Color Families · Undertones · Pairings (2026)

Shingle Colors Guide: GAF, OC & CertainTeed

A gaf color chart tells you what a brand sells; this guide tells you what a roof looks like. Ten popular shingle colors organized by family — charcoal, weathered wood, hickory, heather blend, midnight plum — matched across GAF, Owens Corning, and CertainTeed with undertones and pairing rules.

Browse by color family — swatches are orientation, not specification:

The Ten Families That Cover Most US Roofs

Every standing color from the big three maps into one of these families. Find the family that fits your fixed materials — brick and stone first, siding second — then check which brand plays the undertone you want.

Charcoal / black

GAF: Charcoal · OC: Onyx Black · CT: Charcoal Black / Moire Black

Tap for undertone & pairings →

Undertone

Neutral to slightly cool — the flattest, most graphic roofline

Pairs well with

White trim, board-and-batten, gray and greige siding, red brick

The modern-farmhouse default. Sharpest contrast against light siding; shows dust and lichen streaks first on humid sites.

Weathered wood blend

GAF: Weathered Wood · OC: Driftwood · CT: Weatherwood

Tap for undertone & pairings →

Undertone

Warm gray-brown mix — mottled, low-contrast, forgiving

Pairs well with

Tan siding, brick of almost any era, khaki stucco, cedar accents

Roughly a third of US reroofs. Three different mixes at three brands — see the name-portability warning below.

Mid gray

GAF: Pewter Gray · OC: Harbor Gray · CT: Georgetown Gray

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Undertone

Cool, even gray — reads slate-like from the street

Pairs well with

Blue, gray, and white siding; stone facades; coastal styles

The 'grey roof' search volume lives here. Cooler than weathered wood in noon sun; goes almost white against snow glare.

Slate blue-gray

GAF: Slate · OC: Sierra Gray · CT: Colonial Slate

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Undertone

Blue-leaning gray — the most weather-sensitive family on this page

Pairs well with

Navy shutters, white and cream siding, colonials and capes

Blends shift blue at dawn and dusk and gray at noon. Sample on the actual roof plane before committing.

Warm brown

GAF: Barkwood · OC: Brownwood · CT: Resawn Shake

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Undertone

Red-brown, woody — mimics weathered cedar shake

Pairs well with

Earth-tone siding, log and timber homes, orange and tan brick

Barkwood runs grayer than Brownwood; Resawn Shake leans golden. Not interchangeable despite the shared family.

Hickory taupe

GAF: Hickory · OC: Teak · CT: Shenandoah

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Undertone

Warm taupe with olive flickers — halfway between gray and brown

Pairs well with

Cream, sage, and khaki siding; tan brick; craftsman styles

Hickory's gray patches let it bridge warm siding and gray trim where weathered wood looks too brown.

Tan / sandy beige

GAF: Shakewood · OC: Desert Tan · CT: Heather Blend

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Undertone

Warm sand; Heather Blend carries a pink-beige cast

Pairs well with

Stucco, tan brick, adobe, Southwestern and coastal styles

Heather Blend is famously regional-looking: pinkish in indirect light, plain tan at noon — always sample it on site.

Light blend / birch

GAF: Birchwood · OC: Sandcastle · CT: Birchwood

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Undertone

Pale green-gray blend — the lightest architectural family

Pairs well with

White and pastel siding, beach houses, shaded lots wanting lift

Light roofs run cooler in sun-exposure studies and visually raise a low, dark eave line.

Midnight plum

GAF: — (no standing match) · OC: — (no standing match) · CT: Midnight Plum

Tap for undertone & pairings →

Undertone

Deep plum-brown — near-black with red-violet flickers

Pairs well with

Red brick with brown mortar, burgundy doors, stone foundations

The CertainTeed signature. Catches fire with brick color in low sun and goes near-black at noon — sample it on the roof.

Hunter green

GAF: Hunter Green · OC: — (limited distribution) · CT: Hunter Green

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Undertone

Deep forest green with charcoal shading

Pairs well with

Cedar and log homes, stone and gray siding, rustic settings

A niche choice with a loyal following — cabins and lodges. Order lead time runs longer; it is a slow mover in most yards.

Screen swatches above are CSS approximations of each family’s average blend. Granule roofs carry three to six aggregate colors per shingle; no flat swatch can preview how they mottle at 25 feet. The daylight-bundle rule at the end of this page is the only preview that has never lied to anyone.

Popular Shingle Colors by Brand Family

The owens corning color chart and the GAF and CertainTeed equivalents, compressed into one cross-reference. Read it as “closest standing equivalent” — the blends are cousins, not clones, and the dash means no true match exists.

