What does Bluegum look like?
BlueScope describes a calming mid tone, like cool horizons, morning mist and mountain gums. Despite the name, it's a grey, not a blue. It tends to sit well with dark timber, honed stone, concrete and dark brick.
BlueScope's palettes give a Bluegum roof Deep Ocean trims over concrete and dark brick, place it inside a scheme with Gully and Dune, or use small touches of it alongside Windspray.
How warm does a mid-grey run?
Its published solar absorptance is 0.57 for Classic and 0.59 for Matt. Worked out from those figures, both land in the medium band on BlueScope's thresholds. Both stay under 0.64, so a new home in climate zones 1 to 5 can still use the elemental deemed-to-satisfy route rather than a 7 star NatHERS rating because of the roof.
For a sense of scale, BlueScope tells designers to treat bare Zincalume as 0.50 to 0.60 for compliance, so on paper Bluegum sits in the same band as an unpainted metal roof.
Bluegum or Windspray?
| Bluegum | Windspray | |
|---|---|---|
| Look | Calm, middle grey | Soft neutral grey, a shade deeper |
| Solar absorptance | 0.57 | 0.60 |
| Matt finish | Yes | No |
| Colorbond Ultra | Not listed | Yes |
| Superdura Stainless | No | Yes |
Seeing it properly
A mid-grey can look quite different on an overcast day, so check a sample against your brick or cladding in cloud as well as sun. If you're between 100 and 200 m from breaking surf, BlueScope says colours outside its Ultra list may be possible on request, so ask before you settle on Bluegum.
Our pick for the middle ground
If you're torn between a pale roof and a dark one, Bluegum is the sensible middle. It runs cooler than the charcoal colours, looks less stark than the whites, and comes in Matt if you want a softer finish. Near the beach we'd swap to Windspray for the Ultra option. Colorbond belongs to BlueScope; we're not part of it.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.