How to Choose the Right Color Roof for Your Home

The color of your roof can have a significant impact on your home
Read Time: 3 minutes
Jan 23, 2023

If you’re considering replacing your roof, you might wonder if you should try a new color. Now’s the time to make a change since you can start from scratch. Or, maybe you’re building new construction and have yet to decide on a roof color. Now’s the time to determine what color you want your roof to be. Let’s go through the appropriate things to consider when making this decision.

Consider Your Home’s Exterior Color

a home with red siding and red garage doors

The roof takes up much of your home’s exterior, but so does your siding or brickwork. Consider what colors your house already is or what colors you’ll use in your remodel if you’re doing one. Try making a mood board of these colors. Seeing them together can help you figure out what colors work well with these color schemes and which would clash. For example, if your home is very warm-toned, installing a cool-toned gray roof probably won’t match. Think about what you want the overall look of your home to be before making any decisions.

Peruse Color Options by Roof Type

Samples of metal shingles side-by-side in light gray, dark gray, and bright red.

You’ll have different color options depending on the type of roof you’re installing. For example, metal roofs can be painted in any color, while asphalt shingles usually come in more neutral shades. Designer shingles, however, can come in a wider range of colors. Once you’ve decided on a roofing type, you can start narrowing in on colors.

Compare Roofs of Houses You Like

If you need help envisioning what an entire roof would look like from small samples, take a walk or a drive around your neighborhood. Note the houses you like, and take notice of their roof colors. These can inform what colors you want on your roof. Additionally, your contractor can point to homes in the area that they completed to show examples of how different color shingles look in natural lighting.

Look at Samples in Natural Lighting

Asphalt shingles samples

Bring home roof samples from your contractor to see how they would look against your home’s exterior. Make sure to look at the samples in different lighting, such as morning, evening, daytime, cloudy, and direct sun. Viewing them against your siding will help ensure you like how the color looks during all times of the day and in all weather types.

Consider Color Families and Complementary Colors

A red brick house with light gray shingles on the roof.

Some colors look good together, while others will clash. If your housing is not neutral, you have more leeway with your roof’s color since more neutral colors will match. However, if your house is a warm neutral such as brown, you may not want to use a cool gray shingle. But there are no hard rules with colors. Here are some pairings that generally work:

  • Red: Dark brown, black, gray, green
  • Light gray: Gray, black, blue, green, white
  • Beige/Cream: brown, black, gray, green, blue
  • Brown: Gray, brown, green, blue
  • White: Almost any color
  • Weathered wood or log houses: Brown, green, black, gray

Think About Light and Heat

Your environment and geographic location can also influence your decision. Remember that dark roofs absorb light while lighter roofs reflect them. Hence, installing a black roof might not be the best idea if you live in a very sunny, hot area. However, color usually doesn’t play the most considerable role in your home’s ability to retain temperature, so make sure to talk to your contractor.

Consider Your Surroundings

An aerial photo of residential homes with green lawns.

Some roof colors will look great in all areas of the world, while others might be more location-specific. For example, a green roof might look great in the Pacific Northwest but could stand out in the desert. Additionally, consider your neighbors’ homes and if you want to blend in with the rest of the neighborhood. If you belong to an HOA, they might restrict you to specific roof colors as well.

Go With What You Like

At the end of the day, having a roof that you like is most important. Feel free to go against the grain or choose something different than your last roof. If you like it, it’s worth picking!

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