Like most Pinnacle roofing projects, the work was completed in a single day — minimizing disruption for the homeowner.
Pinnacle makes every project affordable with monthly financing options, including 0% interest for 18 months.
Perched near Spring Street in Newport, this home needed restoration on three fronts at once: a deteriorating brick chimney, dated skylights, and a stuffy upper floor that never breathed. Rather than a full replacement, we rebuilt the chimney, set new VELUX skylights into a cathedral-ceiling room, and added solar-powered venting to pull heat and moisture out of the attic. The result floods the interior with light and finally lets the roof breathe — all while keeping the classic Newport rooftop profile intact.
Scope of Work
This was a targeted restoration, not a tear-off. We rebuilt the failing brick chimney and re-established a proper flashing seal at the base — ice-and-water shield around the penetration, step-flashing woven into the courses, and counterflashing set into the masonry. At the cathedral-ceiling room, we cut in new VELUX skylights with VELUX’s engineered flashing kits so each unit is watertight to the deck. Finally, we installed solar-powered venting near the ridge to exhaust trapped heat and humidity. If your roof has a few problem spots rather than one big one, our roof repair crew can restore it detail by detail.
What We Installed (And Why)
VELUX skylights are the centerpiece. Each one is installed with VELUX’s own step-flashing kit rather than generic metal and mastic, which is what separates a skylight that stays dry for decades from one that becomes a leak. Set into a cathedral ceiling, they wash the room with daylight and open up the sky in a way no wall window can. The solar-powered venting works alongside them: a small solar panel drives an exhaust fan with no wiring and no power draw, continuously clearing the hot, moist air that shortens a roof deck’s life and drives up cooling costs.
The chimney rebuild is what makes the rest last. Aging mortar and brick let water into the most vulnerable seam on the roof, so rebuilding the masonry and layering the flashing correctly closes that path for good. Because this home sits in Newport’s harbor climate — salt air, wind, and driving rain — every penetration was flashed to shed water under pressure, not just in a calm shower.
Project Photo Gallery
Good To Know: Will adding skylights and a vent make my roof more likely to leak?
Not when the flashing is done right. Every hole in a roof is only as good as the flashing that seals it, which is why we install VELUX skylights with the manufacturer’s matched flashing kit and set solar vents with proper base flashing and sealant rated for the job — never a smear of caulk over a cut. Done this way, a skylight or vent is no more of a leak risk than a chimney or a plumbing stack, and the payoff in daylight and airflow is well worth it.
Why This Approach Works
Restoring the pieces that failed — the chimney, the skylights, the ventilation — gave this Newport home a brighter, healthier, and better-sealed roof without the expense of replacing shingles that were still sound. Rebuilding the masonry stops the leak at its source, VELUX’s engineered flashing keeps the new skylights watertight, and solar venting protects the deck from the inside out. Each fix reinforces the others, which is what a smart repair should do.
Why Pinnacle
Skylights are their own craft, and Pinnacle Roofing & Skylights is a VELUX 5-Star Skylight Specialist — the top tier of VELUX’s installer program — so the daylighting on this home was installed and flashed to VELUX’s exacting standard. Serving Rhode Island since 2012, we hold a 5.0-star Google rating with 100+ five-star reviews, a BBB A+ rating, and membership in the NRCA and RIBA. We’re fully licensed in Rhode Island (Residential Lic #39446, Commercial Lic #261) and we treat every repair like the home is our own.
Newport, RI
Few places test a roof like Newport, where historic homes meet salt air and coastal storms rolling in off the harbor. Preserving the character of these rooftops while quietly modernizing what’s underneath — flashing, skylights, ventilation — is work we take real pride in. Explore more of our projects in Newport.
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401-267-ROOF (7663)