There is so much more to picking a new roof than just choosing its colour. In order to make the right roofing choices, it is essential to spend some time understanding your options. Read on to find out more about choosing the colour of your roof, finding the right roofing products and tips on picking the best roof for your house design.
Finding The Right Roofing Products
The primary roofing materials available here in NZ are pressed metal tiles, concrete or clay tiles, longrun iron, timber shingles, asphalt shingles and membrane roofing systems such as Bitumen. All of these roofing materials have their own list of pros and cons, so what is the best option, and how do you choose?
Choosing the right roofing material for your home is likely to come down to six main factors; environmental conditions, the architectural style, maintenance requirements, cost, personal preference, and neighbourhood trends.
- Environmental Conditions. These will largely be determined by the location of your property. For example, if it is coastal, then you need to take the salty air into account. Does it snow a lot? Do you experience high winds? Is the area prone to earthquakes? For example, the most common roofing material in Christchurch since the earthquakes is longrun iron due to it being lighter weight and more suitable in earthquake conditions.
- Architectural Style. The angle and shape of your roof can limit your roofing material choices. Complicated rooflines, higher pitch, and mono pitch rooflines may need further consideration to maintain the watertight properties of the roof. It is always best to check with your roofer or builder for their recommendations for these situations.
- Maintenance And Durability. Each roofing material will come with its own warranty, expected lifespan and a set of ongoing maintenance requirements. This will give an indication of how much effort is required to keep the roof functioning optimally and looking good. Sometimes the lack of ongoing costs can outweigh any reservations over the initial purchase price. It also pays to check if there are any guarantees or warranties for the product’s performance over its expected lifetime?
- Costs. This includes the initial cost of the product, installation costs, plus ongoing maintenance costs. Of course, the costs are always a factor in any purchase decision, but it shouldn’t be the only determining factor.
- Personal Preference. There are many elements at play when it comes to personal preference, these can include design aspirations, aesthetics, preference for a particular product, sustainability concerns and many more. Are your roofing material choices environmentally friendly?
- Neighbourhood Trends. Many neighbourhoods are built around certain building trends of the time. This may include commonly used colours, styles, finishes or the type of houses built in the area. For many homeowners, it can be beneficial to stick with the common theme of the neighbourhood to ensure the house remains within the look and feel of the area. This helps maintain the curbside appeal and retain value, both for the property and that of the neighbourhood.
Factors To Consider In Roofing Design
While the above factors assist in product choice, there is still a further aspect to consider – roof design and structure. Some other factors you might want to consider when choosing your roof are:
- Longrun Iron Profiles. The impact of using different profiles for your house can make a huge difference to the external aesthetics, even when using the same colour. Bringing the element of design into your roofing choice is the easiest way to make a relatively straightforward (and cost-effective) adjustment to the look and feel of the home.
- Roof Pitch. Your roof pitch may affect what types of roofing you are able to choose from. Low pitch roofs might need to look at longrun iron profiles that have a high ridge in the metal. Traditional corrugated profiles might not be suitable because they are unable to carry large volumes of water away during heavy rain. And heavy tile-based roofs are not possible at very low pitch either.
- Value. Your roof and cladding are the most significant external aesthetic features of your home and, as a result, one of the easiest ways to add value. This is particularly important for property owners or renovators doing their homes up for sale. Sometimes it can be as simple as choosing a more modern longrun iron profile than the standard corrugated look.
- Batten And Rafter Spacing. This one is generally only for those replacing an existing roof. The spacing of your battens and rafters will likely depend on the roofing materials originally chosen when the house was built. For example; Tiles are very heavy, so the rafter spacing has to be closer to bear the weight, therefore when replacing a tiled roof with an iron roof, the rafters will be strong enough. However, the reverse may not be true. The battens on a tiled roof may also be closer together than that of an iron roof. It is best to speak with a reroofing specialist on this one.
- Additional Considerations. While taking all of the above into consideration, you’ve also got to ensure you have the correct insulation, spouting, downpipes and that the framing structure is up to the job of successfully supporting the new roof. Only an experienced roofer or builder is qualified to discuss these concerns and advise you of the best course of action.
