Color My Roof
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Does a green polymer tile roof work with a red brick house? Not likely. Will that same green roof be a better match for a white clapboard home? Absolutely.
“Selecting roofing colors that complement the rest of the home’s exterior can be challenging for some people,” says Kate Smith, CMG and owner of Sensational Color. “While people have the freedom of color choice these days with the vast multitude of synthetic roofing colors and blends available in the marketplace, there are certainly some fast and easy guidelines they can keep in mind.”
Smith, who is the DaVinci Roofscapes® resident color expert consultant, recommends the following guidelines when matching polymer roof colors with different style homes.
- Green roofs look best with homes that have natural wood siding, or are painted gray, white or a lighter green color than the roof itself. Avoid red or colors that are very “warm” for the siding, although these bright colors could be used as an accent, such as for a front door.
- Brown roofs complement houses painted in tan, yellow, cream, off-white or a different shade of brown. Brick homes that have a yellow or brownish color cast to the bricks can also look good with a brown roof. Stay away from using a brown roof if you have a home with “cool” colors on the main body, such as blues and grays.
- Black roofs provide an anchor for tall homes by helping visually lower the roof and making the home look wider in contrast to the siding color and trim. A black roof has a strong link to homes painted in gray, blue, green or white … and can also be used with a brick exterior. Try to avoid a black roof if you have a single story or smaller home, because the black can seem too weighty for a smaller structure.
- Gray roofs are an ideal complement to more traditional style homes and can also be used on blue, green, black or white house colors. Bolder accent colors for trim, shutters or the entryway door can broaden the visual appeal of the home with a gray roof.
- Terracotta color roofs work exceptionally well with stucco and brick homes, along with stone and those houses with a mixture of exterior materials. White is classic color to use with a terracotta roof. The high contrast between the body and roof colors looks crisp and clean together, and is often a choice for warmer climates.
- Red roofs match up beautifully to accent gray or warm brown house colors. Consider a red roof for a white or cream exterior to create a country look for a home.
“Depending on the style of a home, as much as 40 percent or more of the visual you get when looking at a house is the roof,” says Smith. “The more roof that is shown, the more important it is to allow the roof color to help define the home’s style.
“I’m a great fan of color blends for roofs. When you select blends with different shades of a color or two in it, the entire roof seems to merge and unify the home exterior. This softens the roof visually and provides the homeowner with more long-term options for accent colors to ‘pull out’ from the roofing blend color.”
DaVinci, the color leader in the synthetic roofing industry, offers 28 standard color blends. Homeowners may also create their own custom blends using the company’s 49 roofing colors. And, custom color blends and even custom colors are also available from the manufacturer.
“DaVinci recently launched eight new color blends as a result of research and homeowner requests over the years,” says Smith. “These are visually exciting color blend options that can be incorporated into a wide variety of home styles.”
The new blends include:
- Milano – Light Gray, Medium Gray, Dark Gray and Dark Purple colors in the single-width Slate and Bellaforté product lines.
- Cambridge – Light Brown, Medium Brown, Dark Stone and Dark Tan colors in the single-width Slate and Bellaforté product lines.
- Sedona – Medium Terracotta, Dark Terracotta, Light Clay and Dark Clay in the single-width Slate and Bellaforté product lines.
- Sabino – Dark Mountain and Medium Autumn in the single-width Slate product line and Dark Mountain and Medium Autumn in the Bellaforté product line.
- Sonora – Medium Terracotta, Dark Terracotta, Light Clay and Dark Clay in the multi-width Slate product line.
- Canyon – Dark Mountain, Medium Autumn and Dark Autumn in the multi-width Slate product line.
- Harbor Gray – Light Chesapeake, Medium Light Chesapeake, Medium Chesapeake and Dark Chesapeake in the single-width Shake product line.
- Chesapeake – Light Chesapeake, Medium Light Chesapeake, Medium Chesapeake and Dark Chesapeake in the multi-width Shake and Fancy Shake product lines.
A DaVinci Color Design Program is available to homeowners with an on-line Color Design tool located at www.davinciroofscapes.com.
DaVinci Roofscapes has manufactured award-winning synthetic slate and shake roofing since 1999. The polymer roofing tiles are virtually maintenance free and far more cost effective than the natural product. DaVinci leads the industry in tile thickness, the tile width variety and the greatest selection of subtle earth-toned colors. Company products have a 50-year warranty and are 100 percent recyclable. DaVinci proudly makes its products in America and is a member of the National Association of Home Builders, the Cool Roof Rating Council and the U.S. Green Building Council, and a sponsor of Homes for Our Troops. For additional information call 1-800-328-4624 or visit our website.