Design
Metal Building Roof Styles: Regular vs. Boxed-Eave vs. Vertical
The roof style you pick changes how a metal building sheds rain and ice, how it looks beside your house, and what it costs. Here's how the three styles compare.
Read moreChoosing metal building colors comes down to three surfaces: the roof, the walls, and the trim. The simplest approach that always looks right is a darker roof, a lighter or neutral wall, and trim that matches one of them. Pick colors that suit the house or land the building sits beside, think about heat if the building isn’t insulated, and ask for the coating warranty in writing before you fall in love with a sample.
Roof, walls, trim
Every steel building has three color decisions. The roof is the largest surface from a distance. The walls are what you see up close. The trim outlines the corners, eaves, doors, and windows and does more for the building’s look than its small area suggests.
Combinations that work
- Dark roof, light walls, dark trim. The classic. Hides dirt on top, keeps the walls bright, and outlines the shape. Our dark brown and white pairing is a version of this and one of our most popular.
- Two-tone walls. A darker wainscot on the lower few feet hides mud and tire marks and adds a finished look.
- Monochrome. Walls and roof in one neutral with trim to match. Quiet and modern, and it suits commercial buildings.
- Wood-look walls. Panel prints that look like timber with the performance of steel. Pair them with a dark roof and dark trim for a barndominium that reads as a farmhouse.
Match the house, or don’t compete with it
If the building sits beside a home, pull one color from the house: the roof, the trim, or the siding. The building doesn’t have to match exactly, but it shouldn’t argue. If it stands alone on acreage, you have more freedom; earth tones sit well against trees and fields.
Heat and fading
Lighter roof colors reflect more sun and keep an uninsulated building a little cooler in an Arkansas July. Darker colors look sharp and hide dirt. If the building is insulated, color is mostly a matter of taste. Either way, the coating is what keeps the color: ours is warranted in writing for 40 years against chalk, fade, chip, and rust perforation.
Doors and windows
Roll-up doors can match the walls or the trim. Matching the walls makes a big door disappear; matching the trim makes it a feature. White doors on a dark wall are a common and clean choice.
See it before you order
Colors look different on a two-inch chip than on a forty-foot wall. Metal Dreams shows your building in 3D with your panel profile and colors, so you approve a picture of it rather than imagining one. Try a few combinations there before anything is ordered. Start with a garage, shop, or barndominium, or request a free estimate.
