Red Brick House Roof Color Selection

Deciding on the ideal roof color for a red brick house can be an exciting yet challenging process. With so many options to consider from style to surroundings, narrowing it down requires weighing several key factors. By understanding what flatters the brickwork best and how to create curb appeal, homeowners can confidently select a shade that showcases their home's personality.

When embarking on this decision for your cherished red brick house, take a deep breath and optimize the experience. Thoughtfully reflect on what drew you to the home initially, and honor that spirit in a way that feels uniquely you. This is your chance to make a statement and have fun with it!

Complementing the Brick Color

One of the most critical considerations is how the roof color will interact with the red brick itself. You generally have two main options - choose a roof color that matches the brick for consistency, or opt for high contrast. Both routes allow creativity in regards to playing with light and dark tones.

Matching Roof Color to Brick Color

Selecting a roof shade that aligns with the red brick is a foolproof way to achieve cohesion. For traditional homes, earthy hues like brown, tan, terra cotta and slate gray effortlessly blend with red brickwork. To make the architecture pop, inject contrast by pairing a darker roof with lighter bricks or vice versa.

Vibrant red brick houses open up possibilities for bolder roof colors that still complement the crimson tones. Think rich burgundy, deep purple, navy blue or forest green. For more modern homes, even black roofs can stylishly match red brick through shared saturation.

Contrasting Roof Color with Brick Color

If you prefer for the roofing to stand out against the red brick instead of match, selecting contrasting light, medium and dark neutral tones allows the brickwork to shine as the dominant color. Classic shades like black, charcoal gray and brown are timeless roof choices that ground red brick houses with theirdepth. For extra flair, go for a crisp white or ultramodern zinc gray metal roof.

To avoid clashing, stick to roof colors within the same color family as the red brick. Complementary hues like emerald green, cobalt blue, eggplant purple and pumpkin orange can make vibrant statements when balanced thoughtfully. Take care not to overwhelm the existing red brick architecture.

Balancing Light and Dark Shades

When coordinating roof color with red brick, pay close attention to the lightness and darkness of both elements. A light colored roof such as cream or light gray will draw more attention to the rich color of red brick than a darker espresso brown wood shake roof might. Conversely, a dramatic near-black roof on a pale red brick house amplifies the airy feel.

Balancing light and shadow is key for aesthetic cohesion. Observe how the angles of sunlight dance across the surfaces over the course of a day. Factor in resulting color variations to choose the most flattering shade.

Style of the House

The overarching architectural style and design details of your red brick house also weigh heavily on which direction to take the roof color selection. Syncing the roof shade with the home's era and vibe is crucial for pulled-together curb appeal.

Consider Architectural Style of Home

Identifying if your red brick house is traditional or contemporary guides appropriate roof color options. Classic Tudor style homes effortlessly pair with traditional black, brown and slate gray roofs. For postwar, midcentury and ranch styles, opt for unexpected neutrals like warm white, light brown or weathered wood.

Contemporary red brick houses have flexibility for modern roof colors like zinc gray metal, emerald green, or perforated copper. Lean into the sleekness with an ultra-dark charcoal roof or make a statement with the vibrancy of a purple one. Coordinate with the home's existing personality.

Match Contemporary or Traditional Themes

Look at the home's windows, doors, trim accents and exterior hardware for design cues on whether to match a traditional versus contemporary roof color scheme. Classic red brick houses with white columns, black window frames and minimal landscaping can handle flexible darker roofs in black, brown and slate.

For contemporary homes with large windows, metal finishes and an abundance of right angles, sync up the roof color to modern sensibilities. Think cool-toned grays, sophisticated black or eye-catching blue-green shades. Any bright colors should share the modern spirit.

Coordinate Color with Design Accents

Notice how painted accents like the front door, window trims, rain gutters and downspouts interplay with the existing red brick. Complementary or matching roof colors to these details creates extra design harmony. Contrasting shades can also make the accents stand out in an artistic way.

If your red brick house features natural stone or wood siding elements, pick up on those hues in the roof color selection. For example, echo slate gray stone cladding in the shingles or shake roof tiles. This ensures continuity across the exterior scheme.

Surrounding Landscape

Nature's color palette deserves attention when deciding on roof color for red brick homes. Factoring in environmental hues and textures sets the home seamlessly within the nearby landscape for enhanced curb appeal.

Coordinate with Environment Hues

Observing how the reds and browns of autumn leaves, emerald greens of grass or crystalline blues of an ocean backdrop interplay with the brick is insightful. Choose roof colors that harmonize with or play off the dominant environmental colors surrounding the home.

