Don’t Hide Your Gray

“When you look at your home’s exterior it’s completely acceptable to ‘go gray gracefully’ with different shades of natural stone, flint, and granite on the roof,” says Smith. “A gray polymer slate or shake roof, like those offered by DaVinci Roofscapes®, offer exceptional versatility because the different grays in the roofing tiles complement almost any color siding or exterior accents.”

Smith points out that gray is one of the most common colors used on roofs because of both its connection to materials originally used on roofs (like heavy natural slate) and the comfortable muting of gray tones. “As a color source you can never go wrong mimicking nature,” says Smith. “Grays blend in well with natural surroundings of any form of landscaping. A gray roof doesn’t appear 'jarring' to the eye in bright daylight and actually helps the home to have a softer, more muted tone overall.”

When selecting a gray roof, Smith recommends choosing a blend of grays to further “relax the eye.” One of her favorites, the Milano blend in the Bellaforté product line, includes Light Gray, Medium Gray, Dark Gray, and Dark Purple roofing tiles. For a roof that replicates cedar shake, but has all the advantages of a synthetic roof, DaVinci’s Harbor Gray blend in the single-width Valoré Shake product line includes Light Chesapeake, Medium Light Chesapeake, Medium Chesapeake, and Dark Chesapeake.

“Soft, natural grays work extremely well with a wide variety of color schemes for the remainder of the exterior of the home,” says Smith. “Gray roofs look especially soothing when combined with blues, yellows, and purples. However, they can also help complement a white house that has accent colors such as red or green in the front door or shutters of the home for pops of color.

“Overall, you really can’t go wrong with a gray roof. It indicates a stately, refined look without being dull. And a blend of grays is a wise choice that will live up well over the years and allow a homeowner to change out the colors of their siding, trim, or windows. The universality of a multi-hued gray roof means it will look just as regal in 50 years as it does the day it’s installed.”

DaVinci offers 49 different standard roofing colors, including 14 shades of gray: Light Gray, Medium Gray, Dark Gray, Dark Stone, Slate Gray, Light Tahoe, Medium Tahoe, Medium Dark Tahoe, Dark Tahoe, Light Weathered Gray, Medium Light Weathered Gray, Medium Weathered Gray, Medium Dark Weathered Gray, and Dark Weathered Gray.

A DaVinci Color Design Program is available to homeowners with a Color Design tool. The free on-line tool allows people to create their own custom color blends using DaVinci’s standard colors.