Winnetka is one of Chicago’s most desirable north shore neighborhoods to live in and for good reason. There is much to see and do with lots of fun little shops, restaurants, and it is one of our favorite places to get ice cream with our family at Graeter’s! The train station makes Winnetka a commuter dream if working in Chicago but taking some days off in the summer is necessary to enjoy the beach and Lake Michigan. The thing Winnetka is perhaps most known for is the fictional family home of the McCallisters from the Home Alone movie. The house from Home Alone is absolutely beautiful but so are most of the homes in Winnetka. That is why we are proud to be Winnetka roofing contractors to revitalize the roofs here. You can learn more about Winnetka by visiting the village website.
The roof featured in this Winnetka roof replacement we completed was very unique. There was a section of flat roofing at the very top of the roof, there were two turrets commonly referred to as cones, and there was also a pent roof around the entire home which is a roof above the first floor meant to divert water way from doors and windows.
As Winnetka roofing contractors we are very proud of the photo at the top of this page. This shows you what one of the turrets looked like in the back when we were completed with it. Turrets are stunning architectural features in many homes here in Winnetka. The turret wasn’t always just an architectural feature found in stunning custom homes though. Turrets were originally used in castles which allowed the archers and soldiers to get defensive positions and provide cover fire to an adjacent wall.
The two photos below show you our guys working on the turret. One turret will take anywhere between 4-12 hours to complete depending on the size with two guys working on it. This is because in order to properly install a roof on a turret, hundreds of intricate cuts need to be made to the shingles to conform to the shape of the turret. Another thing we do with turrets is we will install ice and water shield on the entire turret. The ice and water shield is installed to prevent any water intrusions into the home similar to preventing enemy soldiers gaining entry into the castle.
In the next photo you see the flat section at the very top of the roof we described earlier. As a proud Winnetka roofing contractor, we always install a 3ply flat roof system. This includes two base sheets and a cap sheet. It is important that the seams on the two base sheets are staggered as well as the cap sheet. By staggering the seams it prevents water entry into the home as flat roofs are notorious for leaking. The homeowner contacted us originally because they were getting a leak through the previously installed flat roof. It only had a 2ply system and the seams were not staggered properly. Another thing you will notice in the photo is that we always try to match the cap sheet to the shingles for a seamless look. We also used a commercial drip edge on the ends of the cap sheet for optimum water mitigation off of the flat roof.
The final two photos you will notice that we protect the home as much as possible when we remove the old shingles. The home had wood shake shingles originally which are lighter than asphalt shingles but can still damage a home. We used a tarp from the second floor which directed the shingles into our dump trailer. We also try to protect the landscaping as much as possible in areas where shingles will be removed and dropped.
Contact Lifetime Xteriors today so that we can schedule an appointment to see if we can help you on your next roof replacement project. We love what we do and we hope to be your Winnetka roofing contractor of choice.