Choosing the right colour for your roof contributes enormously to the overall appearance of your home. The right roof colour can improve the presentation of your house, bolster its value, and even contribute to its energy efficiency. Your colour selection process should take into consideration a number of factors, ranging from the architectural style of your home, to that of the surrounding neighbourhood and natural environment.
Your new roof will last a long time (particularly if it’s installed by ACR Roofing!). So, take a moment to peruse our comprehensive, step-by-step guide to choosing the right colour for your roof.
After all, you don’t want to be stuck with a roof colour that you despise in just 12 months time.
Climate Control
The colour of your roof can go a long in reducing energy bills, affecting the temperature in your roof space by up to 20 degrees in some instances. White or light roof sheets reflect the sun and help keep the temperature inside your home down. By contrast, darker roof sheets absorb heat, and can help your home retain its warmth during the chillier winter months.
Colour Coordination
Ideally, the colour of your new roof should coordinate with the colour of other materials used in the construction of your home. Keep in mind the colour of bricks, weatherboards, render, and paint finishes on window and doorframes. Take along some samples of existing brick, paint, or weatherboards when you go to choose your roof sheets. Use these samples to compare and contrast. Some popular colour combinations include:
- Dark grey roof sheets with white, pale grey or pale blue walls
- Brown or red roof sheets with tans walls
- Green or red roof sheets with cream walls
ACR Hot Tip: Dark colours usually make houses look smaller. Lighter colours do just the opposite.
Accentuated Architecture
The architectural style of your home should play a part in the resolution of any roofing colour conundrum. Californian bungalows traditionally have reddish, clay coloured roofs. Heritage workers’ cottages often opt for a forest green or a deep red. Farmhouses are traditionally red-roofed buildings. If you’re stumped, take a drive around your local area and keep an eye out for homes built in a similar architectural style to yours. Work out what the most common colour combinations are, and what your personal preference is.
Traditional Versus Trendy
Think about what sort of statement you would like your home to make. This is a particularly important step if you are planning on selling your home in the near future. Neutral colours (like cream, tan and grey) are usually the safest option. They stay in style for years, and usually result in the best resale value. If resale value isn’t high on your list of priorities, and you are more inclined to follow current design trends, more daring colour combinations might be just the ticket.
ACR Hot Tip: High-contrast colours will highlight the architectural features of your home, while low-contrast colours tend to hide defects.
Neighbourhood Watch
Your new roof will sit alongside your neighbour’s for years to come. So, before you make a decision on colour, imagine what your new roof will look like next to that of your neighbour’s. Exact duplication of roof colour is never conducive to positive neighbour relations. Neither is a roof that clashes. A compromise, with a harmonious result, is usually your best bet.
Environmental Harmony
Survey your home’s surrounding landscape and environment. Then, consider whether you want your new roof to compliment, or contrast, the immediate environment. If trees or scrub surround your property, a grey or pale green roof will compliment the area well. On the other hand, a red roof will contrast nicely.
Choosing the right colour for your roof is a highly subjective process. So, at the end of the day, as long as you’re happy with the colour of your new roof, then so are we!
If you’re in need of some further inspiration when it comes to choosing the right colour for your roof, check out these online resources from Colorbond: