Something to think about is the suggestion to use lighter colored roofs to reflect rather than absorb heat. I replaced mine last year and just could not bring myself to use the lightest color but chose a soft gray. I do not know if it was the new roof or glazing the windows but my electric bill went down.

I agree ^^^ I could not figure out how lilylchen knew you had an insect problem and I thought you had a big hole in your roof. Then I saw the huge web. lol

A neutral brown would be best.

It's so hot here in Texas a lighter color roof is a smart choice. When we had replaced our roof on our previous house we went with a soft light gray. Which was not the lightest color. We were very pleased with the color.

Very good advice to go for a lighter color roof. They also make products called Cool Roofs that reflect sunlight as well as not absorbing it. It might be a bit pricey though. In your hot summer climate you'll have a much cooler home and attic with a lighter colored roof.

Roof color is a functional matter, not a decorator's palette without functional consequences.

I wouldn't go with black or green either... too dark. You need to work with your brick too. I'd go with a brown or red.

Google it - there are tons of websites on how to pick roof colors. Like this one, for example:

https://www.roofingcalc.com/roof-shingle-colors/

I think the roof color you now have is good. It goes nicely with the light tan brick. If you do not like this color, you could go a couple shades lighter. Going to lighter colors is smart in hot climates. Paint the garage door the same color as the roof. In general, do not have more than 3 colors in your scheme, although you can use white as an accent or for outlining large areas very much as it is now.

Your brick color is fixed, therefore use it as the base color and pick other colors to complement it.

It appears that you have an asphalt driveway. If you plan to re-do it, go extra thick to resist dishing. In hot weather, asphalt tends to dish where vehicle wheels sit for lengthy periods, If you do not specify the thickness, you'll get the standard minimum which may be about 3 inches thick. Discuss this with your contractor. Also, for asphalt, specify weed killer to be applied before laying the paving. This prevents errant weeds and sprouts from penetrating the new paving.

You could go with concrete which is more durable and does not need periodic re-coating, however, it is much more expensive and may increase your property taxes.

I dont know about color,everyone has their own taste but I suggest a metal roof. They come in all sorts of colors. Ours came with a 100 year transferrable warranty. No shingles to replace.

Metal roofing offers more color options, higher insulation values, and can be installed over your existing roof. And a very long warranty. This can be your last roof purchase.

Take the opportunity to get a metal roof quote before deciding on asphalt.

For a few $, an exterior designer can be very helpful.

Black would also be beautiful.....but sometimes you have to bend your design/color choice, for lower AC bills. I'd get the roof color as close to the garage brown as you can....as a good inbetween solution.

Not green for roof shingles. You say "not brown", but is light tan acceptable?

Nickel, I really don't like light colored roofs. I'm now thinking of looking to see how much it would cost to do stone veneer over the brick. I really don't like the color of the brick. The best color to match the brick would be a rusty reddish brown (which I really don't like) or the dark brown that's on it now, or a light tan color, which I also really don't like.

Maybe a new build? :)

Michael, I thought about that too but don't think I can afford that. I also like my neighborhood and the distance between homes and not having any real restrictions I can do on my own property, unlike new communities.

I would definitely not use green and wouldn’t really think black would be wise either. I don’t see anything wrong with using a shade of brown as long as it doesn’t have red in it to draw attention to the red in the brick. A medium tan or a shingle with mixed charcoal and tan would be nice. A roof shingle isn’t necessarily one color.

Have your roofer bring several samples and hold them to your brick in different light (bright sun and overcast sky, morning and evening) to check it out.

After checking for prices of stone veneer, I'm thinking of painting the brick.

It's such a cute house and I like your brick. I have no experience with it, but, from what I've seen here on Houzz, painting brick can be a maintenance issue. I agree with not going with black or green for the roof. Green can be limiting with other colors, and black can look severe and grab a lot of focus. It's nice when the main focus is more on the front entry area. I would be careful with roof shingles that are distinctly more than one color. It can sometimes look too busy with the brick (if you don't paint it).

To me, either of these colors on the garage doors and front door would work nicely with your brick for your shutters and front door. Though the first pic is stone, the color doesn't look far off from your brick. I just thought the garage door color would work with your brick. I wouldn't use it for your garage. Best to have the garage be a color that blends with the brick/siding, especially when the garage is in front.

No brick here but the door color would look nice with your brick.

