01/03/2023
Before we took the leap to purchase the shingles for the West Hill School roof we did a lot of work to figure out what the color of the original shingles were. Many of the old postcards show red shingles, others showed gray, blue and even yellow. In that era, such cards were typically printed and colored in Germany and based on a black & white photo, so you often cannot be sure how accurate they are about such details as true colors, hence we had a healthy amount of skepticism when looking at such sources.
Complicating matters, printing 100-years ago was likely via lithography, which only allowed customers a handful of colors to work with to keep costs down, so it often is not the most reliable information. The photo documentation at the time was, of course, in black and white. What helped solve the mystery of the original color of the roofing was finding several short pieces of the original cedar 'shakes' under the cupola of the bell tower. Thankfully we were able to use those fragments to guide our color choices and to find a close contemporary match.
Once we found the original color, a burnt umber, and a contemporary shingle from CertainTeed that was a close match, we needed to quickly place an order to purchase enough shingles to re-roof the whole (massive) building. Some community members have asked why we ordered so many shingles (14+ pallets worth) just for it to sit ahead of performing the work—the reason was that CertainTeed was going to be discontinuing that color we needed, so it was a time-sensitive decision to purchase enough for the whole project, plus some spare bundles for future repairs. The manufacturer, Certain-Teed, has been very supportive of the work we are doing and not only donated a significant portion of the shingles, but they also gave us a significant discount on the rest we purchased. These are a more durable 50-year shingle, made to withstand harsh conditions including up to 110 mph winds. We look forward to them protecting West Hill School for many years to come.
Image IDs in the comments.
