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How did you choose a roof color for your home?

Lake_Girl
11 years ago

We're replacing roof shingles on our house. Are there any rules for choosing shingle color? It's a farmhouse look, gray on the body (not tan as the pic sorta looks), with white trim. The front porch has a metal gray roof on it. We're going to use architectural shingles, just not sure of the color. Any suggestions or pics of your roof?

Comments (8)

  • Beth Parsons
    11 years ago

    What a pretty house you have! My builder said he generally uses black or charcoal roofs with white/cream trims and brown roofs when using taupe trim. We will be painting our home either olive green, deep red or grey/blue using a cream trim and we just purchased black shingles.

  • Elmer J Fudd
    11 years ago

    Lighter colored roofing materials can significantly reduce summertime heat gain into your attic and house. This can have a noticeable effect on your comfort and cooling costs.

    You may also wish to consider shingles that are described as "reflective" or "cool" that have an Energy Star rating. They're also lighter in color but are made with some processes or materials that cause them to absorb less solar radiation and so keep your roof (and everything under it) cooler.

  • andi_k
    11 years ago

    We have a similar color combo. Our metal charcoal roof is going on the front porch today, so I'll try to remember to take a pic of the front....but we went with Certainteed Moire Black. It's not black...more of a consistent deep gray. Here's a shot of the roof on the garage..and you can see the metal roof color on the little windows. Our siding/style sounds similar to yours as well

    HTH

  • virgilcarter
    11 years ago

    There are no rules! Your existing shingle color and house look wonderful as is. Do you want to change from a darker color? As suggested, ligher colors may reflect more light and heat in the summer, but these generally do not have much aesthetic appeal, IMO. If you do not have a cooling problem during summer months I wouldn't worry about this issue.

    I'm also a fan of colored roofs where the color is harmonious with the body and trim of the house. For example, with your gray house and white trim, I'd also consider green or red shingle roofs. This may be too much, and, if so, stick with black or a dark gray architectural shingle, IMO. Good luck!

  • njasmine1
    11 years ago

    I chose mind by looking at pictures of homes with the same brick that I have. Other than that it seems hard to just look at shingles and decide.

  • athensmomof3
    11 years ago

    We also have Moire Black and it is lighter than the above photograph - just a consistent dark gray. Their advertising likens it to dark gray slate, which I think is pretty accurate.

    I would do a dark gray or perhaps a slightly lighter gray on your house (the problem we found with the lighter grays are that many have blues or greens or reds in them and our house is a neutral grey/beige (greige) color. I like the color you have on there and wouldn't stray too far from that!

  • threeapples
    11 years ago

    To say I agonized over this is putting it lightly! I drove around looking at the three colors I narrowed it down to, got full-sized pieces and took photos of them next to our brick, and finally decided on what I thought was closest to the look I was going for. I don't regret it for a second and am very happy we went with Certainteed Pewter.

  • momto3kiddos
    11 years ago

    We chose certainteed weathered wood. I am so happy with the color. I will try to upload a photo in a bit... We just had the roof shingled a week or so ago. It is a medium gray with some variation in color. I really think it would go with most anything since it is such a natural color. I noticed that it is almost the same as the color of the deciduous trees behind the house that don't have any leaves right now. If you look at the sample of the weathered wood. It looks like there is a lot of blue, but it doesn't read blue at all in real life.