Like most Pinnacle roofing projects, the work was completed in a single day — minimizing disruption for the homeowner.
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Waterfront properties on Conanicut Island take a beating that inland homes never see. On Seaside Drive in Jamestown, RI, a homeowner was dealing with cedar shake siding that had absorbed decades of salt spray and wind-driven rain off Narragansett Bay — the shakes were cracked, warped, and starting to let water behind the wall assembly. The roof had reached end of life at the same time. Pinnacle Roofing performed a complete exterior renovation: a new CertainTeed Landmark PRO roof in Max Def Pewterwood followed by a full James Hardie shake shingle siding installation in a special-order Newport Green. Working top-down — roof first, then siding — prevents new siding from being damaged by roofing debris and ensures flashing transitions between the two systems are built in the correct order.
Scope of Work
The scope of this Jamestown project was a true exterior transformation. Phase one addressed the roof: a full tear-off of the old asphalt shingles revealed a deck in acceptable condition despite years of coastal weather. We installed CertainTeed WinterGuard ice and water shield at all eave lines, valleys, and around the stone chimney penetration. The chimney received new step flashing with aluminum counter flashing sealed into the mortar joints. CertainTeed DiamondDeck synthetic underlayment covered the remaining field, and new aluminum drip edge was installed at every eave and rake. CertainTeed Landmark PRO shingles in Max Def Pewterwood — a warm, weathered-wood tone that pairs naturally with the home’s coastal character — were installed with proper stagger and the manufacturer’s recommended 5-inch exposure. Shadow Ridge hip and ridge caps finished the roof.
Phase two moved to the siding. The crew stripped all existing cedar shake from the exterior walls, exposing the original sheathing. We then installed Henry BlueSkin VP100 — a self-adhering vapor-permeable membrane — across the entire exterior wall surface. BlueSkin creates a continuous air and water barrier that stops wind-driven rain from reaching the wall cavity while still allowing interior moisture to escape. This is a critical detail on bay-facing walls where wind pressure can push water through joints that would stay dry on a sheltered home. Over the BlueSkin, we installed James Hardie HardieShingle panels in the special-order Newport Green — a fiber cement product engineered to replicate the look of cedar shake without the maintenance, rot, and insect vulnerability that plagues real wood on the coast. A particular challenge was the woven corners with a flared base detail, which required precise cutting of the rigid fiber cement panels to maintain visual continuity around every corner transition.
What We Installed (And Why)
The Pewterwood color on the CertainTeed Landmark PRO shingles was selected specifically for its ability to complement the bold green siding while evoking the driftwood tones common to coastal New England architecture. Landmark PRO’s 130 mph wind resistance rating is essential on Conanicut Island, where the home sits fully exposed to prevailing southwest winds coming off the bay.
James Hardie fiber cement siding is engineered with their HZ10 formulation — designed specifically for climates with frequent freeze-thaw cycles and high humidity, exactly the conditions Jamestown’s waterfront delivers year-round. Unlike wood shake that absorbs moisture and expands, Hardie’s cementitious substrate is dimensionally stable, resists salt air corrosion, and carries a 30-year limited product warranty backed by a Class A fire rating. The special-order Newport Green color is applied at the factory using Hardie’s ColorPlus Technology — a baked-on, UV-resistant finish that resists fading, chipping, and peeling far longer than field-applied paint on any substrate. This matters in Jamestown where constant sun and salt exposure can degrade painted surfaces in as little as five years.
Project Photo Gallery
Good To Know
Salt air is the silent enemy of every metal component on a coastal roof. On Seaside Drive in Jamestown — barely 200 feet from the bay — the airborne salt concentration is high enough to corrode unprotected steel, aluminum, and galvanized metals within a few years. That corrosion shows up as rust stains on shingles, pitted flashing at chimney transitions, and failed pipe boot collars that eventually leak. Pinnacle specifies stainless steel or heavily galvanized fasteners for every coastal project and uses aluminum step flashing rather than steel at masonry transitions. Drip edge and valley flashing receive additional scrutiny — we inspect for manufacturer coatings that resist chloride attack, and on bay-facing exposures we add extra overlap at flashing joints to account for the wind-driven water that can force moisture upward against gravity. Homeowners on Narragansett Bay, from Jamestown to Barrington to East Greenwich, should ask their roofer one simple question: what metal are you using for the flashing and fasteners? If the answer is standard galvanized steel, that metal will start corroding in five to seven years in a coastal environment.
Why This Approach Works
Working top-down — roof first, siding second — is not a preference; it is a building-science requirement. The roof’s drip edge must extend over the top course of siding to direct water away from the wall, and the siding’s weather-resistant barrier must lap underneath the roof flashing to create a continuous shingled drainage plane from ridge to foundation. By completing both systems in the correct sequence, every water management transition on this Jamestown home was built as designed — eliminating the retrofit gaps that cause the majority of siding and roof leak callbacks on coastal properties.
Why Pinnacle
Pinnacle Roofing is both a CertainTeed SELECT ShingleMaster and an experienced James Hardie installer — which means we handle roof and siding as one coordinated project rather than two separate contractors working out of sequence. We carry an A+ BBB rating, 5-star Google reviews, and a dedicated project team familiar with the specific challenges of island and waterfront construction in Rhode Island. Our crew has completed dozens of exterior renovations on Conanicut Island alone.
Jamestown, RI
Jamestown sits on Conanicut Island between the East and West passages of Narragansett Bay, connected by the Newport Pell Bridge and the Jamestown Verrazano Bridge. From Fort Wetherill to Beavertail, homes here face some of the most demanding weather exposure in Rhode Island. We are proud to serve Jamestown homeowners with roofing and exterior solutions engineered for the coast. If your Jamestown home needs attention, we would love to hear from you.
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401-267-ROOF (7663)