A beautifully finished custom home exterior doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of dozens of deliberate decisions made and carried through, consistently, across every elevation, roofline, corner, and transition of the home. On a recent new construction forever home in the Lake Geneva area—a project completed in partnership with Doomis Builders—that principle was put to the test across a complex exterior and a series of architectural details that all needed to work together. Here’s what we learned, and what any homeowner or builder pursuing this level of finish should understand before beginning.
Start With Design Intent—Not Materials
The first mistake many exterior projects make is leading with product selection before establishing a clear design intent. Material choices should flow from a vision, not drive it. On a custom home, that means understanding how materials will meet one another, how transitions will be handled at rooflines, corners, and architectural elements. Those intersections are where the quality of an exterior is actually decided. This project involved James Hardie shake siding in Khaki Brown, CertainTeed Max Definition shingles in Espresso, and custom 24-gauge standing-seam metal accents in Burnished Slate. What made the project remarkable was how all of those elements—including the stonework and architectural details—came together to feel like a single cohesive vision rather than separate products installed by separate contractors.
“On a custom home, installing the product correctly is only the beginning. You have to understand the design intent, communicate it to the people doing the work, and pay attention to how every detail comes together. Our goal was for the homeowner and builder to look at the finished exterior and see exactly what they had envisioned.”
— Nicholas Kammes, Smith Roofing & Exteriors
For any homeowner or builder pursuing this level of result, here are the elements we applied in this project that mattered the most.
1. Understanding the Design Intent Before Installation Begins
Every custom home exterior begins with a vision. On this Lake Geneva project, the homeowner had a specific vision for the shake siding: rather than the more common staggered pattern, they wanted the shakes installed in a clean, straight pattern throughout the home. That kind of intentional detail must be understood and internalized before the crew begins, so it can be carried through with precision across every elevation.
2. Communication Between the Contractor, the Builder, and the Crew
A luxury custom home is never built by one trade working alone. The exterior of a finished home is the result of roofing, siding, masonry, carpentry, and other trades all performing their work around each other. When multiple contractors are contributing to a single design outcome, communication isn’t optional—it’s essential.
On this project, collaboration with Doomis Builders was central to the outcome. The builder had specific installation requirements around architectural details including the eyebrow roofs and garage doors—areas where different materials and applications come together and where individual assumptions can create visible inconsistencies in the finished product.
The right approach is to identify those details before the crew reaches them, not after. That means confirming specifications with the builder and communicating clearly to the installers before work begins. It also means treating the builder’s requirements as part of the project specification—not as obstacles to work around, but as integral to achieving the agreed-upon result. When everyone understands the same intent, the finished work integrates seamlessly across materials and trades.
3. Consistency Throughout the Installation
Understanding the design and communicating it to the crew is only the starting point. It has to be maintained consistently. The straight shake pattern on this home is an instructive example. Maintaining a perfectly straight pattern sounds straightforward, but on a large home with multiple elevations, windows, dormers, rooflines, corners, and architectural interruptions, small inconsistencies become progressively more visible as the siding continues across the structure. The goal is to carry the aesthetic intention of the design consistently throughout—so that the pattern feels deliberate and unified.
4. On-Site Attention to Detail
Plans and pre-installation conversations set the direction, but ultimately, someone needs to be actively watching the work as it develops. The philosophy is straightforward: get the information right, communicate it clearly, pay close attention during execution, and make sure the finished work reflects what the homeowner and builder envisioned from the beginning. This kind of active on-site project management is what separates a custom exterior that looks exactly as it was designed from one that looks like it was assembled by separate contractors who never talked to each other.
When all four of these disciplines come together, an exterior is built where all elements feel like parts of one cohesive design—not separate products installed by separate trades. The result is a single, unified exterior that reflects exactly what was envisioned.
To learn how Smith Roofing & Exteriors can bring this level of craftsmanship and collaboration to your next project, contact Nicholas Kammes directly at (262) 325-4217 or visit SmithRoofingExteriors.com.
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