Roof Colours
Choosing the colour of your roof is perhaps the most difficult decision for many. Which colour complements the colour of the cladding? How about the window joinery? What colours are best for gutters, fascias, and downpipes? Think about it too much, and choosing a roof colour can become an overwhelming prospect. To help you out, here are some of the top tips from the experts when it comes to choosing your roof colour.
- Avoid An Exact Match. The difference in roof, cladding and joinery colours is what makes an exterior colour scheme work, you don’t want them all to be the same or too similar.
- Lighter Vs Darker? Lighter colours are more reflective than darker colours, therefore if you live in a hot area, lighter is better. Going a few shades lighter in your choice of roof colours can help keep your house cooler. And the opposite is true for cooler areas that wish to absorb more heat from the sun using darker colours.
- Match Up The Gutters. Most colour consultants would agree that matching your gutter colours to the roof is the best approach because gutters and downpipes are not stylistic elements of the house, and the less noticeable they are, the better.
- Choose Your Roof Colour First. If you intend to paint your cladding too, it is easier to choose the roof colour first as there are fewer options, then choose cladding colours to fit with the roof.
- Look For Hints Of Colour. For brick-clad homes, identify the primary colour of the bricks, then look for hints of that colour and colours that go with that in your roofing material.
- Triangulate The Colour. A simple design tip to ensure your roof colour works with the whole property giving it a balanced feel, is to triangulate the colour. This simply means repeating the same colour in smaller amounts around the property in up to three different locations. This may include the mailbox, the garden shed or the fence.
7 Tips For Choosing The Right Roof
Your roof is one of the most important structural elements of your home. Choosing the right roof is going to have fairly long-term consequences. So it is important to get it right! That’s why we have put together this handy list of the best 7 tips for choosing the right roof.
- Browse Online. It is a good idea to browse roofing manufacturers’ online galleries to get an idea of what the different profiles will look like with individual products. Collecting images that reflect what you’re trying to achieve is a great place to start!
- Drive Around The Neighbourhood. Having a look around the areas of your town or city that have newer homes or homes like the one you are trying to create is also a great idea. Take pictures of roofs you like for design ideas and colours. Or you could ask your local roofing contractor, for example, homes they have completed that you could take a closer look at.
- Narrow Down Your Options. The easiest way to do this is to check which roofing materials fall into your price range. See our post here for more information on the costs and benefits associated with each style of roofing material.
- Get Samples. Try to get your hands on the largest samples you can, or visit showrooms for real-life samples – don’t rely on the colours/textures from a brochure or online as these can be distorted.
- Collect And Compare. After a while, you will have amassed a portfolio of your favourite roof designs. When you feel you’ve gathered enough information, spend some time discussing your options with friends, colleagues and family.
- Investigate The Differences Between Roofing Materials. A little bit of research goes a long way. Making a list of the pros and cons of the different types of roofing material is a great idea – or take a look at our breakdown of the advantages and disadvantages of each type of roofing material here.
- Talk To The Professionals. If in doubt, it is always a good idea to speak with a qualified roofing company or builder. Ask your architect or a roofer if there are any options you should exclude.
Latest Trends In New Zealand Roofing
Like any aspect of the building industry, roofing in New Zealand has gone through various trends and design features over the years. What are the current roofing trends in NZ? Let’s take a look.
- Longrun Iron Instead Of Concrete. Since the Christchurch earthquakes, longrun iron and/or metal tiles have seen a considerable surge in popularity and not just in Christchurch. This is because they are lighter and considered safer during an earthquake.
- More Natural Colours. We are seeing much darker, more natural colour tones coming through, such as dark grey, black, dark blue and dark brown.
- Greater Variety. Where new subdivisions have previously tended to follow a very similar look and feel, we are now seeing a greater variety of house types and styles.
- Traditional Style Roof Shapes. People have been trending towards more traditional gable style roof design and moving away from mono pitch styles over the past few years.
Need help choosing a new roof or understanding your options when reroofing your home? Contact the experts in reroofing at Action Reroofing today for a no-obligation quote.
