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RenovatingDesign DilemmaExterior
traceymeadows

Which exterior cladding and colours should I choose?

traceymeadows
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago

we are undertaking a substantial renovation which will change the roofline from a flat roof to a skillion roof. we need to decide on both colours and cladding and are getting into a confused state about it all.

while we both like a dark roof we have decided something like shale gray will be the best option given the climate etc...we are in the hills district in Sydney so it gets quite hot. The raked ceiling inside will be 4.2 metres so any help cooling is prob good.

we were originally thinking monument matt seamed cladding for the rear of the house as this will be the modern half with large bifold windows etc.....

the front is where we get into problems...we want to incorporate the dark colour but dont want to be offensive from the road. all the surrounding houses are blonde/brown brick.

we had thought the western half of the house to be axon cladding (in monument) for the garage front, above the lounge/porch area and then for costing we were going to bag over the existing brick on the eastern front - but what to do above the cladding above the existing windows?? and what colour? we had thought about a light grey colour...

i really like the idea of timber cladding over the eastern part...but it comes down to cost......

the western wall would need to be a light colour as it does get full full sun in the afternoon......

then there is the question on roof/gutter/fascia...and windows......

we thought the dark cladding with silver windows and lighter roof would be nice....my kitchen is going to be white and have a bifold window in it at the back so i didnt think a black window would find its place in there....

please help....very confused....

happy for any advice or suggestions.....

the details on the plans below in regards to the cladding are not final as we are still trying to figure out what we want....











Featured Answer
  • ddarroch
    3 years ago

    Hi Tracy,

    Best of luck with the renovation. It looks like a very interesting & attractive project, not the average McMansion you see nowadays.

    Sorry, I won't talk to much about material & colour choices. Other than to say that yes, dark colours will absorb heat, making your insulation work harder, & your home hotter. So good choice keeping the colour of the roof light. This will not only keep your home a bit cooler, it'll keep your whole neighbourhood a bit cooler.

    Dark coloured materials - particularly those with high thermal mass (like roofing tiles, bitumen, concrete) - will absorb the heat from the sun, re-radiating it at night. Do this collectively, as a population, & you have a problem. You warm entire cities. Google the 'urban heat island' effect.

    Sydney is actually 4-5C hotter in summer than if it was still farmland. This is nothing to do with global warming - though that's obviously happening too - this is purely about the fact that we have our cities in dark coloured bitumen, concrete, & roof our homes with dark coloured tiles.

    So come Saturday - which will be blazing hot in the hills district - you can thank all the McMansions, with their dark tiled roofs, for that extra free degrees of heat.

    So well done for looking into a lighter coloured colourbond roof. Not only will you come be cooler, but so will your neighbourhood.

    Looks like a home with great bones, on a lovely wide-frontage block of land, with a perfect aspect. A large northern aspect (for light, warmth in winter, & privacy). A large southern aspect. Shorter eastern & western aspects, which is great. As the sun is low in the sky in these directions, & very difficult to shade as eaves are ineffective.

    But I do see problems with the glazing, which will add to increased heat in summer.

    Firstly, I do love clerestory (highlight) windows. Particularly when they're north facing, shaded by eaves, & used in difficult conditions, to get northern light in the home.

    But your clerestory windows are east facing. Their small eaves will do nothing to shade them. So they'll be in full sun, for the entirety of the morning. Adding to your home's heat load in summer. Individually these windows aren't large, but collectively, they add up to a pretty large area. Possibly up to 3 times the area of the other eastern window.

    The sun produces a lot of heat. Approximately 1kW per sqm in summer. So if you have 5 sqm of unshaded glass, you may be letting in up to 5kW of heat. That's the same as a good sized heater blasting away over summer!

    In winter, not only is the sun weaker, but it's never actually directly east. Rising in the NE, moving across the northern sky, setting in the NW. So these eastern windows will heat the home far, far more in summer than they will in winter. In winter, as glass is such a terrible insulator, they'll just leak heat. Particularly, as they're up near the ceiling (hot air rises).

    So I'd suggest thinking very carefully about the role of these clerestory windows, & reducing their numbers if possible. I'm guessing they may light a central hallway, which is important. But at the rear of the home, which will receive northern light, they're not important, & will only add to summer heat. You may decide that only 3 of these windows play an important role, eliminating 5 windows, reducing your summer heat load, possibly by a couple of kW. As glass is expensive, this should also save you money.

