5e lling aspha lt s h ing les

]l7fOST lumber and building ma' J-Yl 1.t1"1" dealers don't give much thought to the possibility of upgrading roofing sales by promoting color. They sell the colors that move best and let it go at that.

Howevero aggressive and imagin' ative dealers successfully use color as a means of upgrading roofing sales

Story sI d Glonce

Asphalt shingles provide dealers with a whole package of profit-loaded features to pro mote. Topof-the-line shingles can last 25 years with minimum maintenance, are classified by UL for wind and fire resistance, and have up-totheminute styling, modern colors.

to builders. And as a bonus, often sell many jobs they would have missed.

Changes of color preferences re- flect the fashions of the times. Re' member when automobiles were most' ly black? After the first tenuous ex' periments with color, the automotive industry used broad strokes of color on its products to motivate buyers. The same holds true of the appliance industry.

There are fashions in exterior col' ors, too. l\{any of today's homes are decorated in the muted tones that reflect the environment around us. This trend also applies to roofing. There is a strong trend in both multi' family and single-family building toward quality blends of subtle browns, greens, and other colors which reflect nature. There are even up.to-the-minute asphalt shingles that attempt to duplicate the color and texture of wood.

Competition among dealers for their share of the new construction market is keen. But color, many have found, is an effective merchandising tool for selling roofing and other exterior building materials.

Builders are aware of the impor- tance of design and the "total look" to attracting buyers. Yet many builders are not aware of the new products and shingle designs that can helP them increase curb appeal and there fore, sales of their houses.

Here is where color can play an important role in edging out the com. petition. The average builder needs more information about asPhalt shingles and their wide range of high-style colors and rustic designs. Top-of-theJine asphalt shingles can give a house more charm and indi' viduality, more style and greater saleability.

While there is no pat formula for efiective color coordination of exter. ior house colors, there are some basic roofing and siding fundamentals your builder customers should follow.

Roof Color

The key to proper color coordina' tion is the roof, the largest unbroken visual element. Since a quality roof covering is designed to last up to 25 years or more, shingle colors the builder uses should be capable of blending esthetically with a variety of siding and trim colors. Too strong a color statement on the roof would be self-defeating. The most versatile roof colors are earthtones, basic blacks, grays, whites and neutral blends.

The best advice to offer the build' er on color is to keep it simple. No more t-han three colors should be considered for the roof, sidewalls, and trim. A relatively small number of colors provides harmony and unity. It also makes painting easier. If the builder desires more contrast than the colors themselves provide, suggest the use of texture and vertical or horizontal placements of other exterior materials for additional accents.

When sidewall color is complementary to roof color, there will be a contrast between the twe-but it will be harmonious. On the other hand, when siding color is a lighter value of the same roof color. exterior colors will blend.

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TEXTUffi on top is today's style. Here are closeups of 4 different top-of-the-line asphalt shingles, each with the new textured loofi. Woodlike graining, staggered butt edges, laminating, deeg embossing and other special effects contnibute to their quality appearance.