To make a long story short, we had the exterior of our home painted white in August 2020. During the painting process, paint was over-sprayed on our brown roof (it’s windy in Kansas) in certain places! The painting company tried to clean it, but it wasn’t fixable at that point and there was too much over-spray over several parts of the roof. It was very obvious in certain places and needed to be rectified. Due to this, we got a new roof in January 2021. Our home is 10 years old. It was originally painted brown with a brown roof. Now we have a white house with a black roof and I’m in love! Below I describe the process of getting a new black roof installed!
Choosing a New Roof Color
Our new exterior paint job included black accents. Therefore, we knew we wanted to go darker on the roof. I’m a super visual person, so I drove around to several newer neighborhoods to view some dark roofs. I was immediately sold on doing black after seeing some white homes with a black roof. We live in a neighborhood where everyone has a brown roof, so I knew the black would really stand out on the street. You can ask your roofing company for samples to choose from. This is exactly the product we chose, called Midnight Black.
Some Before Photos of the Brown Roof
Here are some photos of our home after it was painted white, but before the black roof was put on, just to get an idea of what it looks like before and after.
What to Expect when Getting a New Black Roof
Expect a Mess:
After deciding on a roof color, we scheduled a week to start the project. The product was dropped off outside our house a few days prior to the crew arriving. This project creates a mess outside the home! I’m so happy this took place in January when all of my plants weren’t thriving and we weren’t spending any time outside! Highly recommend this time of year if it doesn’t get too cold where you live. This gave me a slight panic attach when I saw it! Imagine this all around the entire house. Don’t worry, it all got picked up!
Expect to find Nails:
You will be finding nails all over your yard and perimeter of your home well after the roof is done. They do take a magnet around the perimeter of the house to try to get as many as they can, but they will miss a lot of them. Just be mindful of this and don’t walk around outside without shoes on until you are certain they have all been retrieved!
Expect Loud Noise:
This project takes a few days and prepare for it to be extremely noisy! It just is what it is! Loud banging all day long! Obviously this is an outside job, so you don’t need to be home while they are working. But, I stay/work at home so that was a struggle! Trust me, it will be worth it!
Expect to Have the Paint Touched Up:
Make sure you have exterior touch up paint on hand so the roofing company can use their ladders to do touch ups. Our home had just painted white, and there were several black scuff marks that needed touched up on our home. We had them fix even the slightest spots that we could find because they already had the tall ladders. Make sure you have them do this!
Frequently Asked Questions About a Black Roof:
Q: Does a black roof make your house hot? Do you use more energy cooling a black roof?
A: We have had the roof for 1 year and haven’ noticed any difference in our usage. The house has never felt “hotter”.
Q: What roofing company did you use to install the roof? Did you life them?
A: We live in the Kansas City area and used Easton Roofing. I would recommend them. Good communication and follow up.
Q: Why choose a black roof instead of getting brown again?
A: I love black and white. They just go together. The brown looked fine but the black looks fabulous! The contrast with the white house and the way it compliments the black accents look the best to me. We still have brown tones in the stone around the front of the home to add some warmth. I never want our home to feel stark or too modern, and this was a good compromise! Most of the new homes going up in new neighborhoods are all doing black roofs. Brown was in 10 years ago, and now it seems black is more the standard.
After Photos of the Black Roof
You can see the home here at Halloween and Christmas, just for a different perspective.
What do you think of the new black roof?! I hope this helps give you an idea of what the process of getting a new roof looks like. I’m truly so thankful for people who work so hard outdoors in less than ideal conditions to improve the homes of strangers. Thanks for reading! xo
It looks so good! Adding the black made a huge difference!
Great tip about having it done in the winter to protect the flower beds, etc.