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athensmomof3_gw

Needs dark charcoal asphalt architectural shingle rec *quickly*

athensmomof3
12 years ago

I have hunted for a dark charcoal gray asphalt architectural shingle and am not having much luck. They are either too light or black . . . I have had 6 different shingles put on my roof and have decided on the Landmark Charcoal Black but it is not yet installed. I am second guessing myself and it is not too late to get another shingle delivered!

I am painting the house, probably a light to medium taupe color (Windsor Greige) and the trim is a medium cream color and I want a *dark* charcoal which is not straight black. I am afraid the Landmark Charcoal Black is going to look black.

Georgetown Gray (Landmark) is too light . . . and colonial slate (certainteed) has too much red in it. Moire Black (Landmark) looks darker than the Charcoal Black. I have also ruled out Driftwood (too brown), Owens Corning Williamsburg Gray (too light) and Owens Corning Estate Gray (way too light).

This is really what I am going for from a look standpoint with the roof or perhaps a little darker but am afraid of having a black roof on a taupey gray house (but brown won't work either!) . . .

Here is a link that might be useful:

Comments (31)

  • threeapples
    12 years ago

    How about Revere Pewter? Good luck, I am worried we'll be in the same boat next year!

  • athensmomof3
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Who makes the revere pewter? The pewter that I have seen close up has lots of blue granules which have thrown me off. Maybe it looks different on the roof?

  • athensmomof3
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    This is the color I want! Very frustrating and it is definitely not charcoal black. I am afraid my builder thinks I am crazy (maybe I am crazy ;)!)

  • athensmomof3
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Forgot to attach the picture!!!!

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • nini804
    12 years ago

    Hi Athensmom...
    Are you sure the Williamsburg grey is too light? That's what we put on our painted brick house and it looks fairly dark (but not black.) There is definitely a nice contrast with the painted brick. They put most of the shutters on our house today, so I will try to post a pic tomorrow of our roof. It might be helpful to you to see it on a house that is a real-life house, not just on the Owens/Corning board.

  • athensmomof3
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I am pretty sure it is. They actually put some on our roof and we have direct morning sun so it was very light looking. We are also doing more of a taupe rather than a cream so I feel like it needs to have some contrast. I really don't want a big black hole though which is what I am afraid of with the Charcoal Black. What I really want is slate but not in the budget!!!

  • pps7
    12 years ago

    This is going to be difficult b/c the darkness is going to vary depending on the lighting. We choose Tamko Black Walnut which if probably too dark for you, but as you can see in these pics it really varies.

  • athensmomof3
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I like that black walnut! Does it have red in it? It looks like it might on the Tamko website which is why we didn't go with our architect recommended color of Colonial Slate (which was also too light as our color scheme evolved). I think the red wouldn't matter on a brick house but on a all neutral (cream, taupe) house it won't work I don't think. Because we get direct morning sun the red color was very obvious in the Colonial Slate.

  • pps7
    12 years ago

    There's no red in it but there is a little brown mixed in. But honestly I don't see the brown at all, I just see charchoal. If it makes you feel any better, I was obsessed with roof colors, drove all around town to see houses with different dolors and now I don't hardly notice my own roof color at all :)

    We whitewashed the brick so our house is essentially white now.

    {{gwi:1443404}}

  • chrisk327
    12 years ago

    I dunno what is too black for you or not. We went with Timberline Charcoal and are happy with the color, it has some definition rather than straight black. more gray black is Timberline Pewter, we had that on our last blue/gray house. it looked nice.

  • ohlaches
    12 years ago

    I obsessed over shingle colors until I was in tears.... I ended up getting so frustrated I jst picked one....I wanted the same thing as you....dark charcoal gray. I went with pewter gray, and I really like it, but it deifinitely has a cool cast to it.

    I have the pic on my ipad I'll see if I can email it to you. Good luck!

  • ohlaches
    12 years ago

    Ok, I'm not great at posting pics, so let's see how this goes.... Here are our pewter gray shingles... Good luck!

