Choosing the roof colour for your home

There’s a lot more that goes into the decision of a roof colour than you might initially think. While there’s obviously the factor of your preferred colour, there are also several other points to consider such as whether you want to harmonise or contrast, what type of climate you live in and the overall look of your neighbourhood.

Monier roof tiles have some great colour advice when choosing the roof colour for your home. This picture shows what the eye will see on the external of your home. The walls make up 60%, gutter and fascia about 10% and the roof 30%. 

You can therefore see how important it is to get the colour of your roof right...
Here are some more tips for you when choosing your roof colour.

1. What’s your neighbourhood like? Consider the landscape and the environment.
Take a look around your nieghbourhood.  You need to consider the design of the house, the surrounding environment including the streetscape, houses nearby, other finishes already selected and your personal preferences.

Are you surrounded by greenery or by red soil? Do you get a lot of shade or is your area notably void of vegetation? Along with helping you decide on an aesthetic design (e.g you may opt for a dark blue or green roof is you live near a rainforest), the very nature of the nature you’re surrounded by could determine whether you need a colour that helps capture or reflect heat. Colorbond has recently released new colours to their extensive range, which take the landscape and environment into consideration. 

2. What’s the weather like?
The climate of where you live is extremely important to remember. If you happen to live in a hot/humid climate, then you’ll probably won’t to avoid darker roof colours as they will absorb the heat. Similarly, if you live in a cooler climate, you may not want to opt for lighter colours as they reflect the sun’s rays, meaning your home won’t retain as much heat. This is as far as this factor needs to go in terms of consideration, but just remember your roof colour isn’t just an aesthetic factor - it also offers practical benefits.


3. Consider the external finishes
Like the Monier picture above shows, make sure you consider the wall finish (brick, timber, weatherboard, stone, render etc). This makes up about 60% of what the eye will see, so it has to work in with the wall, its construction and colour.  It’s a good idea to have a checklist with all the major components of the house listed and this will assist you in assembling your colour and finishes palette including:

• Roof
  
• Walls
  
• Fascia, gutter and downpipes
  
• Garage door
  
• Window frames
  
• Fence
  
• Front door
  
• Feature panel

Head to the hardware and take some paint sections and colours home and see how you will like it working in with your neighbourhood and surrounds.  Do you want your roof colour to feel like a continuation of the primary colours of your home or a contrast.? If you do decide that contrast is the route you want to take, be mindful of the fact that it can be a fine line between a pleasant contrast of colours and an unpleasant one. Both options are perfectly fine to pursue, but both also have their limits of what you can get away with.

4. Colorbond colours
When selecting your roof colour remember COLORBOND® steel colours set the standard for many other building products.
Eg: Garage door manufacturers, major paint companies, window frame manufacturers, fencing and shedding suppliers and water tank manufacturers have many, if not all of theCOLORBOND® steel colours in their range. This makes co-ordination so much easier when selecting colours. You can even have your timber fence or verandah post painted/stained in a matching COLORBOND® steel colour.

If you want to discuss colours or styles of Colorbond roofing, contact us today we would be more than happy to help you out! Phone us on 07 5598 6037 or contact us

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