Building colors.

[Astross89]

I just signed on a 24x36x10 metal/carport style building. 3-9x8 doors. Location. Central FL.

Choosing colors. Will be a dark gray bottom accent. Light gray walls. White trim. Question is. What color roof. Dark gray or light gray. I believe dark would look better. But would this be a mistake going dark because of heat?

Please give opinions.

Color choices https://imgur.com/gallery/ZDGRA

Color choices 2 https://imgur.com/gallery/ogqQb

 

[NUTTSGT]

I agree the dark gray looks better but being in Florida might be an issue. Are you putting a ceiling in with insulation ?

 

[TRWham]

A very old in-house HVAC load calculator I used on the job decades ago gave credit for a "light colored" roof, but there was nothing so detailed as a scale from dark to light. I have also seen that only very light colored shingles are considered energy friendly. I doubt there is enough difference between those 2 options to be a major concern, but have you considered a white roof?

 

[cybrdyke]

What do you have against colors?
It looks like a black and white picture.

just kidding.
1 vote for light colored roof
CD

 

[6768rogues]

I have a building in western NY and it has dark green sides. If the sun comes out on a 40 degree day, the siding gets so hot you cannot keep your hand on it. It is hot enough that you could stand by it naked and be warm. In FL, I would have no color but white. My brother has white in central FL and it is still plenty warm. Or you could get dark gray and have the biggest broiler in town.

 

[Falcon67]

Dark looks better, way higher heat gain. My wife's race car is "Coral" - kind of orange - and mine is white. There is a clear 30F+ difference in temp in the sun.

 

[Lelandwelds]

White holds up better. Galvalume eventually looks light gray. Florida gets hot, right?

I am always surprised when the neighbors have an opinion about your garage colors. I am relieved you don't need to get the local AHJ or HOA to give you permission. You have a lot more choices today but I suspect you will never think about the color after the first year.

 

[Astross89]

Light gray it is. Thank you all.

 

[Done That]

I did dark but am in St Louis and not quite the heat, plus I plan to insulate. That said, they both get plenty warm in the sun, I'll have to get one of those hand help temp probes at work and check it out some time for difference.

You could also tweak the trim colors to use more of the dark, here is what we picked.

 

[ZipSnafu]

You are right about the dark gray looking better but the heat WILL be a BIG problem for you IMO.

 

[Bluedodge]

Light gray it is. Thank you all.

Either way, nice building.

Man, the darker gray looks good though....

 

[jdeshong]

Better make sure they put some form of insulation foam board/ radiant barrier under the metal siding and roof or you probably won't be able to do any work inside it. I went with a dark charcoal roof on my pole barn with double bubble radiant barrier under roof and can't feel any heat coming from roof on the inside but could easily cook some eggs on the outside.

 

[CraigStu]

Go as light as you possibly can. My 2 experiences. 1- a fiberglass boat that had some of the molded in walk sections colored a light grey. In bare feet they were obviously hotter than the white. 2- deck where we replaced PT wood w/ grey Trex. Won't ever do that again
since shoes were needed to walk on it.

 

[6768rogues]

My brother in FL put a big exhaust fan in the attic of his barn. It ***** out the heat from the roof and keeps some air from the shaded side coming in. Still to hot for me, being from NY, but he can stand it with his thinned out FL blood.

 

[glentre]

An option might be light color on the sun side and darker on the rest. Also think about any trees you have close by. If shaded, a darker color would not be much of a problem. A light color with some types of trees that shed messy **** will look bad in no time. Just a thought.

Glen

 

[bullnerd]

My metal walls are clay color, roof is white, walls get way hotter that the roof, and I'm in NJ.