl soffit panels every few feet and used a hole saw to cut intake openings through the buried wood soffit, finally letting the perforated panels do their job.

A Properly Engineered Ventilation System

We then calculated the attic's square footage and the net free intake area, and installed a Master Flow attic fan with thermostat and humidistat sized to pull exactly the right CFM for this attic. Intake, exhaust, and attic area all matched up into one balanced system. The old ridge vent, which is counterproductive when paired with an attic fan, was eliminated entirely.

Fixing Rot at the Eaves, Permanently

At tear-off we found rotted 3/4 inch plywood along the eaves. The cause: the original roof had no drip edge, so water wicked backwards up under the shingles and sat against the wood for years. We replaced the rotted plywood, installed new drip edge at the eaves, and ran ice and water shield over top of the drip edge, which permanently prevents the problem from ever coming back.

The Full System We Installed

Protection and Cleanup

We covered the house, gardens, and flower beds with mesh roofing tarps, and every scrap of debris went straight into our dump trailer and was hauled away the same day. The flowers in the front beds came through untouched. As on every High & Dry job, we finished with a magnetic sweep of the entire property, and nobody leaves until it's completely clean.

Tarping, tear-off, the soffit intake fix, and same-day debris removal.

The Result

The Pacific Wave shingles gave this home a look nobody else in the neighborhood has, and the homeowners love it. Underneath the curb appeal is a roof system and a ventilation system that are actually engineered to work together, which most homeowners never get.