click here to see the Marley webpage for the tile.

Just for the records!

The other consideration for the tile colour is to view it against the cladding colour.

So what happens?  The cladding is stored flat-packed at the north east side of the property and so in a slightly subdued light.

When Marley Grey and Marley Brown are seen horizontally beside it, the colour of the tiles seems to darken a few shades further.  That Marley Smooth Grey does indeed seem much blacker, which is the effect that would cause it to look most like the existing roof.

It looks like the grey is the closest we are going to get.

When I arrived at site on Tuesday, I could immediately sense that the ordered roof tile was not a match to the existing.       

The team have been to some lengths to go the the 1970s manufacturer, Marley – who do four colours of roof tile – and probably always have.

The colours in order of increasing darkness are

• red
• brown
• grey
• black

To confound the choice, it was pouring with rain today and all the colours darken down. This what they look like in the wet.  I did not procure a sample tile in black, as quite obviously looking around neighbouring houses no tiles are true black. Generally they are all a shade lighter.  The tile on the right of this photo is an existing tile that came off the roof today.  I grant you, wet like that – it looks quite black.  (more in a moment)

When you scrub that tile with a nail brush you see that the original colour of that tile has completely gone – it is just concrete coloured.  The colour you see in the photo is simply the effect of 42 years off acid rain and growths.  The bit at the top of the tile which was concealed is very wet/dry sensitive in colour and may anyway also not be the the original colour.  The exposed and visible area of the tile is the lower larger portion.

The left tile is the red of the tile in the first shipment.  To my mind, it is the furthest Marley colour choice from the existing colour. The third tile from the left enters the grey black/spectrum and is Marley Smooth Grey.  The second tile from the left is the recent (2014?) ~Marley brown tile used at number 11 next door.  See the next photo – in the dry of yesterday, our roof is definitely a shade darker than that (but not “black”)… :

So ruling out black as being too dark relative to most adjacent houses, and most appropriately retaining a shade darker than  number 11, we have selected that Marley Smooth Grey.  Over time, I guess it will weather and converge to the same weathered colour as other nearby roofs.

In the last 24 hours, we’ve had a fair old game playing “What Colour Do You Think Your Roof is”….  To be honest, the roof has such shallow pitch you can hardly ever see any of it.

But looking at the photos below, what colour do you think the roof tiles are??

Black?

Very Dark Grey?

Very Dark Black??

Planning Approval was applied for on the basis that we match the existing colour of the roof tiles.

What the Planning Approval letter actually says is:

Planning Appraisal

The main planning considerations are:

• Impact on character and appearance of the area
• Impact on the neighbouring amenity

Impact on the Character of the Area

“…. There is a range of different properties in the road/areaand the proposal is considered to fit within the street scene with a style that is in keeping with the original dwelling house. Materials proposed for the new extensions are facing brickwork, stone, weatherboarding, and white double glazed windows to match the existing dwelling. As such the proposal would be in keeping with the residential character and appearance of the area….”

The good news is that we don’t want to be different – we want to be the same !!

So we are trying very hard to match everything up and have gone to the same tile manufacturer, Marley, as was used in the 1970s.

The colour representation in the photos below is actually very good. What colour do you think they are??  The first two photos are taken from the rear of the property in a northern light. The third photo is taken from the front of the property in a southern light. Now, what is that colour?

As you can see, the existing roof is a distinctly darker colour than the Marley Brown tile at the adjacent house, number 11. (photo below)