Like most Pinnacle roofing projects, the work was completed in a single day — minimizing disruption for the homeowner.
Pinnacle makes every roof affordable with monthly financing options to make your home project affordable with low monthly payments, including 0% interest for 18 months.
Some projects carry more history than others. On a landmark Providence Colonial dating to about 1720 — moved in 1979 to a quiet lane off Benefit Street — Pinnacle Roofing & Skylights replaced a failing skylight with a VELUX Solar-Powered Venting unit, repaired the water-damaged deck beneath it, wove in authentic Western Red Cedar tapersawn shingles, and rebuilt the chimney’s lead counter flashing.
Scope of Work
The crew carefully removed the cedar shake around the old skylight to expose and replace the water-damaged wood decking, then set the new VELUX unit with its No Leak flashing system. Around it went replacement Western Red Cedar 5/8″ Tapersawn shingles, matched for authenticity. At the chimney, the original lead counter flashing was ground out and new lead fabricated, mortared into the joints the traditional way.
What We Installed (And Why)
The VELUX Solar-Powered Venting Skylight opens and closes on its own power — no wiring through antique framing — with solar-powered shades and rain sensing. It brings a c.1720 room ventilation and light its builders could not have imagined, while VELUX’s No Leak system keeps the installation honest to modern standards; solar-powered units may also qualify for a federal tax credit.
The repairs around it stayed period-true: real Western Red Cedar tapersawn shingles, woven to match the existing courses, and hand-dressed lead at the chimney. On a house like this, the right materials are the difference between a repair and a scar.
Project Photo Gallery
Good To Know: How do you repair a historic cedar roof without hurting the house?
Gently, and in kind. Cedar comes off shingle by shingle so the sound courses stay undisturbed; damaged decking is replaced board-for-board; and new cedar is woven in — tapersawn, correct thickness, correct exposure — so the repair weathers into the field instead of standing out from it. Modern components like skylights earn their place by using flashing systems that work with cedar’s movement. The rule on an antique roof: every intervention should be reversible, matchable, or invisible.
Why This Approach Works
This project respected the hierarchy: fix the structure (decking), integrate the modern element properly (VELUX No Leak flashing), and finish in authentic materials (tapersawn cedar, fabricated lead). That is how a three-century-old landmark gets twenty-first-century comfort without losing a century of character.
Why Pinnacle
Pinnacle Roofing & Skylights is a VELUX 5-Star Skylight Specialist — the top tier of VELUX’s installer program — trained and certified on every part of the No Leak installation system. Historic-fabric repairs like this one are slow, careful work — and among the most satisfying projects we do. With more than 100 five-star Google reviews and an A+ BBB rating, our track record speaks for itself.
Providence, RI
Providence’s East Side holds one of America’s great concentrations of pre-Revolutionary architecture, and the neighborhoods off Benefit Street treat their buildings as the treasures they are. Working on them is a privilege that demands the right materials and lighter hands. Pinnacle serves the whole city, antique and new. See our Providence roofing page for more on how we serve the capital.
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401-267-ROOF (7663)