For forest, countryside or desert settings, ground the red brick house with earthy brown and slate gray roofs. Along coastal landscapes, allow brighter navy, light gray or even sky blue roofs to reflect the oceanside tranquility. Always aim to supplement existing nature colors.

Enhance Curb Appeal with Fitting Shades

The roof color choice impacts how your red brick house is viewed from the streetscape. Darker roofs tend to feel more anchored and seamless, while lighter roofs stand out brightly. Decide if you want your home to catch attention or blend in.

Cool grays and navies recede nicely for homes with lush greenery in front to take center stage. On sparse plains or mountains, an energizing pop of orange on the roof makes a bold curbside statement.

Allow House to Stand Out or Blend In

Depending on preferences and privacy factors, homeowners may opt for either a showstopping roof color or a melded one. Taking note of how other neighborhood home roofs appear is worthwhile. You can emulate a shared regional aesthetic or intentionally deviate.

In wooded communities, darker brown and green roofs on red brick houses help them tastefully blend into the trees. For exposed hillside homes, lighter grays mirror hazy skies to stand out. Both options have merit.

Personal Preference

While considering all the coordinating elements surrounding a red brick house, never underestimate the power of personal preference in the final roof color selection. Opting for shades that speak to your unique personality and style ensures authenticity.

Decide on Monochromatic or Vibrant Look

Contemplate your affinity for monochromatic color schemes versus vibrant ones. If you gravitate toward clean and neutral environments, a classic black or brown roof keeps the red brick as the focal point. Prefer lively palettes instead? Paint your roof cobalt blue for an artistic contrast.

You may also fall somewhere in between - liking both moods in different areas. If so, choose a flexible base roof color like slate gray to ground the home, then add a perfectly matching or sharply contrasting garage door for balance.

Determine if Cool or Warm Tones Preferred

Identify general preferences toward either warm autumnal tones or cool tranquil ones. If drawn to creamy whites, soothing grays and ceramic blue-greens, selecting a light gray cement tile or zinc metal roof brings out the ruddy warmth of red brick.

For those leaning into terra cotta, pumpkin and chocolatey hues, a brown Shake or slate roof emphasizes the cooler red undertones. There are no wrong answers - just ensure the temperature bias aligns.

Bright Colors Make Bold Statements

For the free-spirited homeowner, a bright purple, green or even yellow roof on a red brick house catalyzes joy and self-expression. These homes with rainbow roofs make people smile while driving by. Just be mindful of potential HOA regulations.

Vibrant roof colors also pair wonderfully with equally vivid landscaping and front door colors. Surround a cherry red garage door and pink azalea bushes with an energizing lemon yellow metal roof for maximum cheer!

Material and Texture

The actual roofing material and texture merits consideration when finalizing color for red brick houses. How pigments render across shingles, wood, tile or metal changes aesthetics.

Factor in Roofing Material Look and Feel

Building materials like asphalt shingles, wood shake, slate, metal and clay tile each absorb and reflect light uniquely. A translucent glazed terra cotta tile allows more red brick showthrough than thicker wood planks might. Account for material opacity and depth.

Additionally, the inherent coloration and patterning of roof materials impacts the end result. For example, natural cedar shake roofing contributes warm brown and red tones regardless of any paint or stain colors applied overtop.

Consider How Color Appears on Shingles or Tiles

Lightweight asphalt shingles, affordable and abundant, offer vast paint color options because the base material itself has little visible texture. Wood shake and simulated slate roofing have textural grain patterns that interact with color application differently than smooth surfaces.

Perforated metal roofing adds an artistic pop of underlying sky color amid the painted finish. And thick natural slate roofing contributes stormy grays and blues intrinsically before other hues are layered on top.

Textured or Smooth Surfaces Affect Color

The way a chosen roof color visually permeates across the roof planes is influenced by surface textures. As light dances across smooth expanses differently than heavily grained ones, dimension factors into the perceived color.

For example, an intricate slate tile roof interrupts applied color evenly across the ridged design creating almost a dot matrix rainbow effect. Wood shake planks blend tonal variations beautifully into the natural grain for added harmony.

Light and Shadow

Another prime roof color consideration for red brick homes is observing how natural and artificial light interacts across the angles over time. Sun phases and intentional lighting shape ambiance.

Note How Sunlight Affects Color Over the Day

Direct midday sunlight compared to the low evening rays ripening toward sunset significantly impacts the roof color experience. Light absorption and reflection transforms with solar positioning.