Color family	GAF name	OC name	CertainTeed name	Undertone	Pairs well with
Charcoal / black	Charcoal	Onyx Black	Charcoal Black / Moire Black	Neutral to slightly cool — the flattest, most graphic roofline	White trim, board-and-batten, gray and greige siding, red brick
Weathered wood blend	Weathered Wood	Driftwood	Weatherwood	Warm gray-brown mix — mottled, low-contrast, forgiving	Tan siding, brick of almost any era, khaki stucco, cedar accents
Mid gray	Pewter Gray	Harbor Gray	Georgetown Gray	Cool, even gray — reads slate-like from the street	Blue, gray, and white siding; stone facades; coastal styles
Slate blue-gray	Slate	Sierra Gray	Colonial Slate	Blue-leaning gray — the most weather-sensitive family on this page	Navy shutters, white and cream siding, colonials and capes
Warm brown	Barkwood	Brownwood	Resawn Shake	Red-brown, woody — mimics weathered cedar shake	Earth-tone siding, log and timber homes, orange and tan brick
Hickory taupe	Hickory	Teak	Shenandoah	Warm taupe with olive flickers — halfway between gray and brown	Cream, sage, and khaki siding; tan brick; craftsman styles
Tan / sandy beige	Shakewood	Desert Tan	Heather Blend	Warm sand; Heather Blend carries a pink-beige cast	Stucco, tan brick, adobe, Southwestern and coastal styles
Light blend / birch	Birchwood	Sandcastle	Birchwood	Pale green-gray blend — the lightest architectural family	White and pastel siding, beach houses, shaded lots wanting lift
Midnight plum	— (no standing match)	— (no standing match)	Midnight Plum	Deep plum-brown — near-black with red-violet flickers	Red brick with brown mortar, burgundy doors, stone foundations
Hunter green	Hunter Green	— (limited distribution)	Hunter Green	Deep forest green with charcoal shading	Cedar and log homes, stone and gray siding, rustic settings

Standing palettes as of 2026 — brands rotate limited editions in and out, and regional distribution drops slow movers (green, plum) from some yards entirely. Confirm against the brand’s current sheet before falling in love.

💡 Tip: gaf color samples ship as small granule chips — order three FULL bundles of the finalist instead. A chip shows one shingle; a bundle shows the blend, and blends are what streets see.

⚠️ Warning: color names do not transfer across brands — three different “Weathered Wood” formulas ship under one name. Match by physical bundle sample, never by label.

❌ Don’t: choose color from a brand visualizer at midnight. Renderings assume one lighting model; your house has its own orientation, trees, and latitude — daylight on the real plane decides.

Light & Orientation

Why the Same Shingle Is Three Colors Before Lunch

A granule blend is not a paint color — it is a physical texture that redirects light differently at every angle. At dawn, low-angle light rakes across the laminated tabs and pulls out the warm flecks: slate-blue roofs read navy, weathered wood reads golden. At noon, overhead light flattens the surface toward its average: everything cools and lightens. By late afternoon the warmth returns from the other side. Homeowners who approve a color from a noon photo are approving a roof they will only see two hours a day.

Orientation compounds it. A north-facing plane in the northern hemisphere lives in indirect light — colors read darker, cooler, and truer to the wrapper; streak-forming algae also colonizes north slopes first, nudging light blends toward gray over the years. A south-facing plane takes the full solar load: colors lighten two to three visual steps, and the UV that does the lightening is the same force in the lifespan math on our roof lifespan guide. West planes get the drama — sunset raking is when midnight plum and hunter green earn their premiums.

The practical protocol costs one lunch hour: stage three full bundles of the two finalist families on the actual roof — unopened bundles laid flat, one shingle fanned out on top — and photograph them from the street at 9 am, noon, and 5 pm. The photos will disagree with each other. The family that looks best in all three is the roof you will still like in year ten.

Neighborhood view of several houses with different asphalt shingle colors under daylight

One street, five familiesPhoto: Unsplash

The daylight bundle test

Order 3 full bundles of each finalist (return the loser).
Stage unopened bundles flat on the actual roof plane.
Fan one shingle from each to expose the blend.
Photograph from the street at 9 am, noon, 5 pm.
Pick the family that holds in all three lights.

Packaging color cards are printed, mottled, and laminated differently from the product — trust bundles, not cards.

Matching Roof Color Options to the House

The roof is the largest single color block on most elevations — bigger than the siding, permanent longer than any paint. These are the pairing rules that have survived every siding fashion cycle since the 1990s.

Brick homes

Let the mortar vote too. Red brick with gray mortar flatters charcoal and gray; red brick with tan mortar flatters weathered wood and hickory; orange brick wants warm browns. Midnight plum is the CertainTeed-class move on red brick with brown mortar — the roof reads near-black with a warm flicker that ties to the brick.

