Moire Black Shingles: Pros, Cons, and Who Should Pick Something Else

If you can't decide on a roof color, there's one choice that's really hard to screw up: Moire Black. It's the darkest shingle color we install at Sun Vault Roofing, and it's the single color we install most. Black shingles made up about a third of the roof replacements we did across Madison and Southern Wisconsin in the last two years.

Moire Black on a white two-story home in Madison's Regent neighborhood.

Why do so many homeowners choose Moire Black shingles?

Moire Black shingles look good on almost any house. Black is a neutral, so it works with brick, stone, and nearly every siding color. It's also timeless, which matters on a roof you'll live under for decades.

If you're completely stuck, black shingles are a safe choice.

How popular are black shingles compared with other colors?

Here is how the shingle colors we've installed in the last two years break down. We group similar shades into color families.

Black is the most popular shingle color family. Light and dark gray together make up nearly a third of the roofs we install.

Moire Black is the single most popular color, but the mix is shifting. Black was nearly half of our roof replacements last year and about a quarter this year. Gray gained: dark gray went from about 15% to 25%, and light gray from about 5% to 13%.

Black lost the most ground this year while gray roofs gained it. The smaller swings could be normal year-to-year variation.

Take the smaller swings loosely. This year isn't over, and a few roofs more or less move a color's share. Moire Black is still the single color our customers choose most, and gray is now a real contender.

Why is Moire Black the most popular color for solar roofs?

Solar is part of why Moire Black leads. Several of the Moire Black roofs we installed went that route because of solar: a dark shingle blends best with dark solar glass. The match is close, not exact, but the array looks like part of the roof instead of something stuck on top of it. In the charts above, roofs with solar shingles are counted under their shingle color, which is almost always Moire Black. If solar is on your list, see our comparison of solar shingles and solar panels.

Solar shingles and Moire Black shingles in full sun in Oconomowoc. In this light, the difference is almost impossible to see.

Do black shingles make your attic and house hotter?

Usually not in a way you would notice. A black shingle gets hotter on the surface than a light one, sometimes by as much as 50°F in direct summer sun. But your roof surface and your living space are not the same thing. In a properly insulated and ventilated attic, insulation and ventilation do most of the work of keeping heat out of your home, and shingle color has only a small effect on indoor temperature. In Wisconsin, where we heat far more than we cool, that small summer difference often balances out over the year. Color matters more in homes with poor attic insulation or ventilation, or with no attic ventilation at all, such as some cathedral ceilings. We explain the mechanics in how shingle color affects roof temperature.

In full sun, Moire Black reads more like a deep charcoal than pure black.

In winter, a dark shingle can shed a thin layer of snow a little sooner on a sunny day. The effect is small, and it does not prevent ice dams, which come from attic heat loss and ventilation.

What is the downside of black shingles?

The one real downside has nothing to do with your house temperature. It's about the neighborhood. Yes, we just told you black is the safe pick. Here's why maybe you shouldn't choose it.

Shingles absorb the sun's energy during the day, and that heat moves into the surrounding air, raising the temperature of the neighborhood. This is called the urban heat island effect. A dark roof absorbs more heat than a light one. One roof makes almost no difference. But put thousands of homes and buildings together in a city, and the effect adds up. Roofs are one reason cities run warmer than the countryside: the EPA estimates daytime temperatures in urban areas run about 1-7°F higher than in outlying areas. The effect is strongest in hot, built-up cities, and smaller in a Wisconsin suburb, where summers are shorter and cooler.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't pick black. It means that if you like a lighter color just as much, the heat island effect is a good reason to choose it.

Which CertainTeed shingle lines come in Moire Black, and what other colors are offered?

Moire Black comes in all three CertainTeed shingle lines we install, so you can choose the line first and the color second. A "line" is a shingle product from the manufacturer. We install three:

• Landmark: our standard line.

• Landmark PRO: CertainTeed's upgraded Landmark, with more color options.

