Custom Colors
Specifying Custom Blended Roof Colors
by Kathy Ziprik, Ziprik Consulting

 

Pumpkin Patch.  Blueberry Harvest.  Sunset Gold.  If you can visualize it on your project’s roof, DaVinci Roofscapes® can create the perfect-match custom color for your roofing tiles.  The company, which specializes in manufacturing synthetic slate and shake tiles, has the capability to create any conceivable color for the roof of a west coast residential or commercial project.

         “We’ve created a Fired Brick red roof for Bass Pro shop in Phoenix, a Royal Blue shake roof for the Church of the Realization in California, and a Chateau Blue slate roof for a homeowner in New York,” says Bryan Ward, director of operations at DaVinci Roofscapes.  “If someone has a sample of the color they desire:  whether a fabric swatch, a paint chip color, or even the hair off a golden retriever, we can match it.”

         While most requests come to DaVinci for just a single custom color, Ward remembers that one project required seven different variations on a single color.  One of the most challenging projects his team has ever worked on, they matched antique clay tiles that had discolored over time for a synagogue.  To achieve the same weathered look, seven variations of terra cotta colors were manufactured and blended together on the roof.

 

Masters of Color

         By mixing selected pigments into color concentrates that are then added into the tile-molding process at DaVinci, the company can develop any color an architect, developer, or homeowner may want on a project.  “The true beauty of this process is that roofs can be customized to complement or accentuate the design of any home or commercial project,” says Ward.

         “For the most part, once a new custom color has been created, it goes into our existing inventory of colors.  These new color additions are available to anyone.  We once developed a custom red color that matched a cement tile for a condo association in St. Thomas.  That color has since become popular for other projects in the United States.”

 

Mix it Up

         For those architects and specifiers who want to “mix it up” using the 19 existing DaVinci standard palette colors, the company offers a unique Custom Blend Tool on its website, www.davinciroofscapes.com.  Architects can quickly “mix and match” traditional colors on-screen into different blend combinations.  Within seconds, you can see how two, three, four, or five unique standard colors would look when blended together on a roof.

         “You can try out a three-color blend of Dark Amber, Green Stone, and Light Gray,” says Ward.  “Or you can see what just two colors of Light Purple and Dark Violet would look like.  There are hundreds of combination options for creating a personalized blended roof using our standards colors that can set a project apart in the marketplace.”

 

Custom Roof Colors in Beaver Creek

         Atop each hotel, restaurant, and home in Beaver Creek, Colorado, you’ll see symmetry of roofing.  Designed intentionally to create a cohesive community, structures throughout the Beaver Creek Village feature a specific blend of green, tan, and gray colors.  The Elk Track Town Homes of Beaver Creek are no exception.

         Each of the recently reroofed town homes sells for between two and five million dollars, and features a unique custom blend of synthetic slate roofing tiles created especially by DaVinci Roofscapes for the 16 units.  Named the “Beaver Creek Blend,” the durable slate tiles were installed by the team at Arapahoe Roofing and Sheet Metal, Inc., of Broomfield, Colorado, during the early autumn of 2008.

        

Topping Off a Train Depot

         In Colorado, the historic Pueblo Union Depot is home to restaurants, offices, retail shopping, and apartments.  Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, it recently got a new roof.  “This structure was originally constructed in 1889 and has a long, active history,” says Mark Belitt, owner and vice president of Arapahoe Roofing.  “It no longer serves as a working depot for railroad purposes, but it’s a focal point of activity in Pueblo.

         “For this roofing project, we used a DaVinci slate tile in plum to accent the brick on the building.  The Pueblo Union Depot was last reroofed more than 50 years ago with an asbestos shingle, so the new roof made a dramatic impact on the overall look of the facility.  Whether it’s a challenging historical project like Pueblo Union Depot or multi-housing units, we find that customized colors on roofs are like the icing on the cake for our projects.”