White & light-gray siding

The modern farmhouse look is charcoal or mid-gray with white trim — maximum graphic contrast. On gray siding, go one step darker or one step warmer (hickory bridges cool siding to warm brick). A light birch blend keeps white houses airy instead of stark.

Stucco & Mediterranean

Tan and sandy families — Desert Tan, Heather Blend, Shakewood — belong here, echoing the stucco rather than fighting it. On white stucco, a slate-gray roof adds the definition stucco lacks; terracotta-adjacent blends pull the elevation together.

Cedar, log & rustic

Warm browns (Barkwood, Resawn Shake) and hunter green sit naturally with wood. Green roofs are the cabin-culture classic — they recede into tree lines. Avoid cool grays here; they turn cedar orange by contrast.

Blue & navy siding

Slate blue-gray and mid gray are the natural partners; charcoal works for a crisper look. Weathered wood can go muddy against navy — sample before trusting it.

Stone facades

Gray stone wants gray and slate families; tan and fieldstone flatter browns and weathered blends. The rule that never fails: echo the darkest mineral in the stone, not the lightest — light roofs wash out against stone's natural contrast.

Color chosen? The count never changes.

Every color in a product line shares the same wrapper coverage — Charcoal HDZ and Hickory HDZ order identically. Run the roof shingle calculator for the bundle count, compare brand pricing on shingle brands compared, and see every tool and guide on the roofing calculators hub.

Shingle Color Questions

What colors does GAF Timberline HDZ come in?

The Timberline HDZ palette runs ten standing colors: Charcoal, Pewter Gray, Weathered Wood, Barkwood, Shakewood, Birchwood, Hickory, Slate, Driftwood, and Hunter Green. Availability moves by region and production year — Hunter Green and Slate are the two most commonly back-ordered — and GAF periodically rotates limited-run colors through the line. GAF color samples and the full gaf color chart are viewable in the brand's visualizer, but the chart's rendering is a rendering: order three full bundles of the finalist and look at them dry, on the roof, in daylight, before the pallet ships.

Is “Weathered Wood” the same color at every manufacturer?

No — and this is the single most expensive color assumption in roofing. The name is not portable: GAF's Weathered Wood, CertainTeed's Weatherwood, and Owens Corning's closest blend (Driftwood) are three different granule recipes that share a marketing name, not a formula. One leans gray, one leans brown, and one lands in between depending on the production run. When matching an existing roof section or a neighbor's aesthetic, match by physical sample — bundles in daylight — never by name. Color names are trademarks, not specifications.

How do I choose a shingle color to match my brick or siding?

Work from the fixed element to the flexible one. Brick, stone, and permanent masonry set the undertone: red brick pairs with charcoal, weathered blends, or midnight plum; tan and orange brick flatters browns and hickory taupe; gray stone wants grays and slates. Siding is repaintable, so let it follow the roof. The classic rules of thumb — match the trim to the roof's light flecks, or pick a roof two shades darker than the siding — hold because they keep exactly one strong contrast on the house. Photograph the finalists next to the fixed elements in morning, noon, and evening light before ordering.

What color is CertainTeed Heather Blend?

Heather Blend is a warm sandy beige with a distinctive pink-beige undertone — CertainTeed's answer to the Southwest stucco market, and one of the most regionally loved colors in the lineup. On the pallet it reads pink-tinged tan; on a roof in full sun it flattens toward a straightforward sandy beige; in indirect light the pink cast returns. That variability is why it earns its reputation for looking different at every address. Sample it against the actual stucco or brick — Heather Blend over yellow-toned stucco harmonizes; over pink-toned brick it can clash.

What is the difference between GAF Hickory and Barkwood?

Both are warm browns from the Timberline HDZ palette, but they pull in different directions. Hickory is a taupe blend — gray patches woven through warm brown — that bridges gray siding and brown brick, and it reads lighter overall. Barkwood is a straighter red-brown, darker and woodier, closer to a weathered cedar shake. Against cream siding the difference is subtle; against gray or greige siding it is decisive, because Barkwood's red undertone can fight a cool palette where Hickory's gray flecks cooperate. If the house mixes warm brick with gray trim, Hickory is the safer bridge.

Which shingle colors hold resale value best?

The neutral families — charcoal, weathered wood, gray, and hickory — photograph well, pair with the widest range of siding, and age out of fashion slowest, which is exactly what resale wants. A grey or charcoal roof against white or light-gray trim is the current appraisal-friendly look; weathered wood remains the safest all-around choice in warm and traditional markets. Save the accents — hunter green, midnight plum — for homes whose fixed materials genuinely call for them. A color that flatters the brick adds curb appeal; a color that fights it discounts the whole elevation, whatever it cost per square.

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