Cooler gray roofs take on hints of lavender later in the day as yellows subdue with shadows. North-facing roof planes may read entirely different than southern exposures at the same moment. Note variances.

Darker Colors Absorb More Light and Heat

Darker roofs in black and brown absorb sunlight instead of reflecting it, leading to warmer attic temperatures. This heat absorption causes slight color variations as well. For example, black asphalt roofing may take on chocolate brown dimensions at high noon.

If planning darker roofing in temperate climates, ensure proper insulation exists beneath. In hotter regions, lighter heat-reflective colors are advisable to prevent indoor heat saturation.

Lighter Colors Maximize Reflections

White or light gray roof planes illuminated at sunrise glow brightly and reflect surrounding hues like mirrors. As the sun traverses overhead, their crisp sheen washes walls and landscaping with Lemongrass and petal pink tones through reflected brightness.

These lightly hued roofs triple the magic by bouncing colors back up from red bricks, down from blue skies and out from green plants in an ever-dynamic impressionist painting.

Viewing Angles

Perception of any roof color shifts based on sightlines and positioning. A street view peering up toward roof planes concludes differently than an aerial backyard glimpse down onto them. Consider the angles.

View Roof Color from Various Sightlines

Stand across the street to see how the proposed roof color presents at street level to passersby. Contrast and luminosity may read differently from this bottom-up perspective.

Also examine the roof color from corner lot sightlines extending down side streets or alleys. Aim for continuity across visible roof planes despite positioning variances.

Street View May Differ from Aerial View

Stepping into neighbors' yards for alternative aerial views looking down onto the roof color selection paints another informative picture. Shadowing and dimension impact the color presentation.

If your proposed color feels too saturated from the ground but perfect from above, consider lighter hues. And if barely perceptible contrast from the street view improves from on high, build on that bold choice through landscaping and trim colors.

Front and Back Roof Visibility Differs

For L-shaped homes or those with multiple roof planes, choose colors that coordinate across exposures. If a front-facing roof pitch leans modern in style while the rare addition reflects classical charm, find a flexible bridge hue.

Intersecting rooflines should not compete but rather coalesce through considered color patterns. Whether matching, contrasting, or accenting for personality, ensure continuity across roofscapes.

Future Plans

Creatively brainstorming about prospective exterior renovation plans helps inform current roof color selection. Any future siding, stonework or color changes could clash if not accounted for proactively.

Anticipate Any Upcoming Exterior Remodels

If replacing faded wood siding next year or upgrading windows down the road, preview how the potential new finishes might interplay with current roof ideas. Will that black roof still feel crisp against gray stone cladding?

Use photo editing apps to visualize future schemes. Also utilize temporary paint swatch test patches for real life previews on how new siding colors coordinate roofing ahead of permanent commitment.

Coordinate with Future Siding or Paint Colors

Carefully consider how prospective gray brick siding substitution would both complement and contrast against existing red brick walls and the current roof color contemplations. Edit improperly once full exterior renovations commence.

Feel settled on charcoal roofing but unsure if you'll paint the trims navy or keep them bright white eventually? Opt for classic black shingles now as a foolproof bridge hue.

Allow Flexibility for Modifications Over Time

Tastes evolve over years of homeownership. Speculate if you may crave bolder exterior color statements down the road that today's conservative preferences can't envision. Starting with versatile neutral roofing allows for pivots.

Conversion from monochrome brown roofing to one popping with purple character or from basic black to transcendent turquoise proves simpler if fundamental roofing supports basic shakeups. Build in wiggle room.

Personalize with Accents

For red brick houses with multiple visible roof planes or architectural protrusions, use color selectively to distinguish specific elements. Painting chimneys, dormers or overhangs injects personality.

Use Gables, Dormers and Overhangs Creatively

Homes with pitched gables, arched dormers or distinctive overhangs present artistic opportunities to apply accent colors for definition. Paint the triangular gable peaks in a contrasting shade from the main roof body for added dimension.

Try matching dormers to front door colors for symmetry. Or adorn overhangs in complementary colors to ground floor exterior finishes for continuity. Resist overwhelming the existing red brick coloration.

Paint Chimneys or Other Protrusions for Contrast

Drawing the eye upward, chimneys make excellent accent pieces to inject roof color. Depending on styling, paint the brickwork a harmonious hue or let it contrast dramatically from surrounding planes.

Funnels, vents or skylights can also sport color. Outline their forms or fill them in fully to pronounce distinction without overstating case. Allow them to enhance existing roof color instead of compete.