If you are a homeowner, there will come a time when you need to replace the roof on your home. It is not an entirely bad thing though, as you are finally able to select the shingle color of your roof. Consider these three things you should know about selecting a shingle color before you make a decision.
The Color Of Your Home
Your shingles should compliment the exterior of your home, not make you cringe at the sight of it. For example, you may love the color of your home's blue accents, but they may not make the best choice for the color of your shingles.
If your home has a siding color that is not neutral, do not go with a color that is similar to it. It will cause the colors of your home to blend together. Go for a contrast instead. Pair dark shingles with light colored siding, and light shingles with dark colored siding.
A brick exterior will give you limited choices for complimenting shingle colors. While black is typically a safe color choice, you can try to find a color that is in the brick that you can match to a shingle color.
Energy Efficiency
The color of your shingles can actually play into how energy efficient your roof is. Darker colors are known to absorb heat from the sun, which will be great if your home is in a colder climate. Lighter colors will reflect the rays from the sun, and help keep your home cooler in a hot climate.
A dark roof will hold around 80% of the heat, and a light roof will reflect 75% of the heat. If you pick the color that is best for the climate your home is in, your roof can help lower your cooling or heating bills.
Your Neighborhood
There is a chance that you have a restriction about what kind of shingle color you are allowed to use on your home. It may be a homeowners association rule, or a zoning board that decides what kind of shingle color you can go with in the end.
If there are no restrictions, consider the neighbors on both sides of your home. You may want to go with a shingle color that is different from both neighbor's homes so that your home sticks out. Three houses in a row with very similar roofs can look quite bland, after all.
If you consider these three things, you'll pick a shingle roof color that is perfect for your home.
Share30 January 2015
My name is Debbie Greenberg. I’m a single woman who owns her home, and like most homeowners I dread home repairs. I’m not very handy with do-it-yourself projects around the house. I can do a few minor repairs when necessary, but for the most part I have to call in a professional. Last year I had a leak in my roof. When it rained, water would leak into my kitchen. What appeared to be a simple fix turned out to be anything but simple. It took over four months to finally identify the problem, and double the money I was initially quoted to fix it. The problem ended up being that the flat part of my roof didn't have shingles, but a sheeting material. I learned a bit about home roofs along the way, and that is what I want to share with you.
