Painting your roof will not only add aesthetic appeal to your house, but it will also help to increase the value of your property. Let’s say you are planning to buy a new house. Would you buy one with an old rusty roof with missing shingles, or would you buy the house with a freshly painted, intact roof? You would most likely choose the house with an attractive roof. In fact, you would willingly pay more for the house with an attractive, high-quality roof. Whether you are painting your roof in order to sell your home or you simply want to upgrade your roof, here is everything you need to know.
Tips for Choosing the Best Color for Your Roof
Match Your Exterior to the Landscape
The best tip you need to know about painting your roof is to match your home’s exterior paint with the color of the surrounding landscape. For instance, if your home is in the woods, then painting your roof with natural earthy tones is a great idea.
On the other hand, if your house is in a dry region, we recommend painting lighter colors on your roof, such as white or beige. In case you reside in a cool region, you can opt for darker shades for your roof, including brown, black, or grey. Additionally, if you reside in a rural area, natural tones like subdued browns and olive greens will help your roof complement the landscape.
We also recommend matching some of the roof colors in your neighborhood. For example, if the majority of your neighbors have neutral-colored roofs, painting your roof a bright yellow color will make your house stick out like a sore thumb.
Consider the Climate
The color of your roof plays a significant factor in how cold or warm your house will be. Light-colored roofs reflect away the UV rays of the sun and will help to keep your home cool during summer. Therefore, if you live in a hot region, we recommend paint colors like beige, cream, or tan on your roof.
In case you live in a colder region, dark roof shades such as dark brown, charcoal, or dark black will help to absorb more heat into your house, keeping your house warmer during cold seasons.
Color Choices
Choosing the right color for your roof can make a huge impact on the comfort of your home and the perception of the exterior landscape. The roof occupies between 25% to 40% of the exterior structure of a building, and its color plays a huge role in the aesthetic appeal of the landscape.
Here are some color combinations to help you choose between dark or light colors for your roof and increase your property’s curb appeal:
- White or grey exterior: Light grey roof
- Dark green, dark red, and white exterior: Tan roof
- Gray, tan, and white exterior: White roof
- Brown, tan, and dark red exterior: Brown roof
- Tan, dark red, and grey exterior: Black roof
Dark Roof Advantages
Since dark roofs absorb more energy from the sun compared to light roofs, they help snow to melt faster off your structure. Although winter months experience less sunshine during daylight, dark roofs are able to absorb the heat from the sun, which then helps to melt some of the snow away from your roof.
However, in heavily snowing winter regions, the dark color of the roof may not have a major impact on the snow because the roof will be covered with snow throughout the day. Any sunlight that the region receives will be reflected away by the white snow, thereby preventing the dark roof from absorbing the heat and melting some of the snow.
Dark-colored roofs, such as those that are black or brown, can give your property a classic look. Due to the traditional appeal of dark roofs, these deep colors could also make your home appear smaller.
Dark Roof Disadvantages
One of the factors that affect the service life of a roof is heat. Dark roofs tend to absorb high amounts of UV rays from the sun, which makes them more prone to damage. As a result, the shingles of dark-colored roofs are more likely to fade, crack, melt, or blister.
During summer periods, dark roofs tend to absorb a lot of heat from the sun, making the house undesirably hot. This will cause your air conditioner to work harder to keep the house cool, thereby consuming more energy and leaving you with high energy costs.
Light Roof Advantages
Due to their reflective nature, light roofs can help to keep your home cool during summer months, thereby cutting the HVAC energy costs by 20%.
Another benefit of the reflective nature of light-colored roofs is that they make extremely hot daylight conditions more tolerable, thereby reducing the number of heat deaths. In fact, a 10% increase in the reflectivity of a roof, such as from painting the roof a light color, can help to reduce heat wave deaths by up to 6%.
If you want to give your property an elegant modern look, then light-colored roofs are the way to go. Additionally, light roofs can make your property look larger and more expansive.
Light Roof Disadvantages
The main disadvantage of light roofs is that they have high energy costs during winter. In winter, the temperatures are usually very low, and the air conditioner consumes more energy to keep your building warm. If the building has a light roof, it reflects away the sun’s heat during day time instead of absorbing the heat like dark roofs.
If the roof fails to absorb the heat, your home remains cold, and you will incur higher costs to warm your home.
Which Is the Best Option?
Ultimately, the best color for your roof is the color you prefer. Thanks to technological advancements in roofing materials, it is easy to find a color that suits your home’s climate and that is attractive. Your best bet at determining whether to go with a dark roof or a light one is to consult with a roofing expert.
Light-colored roofs will help you save more on energy costs during warm months, and the U.S. Department of Energy recommends that people living in warm regions install light-colored roofs.
Consult Protek Roofing, Heating, Air & Solar Today
If you are considering changing your roof’s color or roofing material, Protek Roofing, Heating, Air & Solar is the best team for the job. We provide high-quality roofing and HVAC services in Tampa, FL. We offer a vast selection of roofing colors and materials to improve your roof’s performance and upgrade the comfort of your home. If you aren’t interested in changes to your roof, we also provide heating repairs, cooling repairs, furnace installation, AC replacement, HVAC maintenance, and upgrades for residential and commercial properties. Our team is well-trained and qualified to help you be more comfortable in your Florida home.
If you desire to work with professional roofing experts that have clear communication, that are dedicated to delivering high-quality roofing services, and that will provide you with all the roofing information you need, then get in touch with us. Call Protek Roofing, Heating, Air & Solar today to get the best service for your roof.
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