  • athensmomof3
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Just as a follow up, I ended up calling a neighbor who had their roof re-roofed recently. She was out of town and didn't remember the name so I ended up emailing her roofer who was very helpful and looked it up for me :). It was Moire Black, which was one we had considered. He told me it was actually lighter than the Charcoal Black and had less variation, both of which sounded good to me so we chose it.

    It is going up and it looks great! Will post a picture later but wanted to thank all who offered advice. I could never find a Black Walnut roof nearby but that sounded like a great second option . . .

  • ohlaches
    12 years ago

    I had the Moire black as a second choice...look forward to seeing your pics!

  • nini804
    12 years ago

    Glad you found something!! One more decision off your list...can't wait to see it!

  • mrskrista
    12 years ago

    Help! I am in the same boat. It's between Certainteed Moire Black or Owens Corning Onyx Black. I'm afraid the Onyx Black will appear too black on our white house. Please post pics athensmomof3--I have to make a decison by tomorrow.

  • athensmomof3
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Look at the Building a home thread for September - my house is on there. I love the Moire Black - very little variation in color which I personally wanted (did not want a checkerboard roof . . .). It is definitely not black, but a very dark charcoal.

  • mawiers
    8 years ago

    Nini804 - can you post a picture of your home with Williamsburg Grey? I am considering going with that color by OC. Thanks!

  • selenaghopkins
    8 years ago

    will yo post a picture? I am in the same boat. Have to give roofing selection by tomorrow. This is madness

  • nlmackay
    6 years ago

    I know this is an old thread, but I'm trying to decide between Certainteed Charcoal and Moire Black. I don't want a solid black roof. I want a light black that shows variation. I'm so confused because Certainteed told me that Charcoal is darker...yet every home I see, the Charcoal appears lighter than Moire!!! Charcoal also looks more "checkered"....is that true?

  • alishaes
    6 years ago

    I would love to see some comparison pictures of Moire Black / charcoal. Anyone? I need to make a decision tomorrow! Our siding color is Sherwin Williams Pavestone.

  • nlmackay
    6 years ago

    alishaes - have you made your decision yet? Sorry for my delayed reply, I just saw your question. I agonized over a roof decision because every roof I viewed look different than the samples I received from Certainteed. We opted for Charcoal, but upgraded to Pro....it was only an extra $700 and the warranty was much better for such short money. I could not be more happy with my choice! Even though Charcoal is the darkest option, it's not TOO black. Also, it doesn't have SO much variation that it looks super busy. I'm not home because we're living at my parents' during the renovations, but if you're still undecided I'll try to get you some pics.

  • alishaes
    6 years ago
    We ended up with the certainteed moire black. It turned out great. Thanks for responding.
  • JMC Entertainment
    6 years ago

    Pictures?!

  • Todd
    6 years ago

    Alishaes, is that the Pro Max DEF Moire Black or the normal Landmark? Trying to decide my self on which shingle we want.


    We are wanting a black/grayish roof with some variation, but not a checkered board pattern. Do not want to take away from the home itself. But we do NOT want a BLACK roof either.

  • sml 3
    6 years ago

    Todd, I don’t know if this helps or not, but we used Landmark Pewter. I really liked the Moire Black, but we have so much roof that I didn’t want it to be too dark. The first photo was taken on a dark, rainy day, so the shingles look a bit darker than they really are. The second photo was taken on a bright, sunny, 85 degree September day in Michigan. I was worried about Pewter being too busy, but I don’t think it is at all. I hope that helps!

  • Todd
    6 years ago

    That looks nice! We are doing a bronze window and trim, so I want to make sure the roof is at least as dark. Hopefully getting samples this week.

  • alishaes
    6 years ago

    We used the normal Landmark, not the Pro series.

  • Todd
    6 years ago

    Alishaes, did you compare the Pro vs the Normal Landmark? Im trying to get some samples in but havent seen them yet

  • alishaes
    6 years ago
    No, I only saw pictures online of it.