Why not a light color roof?

[goldenlight]

I live in the upper Midwest, where the winters are very cold, but the summers are not horribly hot, for the most part. More than half the homes in my neighborhood have light colored shingles. I had a new roof put on in 1999, and I chose a light grey color. My attic still gets hot in the summer, but it would be much worse with a dark colored roof. I can't understand why anyone would want a dark colored roof.

 

[rwsmith]

I've had both.....

I live in the South and I won't have a black roof again. We only get very cold a few weeks per year. Black is just too hot.

BTW Good modern fiberglass shingles don't stain and discolor.

 

[brucev]

Walking my goofy dog through the neighborhood this morning, I got to looking and thinking about roofs, the vast majority of them being a dark brown color. Why especially here, where it gets really hot in the summer, are there not more in a lighter color?
I have seen light color roofs and they look good to me, and I'm sure they reflect the heat much better than a dark color.
Do lighter roofs have a reputation for getting dirty looking after a time? If so, maybe a light brown would be a better choice?

Put a light silver grey roof on my house in 2008, normal type shingles. Cooling bill went down for Summers. No problems with staining, etc. noted at all. Very pleased.

 

[islamoradamark]

i live in south florida i have a poured concrete roof 6 inches of styrofoam underneath my roof on top has one coat of sealear and 4 coats of white permaseal on it reflects sun really good got to wear sunglasses and long pants and shirt refection is really strong gotta stay cool

 

[chief38]

Sort of depends on where you live. If you get oppressively hot summers you might want a light colored roof, although they do show stains and wear more than a dark colored one. In a cold climate, darker roofs will actually help as they do attract heat.

I would suspect most people simply buy the color they LIKE and don't really give it too much thought. I have a medium grey colored roof on my house and after 20 years it is now starting to streak slightly. My thought at the time of installation was a medium color would give me the best of both worlds (heat and cooling) and only show moderate wear and tear. So far I was correct. When this roof goes, I will replace it with another medium colored one.

Just returned from Naples Florida and quickly noticed that most roofs were either white or silver. There were very few dark ones and I wonder how those people could choose a dark roof down there.

 

[Bekeart]

Put new roof on last year. Manufacture called the color some variety of WHITE. The granules are white. There are black areas showing between the granules. Looks Light Gray to me. Dimensional shinges - no more three tabs to curl up.

Will compare utility bills this summer.

Bekeart

 

[rwsmith]

They have.....

They have decent looking light color shingles usually with several colors in the surface grit so it's easy to match bricks, siding, etc. I don't really want a WHITE roof. I've never had a staining problem on my roof and I've had several.

 

[99savage308]

I'm with what sipowoicz said. While here I shall comment. I do not understand why a man walks a dog looks at the roofs in the area and then asks about roof color. Don't men figure stuff out on the own? Where is John Wayne? I feel for the women. The men aren't worth a GD.