Why Forest Lake is differentWhy do so many Forest Lake lake homes have complicated roofs?
Many Forest Lake lake homes started out as summer cottages. The Washington County Historical Society says many lakeshore cottages were built here between 1910 and 1930, and the city says the lake-home village grew into today's city as cabin owners turned their places into year-round homes. Decades of additions leave roofs with mixed pitches, low-slope tie-ins and extra flashing, and those are the spots that need the closest inspection.
Forest Lake started as a fuel stop on the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad, which reached town in 1868. That same year Michael Marsh opened the Marsh House resort hotel on the northwest shore. Presidents McKinley and Cleveland both stayed there, and by 1897 excursion trains ran daily from St. Paul. Housekeeping cabins and cottage resorts kept growing through the 1930s and '40s. Many of those cottages are still on the lake, now with bedrooms, garages and porches added one project at a time.
On a roof, that history shows up as a tall new section tied into a low old one, porch roofs under 4:12, and old chimneys in the middle of newer shingles. Forest Lake's own roofing handout says asphalt shingles can't go on anything flatter than 2:12. Between 2:12 and 4:12 it calls for two layers of underlayment plus ice protection at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall. We measure every pitch and photograph every tie-in before tear-off, so the plan fits the roof you actually have.
The water adds wind. Forest Lake covers 2,220 acres in three basins, west, middle and east, and homes on the shore face open water with nothing to slow the wind. After a storm we check ridge caps, rakes and shingle seal strips on the lake side as well as hail hits, like we did on the lakefront re-roof in this drone shot.