When shopping for your new roof, put attic ventilation (installed according to code) as your #1 priority. Don't settle for a roofer who says, "that's good enough".

Tip: not all roofing companies understand proper ventilation.

The better contractors follow the rules and don't take shortcuts.

Michael's advice is spot on. Beyond local code requirements, I believe many roofing material manufacturers have requirements that specify how many square feet of ventilation in and out are needed per X square feet of roof. The reason is that the expected useful life of roofing material can be significantly shortened if the underside gets too hot from inadequate ventilation.

I don't see any through-roof or ridge vents in the photo so that unless it's on the back sides or the one gable end, it may need more.

Elmer is correct. And if the manufacturer discovers the ventilation is inadequate (they will inspect if a failure occurs) they will deny any claims.

Elmer, there are roof vents, on the backside of the house. There may be one hidden in front...I can't remember now. So, how many do you need for a 1400 square foot house with 1 car garage?

Now that I'm thinking of painting the brick, I may go ahead and replace all the windows too. I think if I wait on those they will damage the paint later? I do need two new windows that I know of right now, one in my bedroom that faces the side of the house and the one on the side of the garage: termite damage. My bedroom window is not functioning properly. They are all original to the house from 1987. I will also be buying a new front door.

I will probably have to get new downspouts too. The ones that are up there are not in great shape and won't match the house. I'm continually having to put the bottom pieces back on after a hard rain with wind. The paint is peeling around the windows and the front door post is rotting on the bottom. I've repainted it recently and tried to shore it up some. I really want to redo that whole front stoop but that will have to wait.

kathsgarden, a good roofing contractor (and the good ones are all licensed unless your state doesn't have such licenses) will follow all necessary guidelines. Adding a bit more ventilation than is spec'd is a plus, not a minus.

The intake openings at the low part of an attic (at the top of the siding/under the eaves/in soffits are as important as the exhaust ones on the high side. It's not unusual for them to be too small or for the intake vents on the low side to be blocked by the attic insulation. The opening sizes can be measured externally but whether or not they're obstructed is usually checked from inside the attic.

My suggestion from experience is to go to the roofing company showroom . Look at the sample colors on the big sample boards. A 5x5 ft sample looks much different. The smaller samples do not show the variations the way a bigger one will. We have had to do three roofs in the last two years. I would have picked a different color the first time if I saw the larger sample.

Make sure they give you a very detailed purposal. A few estimates will show not all give a quote on exact materials and work to be performed. How is landscape going to be protected.

I agree with everyone else that black is too harsh for all but a few homes.

Have you looked at the multi tonal shingles? I don't know which brand you've been looking at, but just about all the major manufacturers have versions in light, medium and dark grays, gray-browns (usually called weathered wood), or brown-gray. What I like about them is they aren't too dark, aren't too light, and a softer overall look - like mentioned above, lets the roof be a neutral background, not the center of attention. And it is easier to select siding and trim colors to go with, too.

Raee, I do like the look of multi tonal shingles. Only, before I decided to paint my house, they would have looked odd on my house. There are three other houses just like mine on this street, two I checked out the roof yesterday and both look bad, busy multi colored brick and busy roofing.

Here in Australia a traditional colour scheme would have a dark green roof with dark red with touches of white trim. It's a horrible day outside today but I'll try to take a photo of our house when the sun comes out- maybe in a day or two.

Black is going to increase the temperature in the space under the roof, as well.

ole joyful

Hi Kathsgrdn, it was dry enough today to take a photo of our house addition. This colour scheme is a very common heritage scheme here.

The “brown“ is more of a reddish brown.

I know you want to renovate and improve, but try not to become 'the nicest house on the block'. When you want to sell, you will not get much more than the neighborhood warrants.

Our first home was in a 1950's development; we bought in 1971. One of our neighbors a Realtor. When I was considering replacing our kitchen flooring, she cautioned about the resale value of the expensive tile I liked. It was too upscale for the neighborhood; a buyer wouldn't pay extra for it.

We replaced all the windows in that house early on. The originals were developers cheap-o aluminum frame 'heat exchangers'. We were much more comfortable, but when we sold, those nice windows added zero value.

Chisue, I will probably die in this house. I don't think there's a chance of being the nicest house in the neighborhood either. The homes on one side, 2 doors down and catacorner to my house are so much nicer than my house could ever be.

I do want to fix the major things wrong with it so my kids don't have to try and sell a dump.