A home’s exterior isn’t just about curb appeal. On a barrier island like Brigantine, your exterior is the first line of defense against salt air, wind-driven rain, nor’easters, and years of direct sun exposure. The materials you choose and how they’re detailed determines whether your home still looks sharp in ten years, or needs major work in five.
At McHugh Builders, we treat exterior features as engineered components, not afterthoughts. Every bracket, roofing panel, and staircase is selected and installed to perform in a coastal environment while giving your home a look that stands out on the block. Read about some of the ways we make a McHugh built home stand out and last a lifetime when it comes to building the exterior of your home!
While asphalt shingles are the default for most new home builds due to availability and affordability, they also deteriorate faster in coastal environments — salt-laden air breaks down the granule coating, UV exposure accelerates aging, and high winds can lift shingles off the deck entirely.
That’s why we spec metal roofing on our custom home builds whenever the design and budget allow. The advantages in a Brigantine environment are significant and the value is well seen after a few years of rough storms.
The right metal roof system; aluminum panels or steel with a Kynar/PVDF finish are able to resist the salt corrosion that eats through other roofing materials. Concealed fastener profiles seal out salt intrusion at the most vulnerable points. This isn't maintenance-free forever, but a properly installed metal roof in a coastal setting can last 40 to 50+ years with basic seasonal maintenance like rinsing off salt buildup and clearing gutters.
Metal roofing gives our custom built homes a sharp, contemporary profile that pairs well with the architectural style of new Brigantine construction. It's a look that holds up visually over time because you won't be seeing panels curl, crack, or lose their color the way shingles typically do after years in the sun.
Standing seam metal roofs are rated for wind speeds well above what asphalt shingles can handle — critical in Brigantine where nor'easters and coastal storms are a regular occurrence. There are no loose tabs or exposed nails to catch wind uplift.
Walk around Brigantine and you’ll notice that the homes with real presence aren’t just bigger, they have depth and detail on the exterior. That depth comes from architectural accents: custom wall brackets, decorative corbels, trim profiles, and structural-looking details that give the facade dimension and character.
When you hire our team, you aren’t just hiring expert home builders, you are hiring people who take into account everything from the proportion to material selection, crafting that perfect visual on your homes exterior.
Proportion & Scale: Something commonly overlooked when it comes to exterior finishes is the proportions. A bracket that’s too small looks like a decoration, one that is properly scaled looks placed with intention and adds that flair to a homes exterior. The goal with our home builds are to ensure every feature looks like it belongs and is not out of place.
Shadow Lines & Visual Depth: Often it is the subtle accents that make the biggest difference, think a crown detail at the roofline or brackets supporting a deck overhang. These accents create shadow lines that truly make the home look three-dimensional rather than flat and bland. This is what separates a builder grade home, and a McHugh built home.
In Brigantine, every home is elevated. FEMA flood zone requirements mean your first living floor sits well above grade — often 8 to 14+ feet up, depending on your zone designation and the Action Level flooding threshold (which starts at just 5.5 feet on the island). That means exterior staircases aren’t optional — they’re a critical component of how people enter and exit the home.
The problem with off-the-shelf exterior stairs is, they rarely fit properly. The standard pre-built stair systems aren’t designed for the elevation heights, landing configurations, and lot constraints specific to building your home in Brigantine. You end up with stairs that are either too steep, too narrow, or awkwardly positioned against the home’s exterior.
Building a step-above, we design custom-fabricated exterior staircases designed specifically for each home. In practice it looks like this:
Proper Elevation Engineering: When we build a staircase for your coastal home, we built it to match the exact height from grade to entry, with proper rise and run dimensions that meet building code and actually feel comfortable to walk on. On a three-story beach home build, that might mean something like a multi-flight staircase with intermediate landings, each one positioned to work with the home’s floor levels and lot.
Integrated Architecture: The staircase should look like its part of your home, not an afterthought bolted on the side of it. We coordinate the stair rail profiles, trim details, and color with the rest of the exterior so the staircase feels intentional. On the kind of homes we build in Brigantine, the staircase is one of the most visible design features, and we believe it deserves the same attention as the interior!
This is the same philosophy behind everything we do at McHugh Builders — from the 5/8″ drywall inside the walls to the structural hold-downs in the framing to the deck surface itself, the border treatment is one of the most visible finish details on an elevated home. Every decision is made for the coast. Not the minimum. Not the cheapest option. The right one.
Custom exterior features aren’t about showing off. They’re about building a home that performs as good as it looks — and keeps performing for decades.
If you’re planning a custom home in Brigantine or the surrounding barrier islands, call us at 609-513-9269. We’ll walk your lot, talk through your design goals, and show you what a McHugh-built exterior looks like up close. Check out our portfolio to see recent projects.
Reach out today and Ted McHugh will be in touch very soon!
