How to Choose the Right Paint Colour for Your Roof

Are you thinking of painting, or repainting, your roof? Then you have a number of factors to consider before choosing a colour. Since your roof accounts for much of what people see when they look at your home, appearance is probably your number one priority.

But choosing a roof colour is more complicated than you might think. Many factors will affect your final choice. If you are about to paint your roof a new colour, follow these points before you make your final decision.

Think about your energy needs

When you live in an area with a hot summer climate, then you can keep your house cooler if you choose a light to moderate roof colour. This is because light colours absorb less of the summer heat, whereas dark colours, which tend to be popular throughout Australia, absorb much more heat.

In fact, according to sustainability expert, Dr Chris Reardon, light roofs reflect about 50% more summer heat than dark roofs do. This means that painting your roof in one of the popular shades ranging from grey to black will trap much of the summer heat in your home. As a result, your air conditioning will need to work harder to cool your home. Ultimately, your energy bills will increase.

Alternatively, Acryloc Roof Coating System has a heat reflective coating to keep your house cooler with the choice of darker colours. Roofcote Supa Cool® is a heat reflecting roof membrane. Specially engineered pigments used in Supa Cool cut down the amount of light absorbed by the roof surface by reflecting infrared light back into the atmosphere instead of converting it to heat. Less heat means a cooler home.

Drive around your neighbourhood to see what works

If you are unsure of what shade might work for your property and its exterior, then go for a drive around your neighbourhood. Although you can look for colours on the internet, what you see on a computer screen will likely be different to what you see out in the street, in natural light, alongside other colours.

Look for homes with similar-coloured exteriors to your own home. Then study how well their roof colour goes with their walls and the surrounding vegetation and scenery of your location. Choosing a colour that one or more of your neighbours already use will also help your home to blend in — if that’s what you want of course.

Consider the neighbours

Do you want to blend in with the homes around you? Or do you want your home to make a statement or set a new trend? For instance, if your neighbourhood is dominated by grey and black rooftops, you might want to choose a shade of colour that is somewhere in that colour spectrum. You could still choose a light grey to save on your energy bill in such a neighbourhood.

However, if you plan to paint your roof in a colour that differs considerably from the homes around you, you might want to inform your neighbours first. Ask them how they feel about your colour choice. And check with your local council to see if they have any restrictions regarding roof colour.  

Ask your painters for samples

Your painters can also help you narrow down a colour for your roof. If you want to paint your roof grey for instance but are still unsure which shade is most appropriate for your home, ask your roof painters to help. If you’d rather see their work with your chosen colour up close, ask them for the address of a home they previously painted in one of your chosen shades.

If you’d rather not drive to a previous customer, then ask your roof painters to provide some painted roof samples. You can then place these samples on your roof and see how they look in the different lighting throughout the day.

Are you thinking of repainting or painting your roof? Homestyle Roof Painters’ fully accredited team of tradesmen offer a professional and no-nonsense approach from start to finish. Contact us today to take advantage of our 35 years of experience in the roofing industry.