Choosing your roofing shingles can be a unique styling experience. Although you do have to consider practicalities like reflectivity, price, and warranty, the visual appearance of your roof is also very important. The right roof can go a long way toward turning a house into your dream home.
Here are some tips for choosing the right style of fiberglass shingles for your home.
Look at Your Priorities
What’s the backstory behind your decision to replace your roof? What’s the primary thing you hope to gain? Are you transforming a new home into a dream home, or are you fixing up your old family home to go on the market? A hard look at your priorities can be a vital first step when deciding on a style.
For instance, if you’re turning the house into your dream home, you’ll want to style the roof to fit with your lifestyle. You’ll want it to fit with your personal sense of aesthetics and ensure you end up with a roof you’ll be happy with for decades.
However, if you’re planning to put the home on the market soon, you’ll want to choose a roof style and color that’s less individualistic and has more mass appeal. For example, homes with bolder colored exteriors may actually sell for less.
Consider the Pitch of the Roof
In addition to thinking about a style that will complement the rest of your home’s exterior, you’ll want to consider the pitch of your roof. The pitch changes the angle you’ll see the shingles from and can lend itself to specific styles. For example, a nearly-flat roof lends itself well to a Mission style, while a house with a steep roof may look great with a Victorian styling.
Decide on a General Color
Different homeowners will have different criteria when deciding on a roof color. You don’t have to decide absolutely on a specific product shade at this point (since that would restrict the rest of the process). But you should think about what colors, generally, you’d like to see on your roof.
Neutral colors are very popular for roofing materials, not least because they allow you to change the color of your house without worrying about a clash. If you’d like to aim for a traditional styling, you’ll likely want some type of black, gray, or tan. If you want to make a bold personal style statement, you could consider a less common color like hunter green.
Consider Shingle Shape
At this stage, you’ll want to start considering specific shingle products and product lines. For example, some of the architectural shingles manufactured are shaped and styled to look like slate, while others are shaped to look like cedar. Many companies offer lines of architectural shingles that come in a variety of shapes, providing plenty of style options.
Look at Mock-Ups
Now you’re ready to decide on the specific shingle product and the specific color shade you’ll use. But visualizing just how the shingles will look once installed can be tricky. If possible, look up photos of real-life homes that have the exact same roof product so you can see how it actually looks on a home. Your roof contractor may be able to help you with this step.
You can also use a virtual home remodeling tool online. These tools provide a virtual representation of what the shingles would look like on a roof and help you compare different possibilities. You may find that the scale of the shingles wasn’t quite what you imagined or that you need a slightly lighter color than you thought you did.
These tips will help you pick a shingle product with the right style for your home’s new roof. If you need help comparing products or can’t find quite what you’re looking for, Ray’s Harford Home Improvement Contractors Inc. would be happy to help. Give us a call today to learn more about the types of roofing services we offer.
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Choosing your roofing shingles can be a unique styling experience. Although you do have to consider practicalities like reflectivity, price, and warranty, the visual appearance of your roof is also very important. The right roof can go a long way toward turning a house into your dream home.
Here are some tips for choosing the right style of fiberglass shingles for your home.
Look at Your Priorities
What’s the backstory behind your decision to replace your roof? What’s the primary thing you hope to gain? Are you transforming a new home into a dream home, or are you fixing up your old family home to go on the market? A hard look at your priorities can be a vital first step when deciding on a style.
For instance, if you’re turning the house into your dream home, you’ll want to style the roof to fit with your lifestyle. You’ll want it to fit with your personal sense of aesthetics and ensure you end up with a roof you’ll be happy with for decades.
However, if you’re planning to put the home on the market soon, you’ll want to choose a roof style and color that’s less individualistic and has more mass appeal. For example, homes with bolder colored exteriors may actually sell for less.
Consider the Pitch of the Roof
In addition to thinking about a style that will complement the rest of your home’s exterior, you’ll want to consider the pitch of your roof. The pitch changes the angle you’ll see the shingles from and can lend itself to specific styles. For example, a nearly-flat roof lends itself well to a Mission style, while a house with a steep roof may look great with a Victorian styling.
Decide on a General Color
Different homeowners will have different criteria when deciding on a roof color. You don’t have to decide absolutely on a specific product shade at this point (since that would restrict the rest of the process). But you should think about what colors, generally, you’d like to see on your roof.
Neutral colors are very popular for roofing materials, not least because they allow you to change the color of your house without worrying about a clash. If you’d like to aim for a traditional styling, you’ll likely want some type of black, gray, or tan. If you want to make a bold personal style statement, you could consider a less common color like hunter green.
Consider Shingle Shape
At this stage, you’ll want to start considering specific shingle products and product lines. For example, some of the architectural shingles manufactured are shaped and styled to look like slate, while others are shaped to look like cedar. Many companies offer lines of architectural shingles that come in a variety of shapes, providing plenty of style options.
Look at Mock-Ups
Now you’re ready to decide on the specific shingle product and the specific color shade you’ll use. But visualizing just how the shingles will look once installed can be tricky. If possible, look up photos of real-life homes that have the exact same roof product so you can see how it actually looks on a home. Your roof contractor may be able to help you with this step.
You can also use a virtual home remodeling tool online. These tools provide a virtual representation of what the shingles would look like on a roof and help you compare different possibilities. You may find that the scale of the shingles wasn’t quite what you imagined or that you need a slightly lighter color than you thought you did.
These tips will help you pick a shingle product with the right style for your home’s new roof. If you need help comparing products or can’t find quite what you’re looking for, Ray’s Harford Home Improvement Contractors Inc. would be happy to help. Give us a call today to learn more about the types of roofing services we offer.
