Most people will account for house and trim color when choosing a roof color. That’s about it. Here are some other things you should consider.
Roof slope is critical: This greatly affects the look of the shingle. The same shingle looks very different on a roof with low slope than on a steep one. Few people ever account for this.
Style and shape of your house: This is a very important factor in choosing shingle color and style.
Colors change over time: Roof colors look different when new. Grey will look different 5 years from now than it does today. So will cedar/wood colored shingles. Those are just two examples.
Shingle style: This is more than most people can handle. In addition to color choices, there are more style choices than ever these days. This makes it a more overwhelming decision and much easier to screw up. Stick to the standards unless you really know what you’re doing.
% of look/surface area: What percentage of the look/surface area of your house is made up by the roof? The same shingle will have a much different effect on a house with a small roof area percentage than it will on a house with a large roof area percentage.
Compensating for house flaws: Does your roof need to compensate for flaws somewhere else on your house? Believe it or not, the roof color you choose can affect the perception of other parts of the house. Think about clothes. Wearing vertical lines makes people look taller. Horizontal lines make you look wider. Black makes you look slimmer. If there’s a house flaw, picking the right color roof can minimize how noticeable that flaw is.
Affect of roof color on house colors: This is different than just matching colors. Both black and grey match a yellow colored house. However, the black roof puts a starker, more direct focus on the rest of the house. Can the rest of the house take it? Do you want it’s details exposed to more scrutiny? That’s the difference a roof color can make.
One last thing to remember: You pick a roof color about once every 25 years. We do it every day. There’s a big difference.
