Roofing in Michigan starts with snow, ice, and wind off the lakes, not with a shingle color. A west-facing or north-facing slope in a snow belt can grow an ice dam while the south slope stays clear. Melt runs under the tabs, into the deck, and down an interior wall. Cottages and year-round houses both take that path. If you see a stain on an outside wall after a thaw, the roof is already talking.
Weight matters before leaks do. Wet snow on a low-pitch porch is a different worry than a steep cabin roof that sheds. From the ground, look for a wavy ridge, a sagging eave, or granules in the gutter after the thaw. Old layers can hide a tired deck. A full tear-off is a different job from a patch at one pipe boot, and the flashing at a chimney or a side wall is where Michigan leaks like to return.
Ice dams are an attic-heat story as much as a shingle story. Warm air from the rooms melts snow from below. Water runs to the cold eave and freezes, then more melt pools behind the dam and works uphill under the covering. Piling on shingles without dealing with that warm air brings the stain back. Say if the attic is packed tight and if bath fans dump into it.
Wind off the lakes lifts tabs and works at ridge caps. After a blow, look for creased shingles and exposed nails, not only missing pieces in the yard. Hail leaves a bruise you may not see from the curb. If a claim is the path, photograph before anything is torn off. A repair that skips chimney flashing, wall flashing, and pipe boots leaks again at the first thaw.
Say leak or full replacement, and say whether snow is still on the slope. The season for a tear-off is shorter in the north than people from softer climates expect. Call the number on this page.