• NorthGate ClimateFlex: the Class 4 impact-resistant line, built for hail.

Eight colors, including Moire Black and Pewter, come in all three lines; the rest come in one or two. The table is current as of October 2026, and availability changes often, even within a season, so check with us before you fall in love with a color.

Color	Landmark	Landmark PRO	NorthGate
Moire Black	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pewter	Yes	Yes	Yes
Weathered Wood	Yes	Yes	Yes
Burnt Sienna	Yes	Yes	Yes
Resawn Shake	Yes	Yes	Yes
Heather Blend	Yes	Yes	Yes
Georgetown Gray	Yes	Yes	Yes
Driftwood	Yes	Yes	Yes
Colonial Slate	Yes	Yes	-
Cobblestone Gray	Yes	Yes	-
Espresso	-	Yes	Yes
Silver Birch	-	Yes	Yes
Coastal Blue	-	Yes	-
Evergreen	-	Yes	-
Prairie Wood	-	Yes	-
Red Oak	-	Yes	-
Shenandoah	-	Yes	-
Hunter Green	-	-	Yes
Granite Gray	-	-	Yes
Colors offered	10	17	12

Source: CertainTeed product availability for ZIP 53593 (Verona), viewed October 2026.

Who should pick a different shingle color?

Moire Black is a safe choice, but it isn't the right choice for everyone. Consider something else if:

• You like a lighter or warmer tone just as much. Then the heat island effect can break the tie. Weathered Wood and Georgetown Gray are offered in all three lines.

• Your home's style calls for a specific look. Some houses suit an earthy color like Burnt Sienna, or Hunter Green or Espresso, better than black. Check the table above, since Espresso isn't offered in Landmark and Hunter Green is only offered in NorthGate.

• You haven't compared samples on your own house. Black can look different in morning light, evening light, and next to your brick or siding.

• You don't live surrounded by close neighbors. The usual advice is not to make your home stand out, because it can hurt resale. If your lot isn't packed in with similar houses, that advice matters much less.

Moire Black also changes a lot with the light. In full sun it reads as a softer charcoal. At sunset, or in the shade, it looks like a deep, striking black. Look at your shingle sample in morning, midday and evening light, and in sun and in shade, before you decide.

Moire Black at sunset on a home in Rio, Wisconsin.

Here is my honest take. A black roof always looks good, but black roofs are so common that it is hard to be wowed by one. It's the safe choice, not the bold one. I wish more people would choose a color. The finished roofs I get most excited about are usually not black. One of our recent roofs, in Resawn Shake on NorthGate ClimateFlex shingles, stands out next to its gray neighbors and looks simply stunning. If you're not worried about blending in, pick the bolder option.

A Resawn Shake roof next to a gray neighbor in Middleton.

Pewter, offered in all three CertainTeed lines.

If you're still stuck, our guide to choosing the right shingle color for Wisconsin homes walks through the process, including how to use samples and the manufacturer's online color preview tool, ColorView.

Frequently asked questions

Is Moire Black the most popular shingle color? Yes. Moire Black is the single color we install most, and it has been over the last two years. It's also the darkest color we offer.

Do black shingles make your attic hotter? A little, on a hot, sunny afternoon, but usually not in a way you would notice indoors. With proper insulation and attic ventilation, shingle color has only a small effect on attic and indoor temperature.

Does Moire Black look good with solar? Yes. In our experience, a dark shingle blends best with dark solar glass. The match is close, not exact, so the array looks like part of the roof.

Which shingle lines come in Moire Black? All three that we install: Landmark, Landmark PRO, and NorthGate ClimateFlex.

What is the downside of black shingles? The main downside isn't your house temperature. A dark roof absorbs more heat than a light one, and across a whole neighborhood that adds to the urban heat island effect. If you like a lighter color just as much, that's a good reason to choose it.

Not sure which color to pick? Stop by our Verona office to compare full-size shingle samples, or schedule a free roof inspection and we'll bring samples to your house.