You are choosing the colour of your home. Not the colour of a shed, not a trim code on a materials list. This is the colour you will pull into the driveway and look at every day for the next thirty years, so it is worth a few minutes of thought before you tick a box on a form.
Every one of our homes comes with COLORBOND® roof and wall sheeting as part of the package. It is not an upgrade and it is not an option. What you do choose is the colour, the finish and the profile, and those three choices change how the house looks, how it feels inside in February, and how much of your Saturday it asks for.
How Colour Changes the Way the House Feels
A pale roof throws heat back at the sky. A dark roof takes it in. In a Queensland or inland summer you will feel the difference in the upstairs rooms in the middle of the afternoon, and your air conditioner will feel it on the power bill. That does not mean dark roofs are wrong. It means a dark roof and a well insulated ceiling belong together, and we allow for that insulation in the design rather than leaving you to find out later.
Walls are more forgiving than roofs because they only catch the sun for part of the day. If you love a dark charcoal home, put it on the walls and think harder about the roof.
Where You Live Decides the Finish
- Near the water. Within about 100 metres of breaking surf, the Ultra range is the one to use. Same colours, tougher coating, built for salt air. Anywhere on the coast, ask us before you choose.
- In the bush. The Matt finish has almost no shine to it. A home in Woodland Grey or Basalt Matt sitting in among gums looks like it grew there instead of landing there.
- On a gravel drive or red soil. Mid tones are your friend. Dune, Shale Grey, Wallaby and Windspray carry dust and the odd splash without looking neglected between washes. Surfmist is beautiful and it will tell you every time it rains.
- On open paddocks. Greens and earth tones settle into a rural block. Classic Cream, Cottage Green, Paperbark and Manor Red are on that side of the range for a reason.
What Looks Right Against Your Own Block
Stand where your front door is going to be and look at what is already there. Trees, a dam, a hill behind you, the neighbour’s roof, the colour of the dirt. The homes that look best are the ones that agree with all of that, usually a darker roof with lighter walls, or the reverse if you want the roof to disappear.
One tip worth more than any colour chart. Screens lie. Every screen shows these colours differently, so get a physical sample in your hand and take it outside, in sunlight, at your place, before you commit. We can point you at where to get them.
Thirty Years of Looking At It
Painted weatherboard asks for a repaint. A prefinished steel wall asks for a hose and a soft broom, more often if you are near salt or under trees, less if you are inland. The colour is baked into the coating rather than sitting on top of it, so it fades slowly and evenly instead of flaking. BlueScope publishes its own warranty terms and conditions, and they are worth reading before you choose your finish.
The other thing steel walls and a steel roof do not do is burn. In a bushfire area that matters, and it is one of the reasons these homes suit the places our customers want to live. Your Bushfire Attack Level rating still affects other parts of the build, and we work to the level your council and the assessment set.
Profiles, or What the Walls Actually Look Like
Colour is one half of the look. The other half is the profile, the shape of the sheet. Classic corrugated reads traditional and Australian. The 5 rib profile reads clean and modern, and it is what most of our customers choose. Standing seam has no visible screws at all and suits a feature wall or an entry, at a price. Every profile comes in every colour.
You can see the whole range, every colour and every profile, on our colours and profiles page.
Choosing Yours
The easiest way to see it is to build it. Put your roof and wall colours on your own design in the 3D designer, turn it around, and look at it from the driveway. If you want to know what the home itself costs before you get that far, the numbers are on our plans and prices page.
And if you are stuck between two colours, send me both. I have seen a lot of these homes finished and I am happy to tell you which one I would live with.
Brian Best
Founder & Builder, Shed Homes
07 2112 3095