    I'd consider investing that money in window treatments for the remaining clerestory windows, if they're not already done. Using low SHGC (solar heat gain coefficient) glass, like low-e, to reduce the heat of the sun through the glass. Possibly double glazed, to reduce winter heat losses, depending on what area of the home these windows are in. If heat is your main concern I'd certainly look at making these clerestory windows openable. As they are up near the ceiling, it's a great idea to use the stack effect (hot air rises) to dump heat from the home on summer night. Even when there's no breeze outside, opening these windows, & lower windows (say in bedrooms), will create air movement. Hotter air being expelled or the clerestory windows, cooler air being drawn in through the bedroom windows. You could look at manual winders, which are annoying, or a motorised system, which isn't cheap.

    Next, the western window. Hard to tell in the elevation, but it's it full length, down to the floor? it looks pretty large. 4sqm, that's up to 4kW of heat! But what role does this window, or glass door play? Does it really have to be there, as there's plenty of northern glass, close by. I'd be aiming at removing this western glass. Removing a lot of unwanted heat from the home. If a doorway is required here, look for an unglazed door, if a window is required, look for a far smaller one. Me, I'd be looking to remove it entirely. Reducing summer heat load, & saving in cost.

    Next, the large glazed window/door in the NE corner. This glass only has a small eave above it, not the pergola. The eave looks far too small to shade this entire window in summer. So it looks like the lower portion of this window will be unshaded for much of the day in summer, something you definitely don't want. Again, reducing the size of the glazed area (turning it into a normal height window) will reduce summer heat loads, & reduce costs.

    I do feel that the home is over-glazed a bit. Yes, it looks great to look outside. But glass is such a very poor insulator (even double glazing). Far, far worse than an insulated wall. Too much glass & the home will get hot in summer - even if that glass is shaded - and cold in winter.

    I feel that's the case with the southern facade too, a lot of glass! Did this part of the home get cold in winter? Although I'd recommend reducing the size of these southern windows, it looks like you're making very little change to the structure here, which is understandable.

    What I would recommend however, is making sure that the new floorplan makes it possible to isolate this southern part of the home from the northern area (living area I presume). This means you'll be able to keep that northern living area warm in winter far easier. So I'd definitely recommend a door separating northern rooms from the entrance hallway & the southern rooms.

    One last thing, or two actually.

    That looks like a very good roof for solar. Of highly recommend you invest in sister PV at the earliest time possible, of you haven't thought of this. It's a great money saver/warmer. looks like you'd have an E/W split layout. Which is very popular, with solar generation for a very long period over the day. A very large western section, great for generation in the afternoons, & summer evenings. Which coincides with kids coming home after school, & AC use in summer afternoons. The eastern roof coincides with morning use. Just be careful with the panel placement on the eastern roof, as eave above the clerestory windows could shade eastern panels if they're located to close to it. Same goes with anything that will cause shade. As even a small amount of shade can cause significant decreases in generation. This means careful placement of things like the TV aerial & sink pipes is important.

    Solar leads me on to my final point. How will you heat/cool your home, heat your water, cool your dinner?

    If you've been using gas in the past, is be removing it during the renovation. Ditching gas in favour of an all-electric home!

    You'll not only save on operating costs by using electricity instead of gas. You'll also save by removing the daily service gas charge. Which is $1-$1.50 a day. That's all over $300 a year, more than $3,000 over 10 years.

    Reverse cycle AC to heat the home, which is now far cheaper to operate than gas. Electric heat pump hot water, again, far cheaper than gas. Fans to cool the home, with AC as backup on the very hot days. Induction cooking - which is becoming very popular - as responsive/sensitive as gas, & far easier to clean.

    Power it all with a large solar PV system. Don't forget you'll probably be driving an EV in a few years, which uses a fair chunk of electricity. So size the solar system accordingly. A minimum of 6.6kW for single phase power. Larger for 3 phase power.

    Not only will you save yourself plenty of cash, this is also great for the environment. Scomo may say that gas is our transition fuel, but this is a terrible idea. It's horrible for the environment.

    If you're interested in the all-electric approach, & are in Facebook, I'd recommend you join the My Efficient Electric Home (MEEH) group.

    Colours..... talk about getting side tracked 😂

    Too in-depth & off-topic?

    I'll finish by just reinforcing the point that minor changes, to window placements & sizes, can have a significant effect on how your home will perform in both summer & winter.

    Best of luck with the build 😁

    PS. apologies for any typos, too long to proof read!

    Comments (14)

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