Serving Manistee & the Lake Michigan Shore
Manistee sits between Lake Michigan and Manistee Lake, with a downtown full of Victorian buildings from its lumber years. Big-lake weather and old houses: here's how we look after both.
Cherrytown is the hardest working company i have ever seen. We had problem figuring out where the leak was and they onpersevered until it was repaired correctly. Any roof repairs will be excellently taken care of by this company. Very Highly Recommended!
Our office is at 104 S Union Street Suite 208 in downtown Traverse City. From there, Manistee is about 66 miles south, usually an hour and twenty minutes down US-31.
That's a real drive, so we plan Manistee jobs as full days. We bring everything the job needs on the first trip and schedule around the forecast, so the work gets done in as few visits as possible and your roof isn't left open overnight.
The first permanent settlement at Manistee was made on April 16, 1841, and a sawmill went up the same year. Lumber took over from there: at one time there were more than 30 shingle mills along the Manistee River alone. On October 8, 1871, the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, fire swept through Manistee too. The town rebuilt, and it was incorporated as a city in 1882.
Salt came next. Salt deposits under the city gave Manistee a second industry, and with three plants still operating on Manistee Lake, it is known as the "Salt City". The pierhead lights at the river mouth were first built in 1873 and replaced in 1927.
All that money left Manistee a downtown full of Victorian-era buildings, and the entire downtown district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today it is the seat of Manistee County, with 6,259 people in the 2020 census, Lake Michigan to its west and Manistee Lake to its east.
Lake Michigan comes first. Homes near the shore take wind across the open lake, and that wind lifts shingle edges, works under flashing and drives rain sideways into siding seams and under trim. Damp air off the water keeps wood trim, soffit and fascia wet longer than they would be inland, and lake-effect snow adds the winter load.
The houses come next. A Victorian-era home usually has a steep, complicated roof with valleys, dormers and chimneys, every one of them a place that has to be flashed properly. Many have been re-roofed more than once, sometimes with a new layer laid over the old. And the trim, soffit and fascia that give an older house its look are exactly the boards that rot first when water gets behind them.
Winter ties it together. Where heat leaks into a cold attic, it melts snow from underneath, the water refreezes at the eaves, and the ice backs up under the shingles.
So we treat the outside of the house as one system and take care with the details that make an older house what it is: strip to the deck, flash every valley and chimney properly, fix the ventilation, and repair or replace trim to match.
Repair and replacement for steep, complicated older roofs and lakeshore homes: stripped to the deck, every valley and chimney flashed properly, and edges fastened for wind off the lake.
More about roofing →Thicker and more rigid than vinyl, with more of a wood look, which suits Manistee's older homes. It stands up well to moisture off the lake.
More about composite siding →The board behind the gutter is the first to rot on an older house. We replace soft fascia to match before new gutters go up.
More about fascia →When an older house needs more than one thing, we plan roof, siding, gutters and trim together as one job instead of patching them one at a time.
More about exterior remodeling →Everything we do on the outside of a house:
We come out to Manistee, walk the outside of the house and get into the attic where we can, because that is where ice dams and soft decking start.
You get the scope, the materials and the price in writing before anything starts. If a repair will do, we tell you.
Our own crew, working to the manufacturer spec, scheduled around the weather rather than ahead of a storm.
We magnet-sweep for nails, haul the debris away and go over the finished job with you before we leave.
An older home deserves someone who will slow down on the details. You'll get a written plan before any work starts, and a straight answer about what needs replacing and what can be repaired. If a repair will do, we'll tell you, even when that means a smaller job for us.
Tell us what your roof, siding or gutters are doing and we'll come out and take a look.
Get A Free Estimateor call (231) 377-3620