Full Roof Replacement and New Board & Batten Shutters in Buford, GA

A Buford homeowner who wanted the whole exterior handled once

Patricia C. called us about her brick home in Buford, GA for one reason: the roof was at the end of its life. The shingles were original to the house, the granules had worn thin on the sun-facing slopes, and she had already had one roofer out who wanted to "patch a few areas" on a roof that was well past patching.

While we were walking the property for the roof estimate, the second issue was obvious from the driveway. The shutters were the builder-grade louvered vinyl originals — faded to a washed-out green, brittle at the mounting points, and badly out of scale with the tall windows on the gable end. On a red brick house, faded green shutters fight the brick instead of framing it.

So the scope became two projects run as one: a full roof replacement and a complete shutter replacement. Doing both under one crew, one dumpster and one schedule saved her a second mobilization and made sure the roof color and shutter color were chosen together rather than a year apart.

What we found during the roof inspection

Every roof replacement quote we write starts with a real inspection, not a guess from the ground. On this home we found:

• Worn architectural shingles with heavy granule loss on the south and west slopes
• Brittle, curling edges along the rake and hip lines, a reliable sign the mat has lost flexibility
• Aging pipe boots with cracked rubber collars — one of the most common leak sources on Gwinnett County roofs
• Undersized ventilation for the attic volume, contributing to the heat that had aged the shingles early
• Sound decking across the majority of the roof, with two small soft areas near the front dormer

That last point mattered for her budget. Because most of the plywood was solid, only a small allowance for decking replacement was needed. We wrote that allowance into the proposal as a line item so there was no surprise change order mid-job.

The tear-off: the part most homeowners never see

The photo taken mid-project shows what a proper roof replacement looks like on day one: the entire roof stripped to bare plywood decking, not new shingles laid over old ones.

Shingling over an existing layer is faster and cheaper. It also traps heat, hides rot, voids most manufacturer warranties, and makes the next roof twice as expensive to remove. We tear off to the deck on every replacement.

With the deck exposed we were able to:

1. 1.Replace the two soft sections of plywood with new sheathing
2. 2.Re-nail loose decking to the rafters so nothing moves under the new shingles
3. 3.Install a synthetic underlayment across the full roof instead of felt, which tears and wrinkles
4. 4.Ice-and-water shield the valleys and all penetrations, where the majority of leaks begin
5. 5.Install new drip edge, new pipe boots and new step flashing at every roof-to-wall transition

The dumpster stayed on the driveway on plywood, tarps went over the landscaping and shrubs, and the crew ran a magnetic nail sweep over the driveway and lawn twice before leaving each day.

New GAF architectural shingles

Patricia chose GAF Timberline architectural shingles in a warm weathered brown. That was a deliberate color decision with a red brick house: a grey or black roof reads cold against red brick, while brown picks up the warm tones in the mortar and makes the white fascia and trim pop.

Architectural shingles were the right product here for three reasons:

• Wind rating. Properly nailed architectural shingles handle the thunderstorm gusts North Georgia sees every summer far better than three-tab.
• Dimension. The staggered thickness reads as texture from the street rather than a flat sheet, which matters on a high-visibility gable roof like this one.
• Warranty. Installed as a complete system — underlayment, starter, field shingle, hip and ridge, ventilation — the shingle carries a manufacturer warranty rather than just a shingle-only guarantee.

Ridge ventilation was corrected as part of the install so the new attic airflow actually matches the roof area. A hot attic cooks a new roof from underneath; fixing ventilation during a replacement costs very little and adds years to the shingle.

New Mastic board & batten shutters

With the roof finished, we moved to the shutters. Every faded louvered shutter came off and was replaced with Mastic board & batten shutters in a deep brown chosen to relate to the new shingle color.

The board and batten style was the right call architecturally. Louvered shutters suit colonial and Cape Cod facades; this home has steep gables, an arched feature window and a lot of brick field, and the vertical plank-and-batten profile reads like real carpentry against it. The detail photo of the gable end shows the effect — the tall windows finally have proportional frames on either side of them.

Practical details that matter on shutter replacement:

• Each shutter was sized to its own window, not ordered in one stock size and forced to fit
• Fasteners were driven into the mortar joints, not the face of the brick, so the brick is not compromised
• Spacing off the wall was kept consistent so every shutter sits at the same depth across the elevation
• Mastic shutters are through-color — the pigment runs through the material, so a scratch does not show white and the color does not need repainting

The finished result

The after photo tells the story. Same brick, same windows, same landscaping — a completely different house from the curb. The new brown architectural roof and the deep brown board & batten shutters now work with the red brick instead of against it, and the white fascia and gable trim read crisp because the two large color masses above and beside them are finally intentional.

Just as importantly, the house is protected. The roof is a full system with new flashing, new boots, new underlayment and corrected ventilation, and the shutters are a material that will not chalk out in five Georgia summers.

What a project like this costs in Buford

Roof replacement pricing comes down to roof area, pitch, number of penetrations and valleys, how much decking needs replacing and which shingle line you choose. Shutter replacement is priced per pair by size and style. We quote both as separate, itemized lines so you can see exactly what each part of the project costs — and if you want to do the roof now and the shutters next spring, that is a completely reasonable way to run it.

Financing is available if you would rather spread a roof replacement over monthly payments; see our financing options.

Getting a roof estimate in Buford, GA

We are a local roofing contractor working Buford, Lawrenceville, Sugar Hill, Suwanee, Flowery Branch and the rest of Gwinnett and Hall County. If your shingles are curling, losing granules or simply old enough that you are wondering, the inspection and estimate are free and you will get a straight answer about whether you need a repair or a replacement.

Request your free estimate, see more of our completed projects, or read about our roofing services.