Choose the Color of Roofing Shingles

The roof is an important element in the overall appearance of your home. Knowing how to choose the color of roofing shingles will help ensure that you make a choice that will suit your home's appearance as well as work in the climate where you live. Hopefully, your roof will last a long time so you don't want to be stuck with the wrong color. It can also depend upon the architectural style of your home and upon many other factors ranging from energy efficiency to keeping your next door neighbor happy.

Steps

  1. Consider your climate. The color of your shingles will help keep energy bills from skyrocketing.
    • Your roof color can affect the temperature in your attic by 20 to 40 degrees and make a real difference in heating or cooling your home.
    • White or light shingles reflect sunlight and help keep the temperature of your home down.
    • Dark shingles absorb heat and will help homes in colder climates stay warm. They also help melt snow and ice from your roof.
  2. Attempt to coordinate the color of your roof shingles with the colors of other elements of your home such as bricks, wooden siding, stone or stucco.
    • Dark gray or black work well with a gray or blue house.
    • Use a brown or mix of cream and brown roofing shingles if you have a brown, cream or tan colored house.
    • Use dark gray or black on a white house. It will give your house a traditional look.
    • Green, red or yellow-painted homes give you more flexibility in choice with shingle color. You can use brown, gray or black.
  3. Think about what statement you want your home to make. Curb appeal adds to the value of your home.
    • Neutral colors are safe and will stay in style for many years. They help ensure a good resale value. Tans, creams, brown, blacks, grays and clays are among colors which can be considered neutral.
    • If you want to be trendier, think about using color combinations such as a palate of various tones of brown or a mixture of blues, blacks and grays. Be sure to consult with a roofing expert to get a professional looking roof.
    • High-contrast colors highlight features of your home while low-contrast colors tend to hide defects.
  4. Create the right illusion. Dark colors tend to make homes look smaller while lighter colors do the reverse.
  5. Remember your neighbors when you get ready to put on a new roof.
    • Check with your neighborhood association, if you have one, to make sure your choice of roofing color does not violate any neighborhood rules or covenants.
    • Even if you don't have set rules to follow, think about how your roof will look alongside your neighbor's house. Try not to duplicate their roof unless that is the norm in your neighborhood. On the other hand, try not to make it clash. Be sure the end result is harmonious.
  6. Shop with care. Take samples of all permanent colors contained in your home's exterior to your roofer or to the building supply store if you intend to roof your home yourself. Take time to speak to an expert about the best color choice for your new roof.
  7. Accentuate the architectural style of your home.
    • A Spanish style home might look good with reddish clay-colored roof shingles which would mimic traditional clay roofing tiles, for example. A casual ranch house might look good with a combination of colors while a traditional colonial would not.
    • Drive around several neighborhoods to get an idea of what color of roofing would look best on your home. Look for houses similar to yours in color scheme and architectural style.
  8. Explore the wide variety of material choices you will find in choosing a new roof.
    • Clay tiles are traditionally shades of red or tan. Today the color choices offer a broader spectrum from which to choose. Be sure your tiles have been fired in a kiln so the colors are baked in and will not fade over time.
    • Natural thin layers of slate can be used for roofing material but this type of material is quite expensive. Although there is variety, colors are limited to those found in nature.
    • Concrete tiles can be made to look like wood shakes, slate or clay tiles and can come in a wide variety of colors.
    • Metal roofing usually comes in sheets which give your roof a distinctive look by using long vertical lines. Today, however, metal roofing can be made to look like wood shakes, composite shingles or even clay tiles. Metal roofing is energy efficient, fire resistant and strong.

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