Cultured Stone - Which Shape & Color is Best for My House
Here's my dilemma . . . I need a new roof and I can't find any colors in architectural shingles that would match the brick, siding and trim that I currently have. I uploaded a photo of my house to a design visualizer online and tried many different colors, but everything looks horrible. I tried all shades of browns, grays, multi-colors, etc. I don't know if it will look better in person, than on the computer, but what I saw was not appealing to me. I feel like the brick and dark trim are throwing everything off.
So, I decided maybe I need to change the brick to a more modern looking cultured stone in a neutral color. I've been going back and forth trying to decide which style of cultured stone and color to cover the existing brick.
One day I like Fieldstone, then I like Country Ledgestone, Southern Ledgestone, Drystack . . . there's just too many styles of stone and colors to choose from. Although I like this stone on other houses, I'm afraid of it looking too busy on mine since it's a big space and the focal point of a small house. I'm worried my decision will either make it look better or worse. I don't know if I should choose a dark color like I have now for a contrast or should I go softer and blend it with the siding? I can't decide between the colors of Chardonnay, Bucks County, Walnut, etc.
I've been looking at tons of pictures online, I went to several mason supply places to look at displays, I've driven around my neighborhood . . . but nothing is helping me envision the stone on MY house. There aren't many houses in my neighborhood with my facade to compare it with.
So what do you think about the brick? Would the house look better with some cultured stone? Even though the front of the house looks small, I have a half dormer on the back of the house so it's much higher on the sides and back, so I don't want to go into the expense of changing all of the siding. As you can see, the front has light yellow vertical siding and the sides have matching regular horizontal siding. Maybe I can keep the brick and change the front siding to shakes or something and change the trim and gutters. I'm also thinking of creating a gable to frame the brick/stone so it is set back more. I plan on adding a light fixture above the door.
The steps and retaining wall along the driveway are relatively new, so they are staying. They have crab orchard stone on the top and a mixture of yellowish, beige and light gray Belden bricks.
Here is a picture of my house (eventually I will replace the concrete walkway with pavers).
All comments and suggestions are welcome!! This has become a major headache and obsession for me, so I thought an outsider's unbiased opinion would make it easier for me.
Thank you!!
Comments (18)
WhichStonetoPick
11 years agoThese are just a few examples of cultured stone I was considering. Not sure which shaped stones and colors would go best in my situation:
Chardonnay Southern Ledge:
Walnut Country Ledge:
Bucks County Southern Ledge:
Chardonnay Dressed Fieldstone:
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Veneer Stone - Which Shape & Color is Best for My House
Comments (1)Sorry, I posted this is the wrong forum. I've re-posted it in the Remodeling Forum. Sorry!!...See MoreVeneer Stone - Which Shape & Color is Best for My House
Comments (16)Are those cultured stone? They look good enough to not hit my faux stone button. :) There may be a stigma associated with fake stone, but not the veneer stuff that is real stone. I'm a brick person, I'm a stone person. And there is certainly ugly brick out there. Yours might not be as nice in person as it looks in the photo but from here it looks like the good stuff, well laid out, in nice colors. A deep foresty or blackish green trim might blend the brick with roof colors, especially if you go with a darker grey. Some roof colors are off-limits in some climates of course... Brick is good with your house because it's such a classic style, the horizontal brick contrasting with the pointy gothic peak. It's just a very pleasing pattern, and if you do stone, I'd prefer it in your first two styles. But really, even they are almost too natural and unstructured. They'd be okay, but I personally would direct my efforts at something else. Okay, cuz I like it. But we really need a wide shot from the street that shows more of the front of the house I think! As far as I know, you have a stone garage or pagoda wing or something. That might change my feelings about the brick. When I was trying to pick out a trim color for a brick/stucco/wood trim house, I sort of enjoyed looking at the "historically appropriate" colors from the local historic commission....See Morewhich exterior color goes better with my stone?
Comments (31)I totally understand the snowballing effect...its amazing how a cracked sidewalk leads to total makeover! We (sadly) had our front door kicked in from a robbery. The experts are saying we have to replace our entire sidelight/transom b/c there is also a small crack in the door jamb. So my trying to figure out what do replace it with has lead me to doing something about my white garage doors, some dingy trim, some over-grown bushes, etc. From what I recall hearing about columns, they are not all that expensive and even inexpensive ones look fine. I'm sure our builder but in the cheapest column he could find that would look decent but they look perfectly fine, are holding up well. And if you are re-doing the front stoop, aren't you going to have to replace the columns and railing anyway? You will have a beautiful new stoop with lovely stone but the old thin columns and railings. I think new thicked columns will enhance your pretty porch and door, and in fact with the new stuff might make the columns look even more in need of replacement (snowball effect!!). If you don't know much about landscape/gardening (I don't!) I think the most important thing is to have a plan from the beginning. I would consult with a landscape desiger to give you drawings for a long-term plan. That way you can put in new plants over time when you're not spending so much now. Ask the designer which should go in first and then add a few each year. Thats what we did 13 years ago and it was a worthwhile decision even though at the time I didn't want to spend the money for the plans. Good luch with all your decisions! I hope to post some pictures of our exterior in the next week or so..if it ever stops raining here....See Morewhich flooring plank is the best color choice for the whole house?
Comments (21)Janice, don't even think about gel staining these cabinets. If you don't want it to look like a cheap DIY project, it will take you days of tedious prep work. And for what? espresso color, dated cabinets? For the amount of work that takes, you'd be better off painting them. You said you're selling. Why go through the expense of taking up all of your flooring to lay down a vinyl plank? it's not exactly a high upgrade, and certainly not high enough to warrant extra money in your pocket you'd get after selling. Do you plan on doing the entire area (living room, kitchen, bedrooms?) What is the complete price for demo of current flooring, PLUS buying the new products and install? The one thing that will definitely give you bank for your buck is to scrape those ceilings and get a smooth, painted finish. (check for asbestos first) No one wants a popcorn ceiling. Start there. look at this link. her kitchen cabs are very similar to yours. Minus the appliances, she spent approx $1600 to completely make-over her kitchen. She actually did a pretty good job. (the flooring was already there and makes a huge diff compared to yours. ) https://inmyownstyle.com/kitchen-makeover-plans.html also, if you paint, you can fill in the middle handle holes and put in new ones where they should be. Instead of removing the upper doors, you could remove the middle panels and replace them with glass. (seeded, frosted, clear, etc...) https://inmyownstyle.com/diy-kitchen-makeover-completion-cost-breakdown.html (she bought new appliances, but if you need to replace anything, check Craigslist for slightly used items for a killer deal)...See MoreWhichStonetoPick
11 years agoWOW . . . I LOVE IT !!!!
Did you use the fieldstone from the picture I posted above?
Thank you so much for taking the time to do that. I spent a few hours today doing mockups myself (the old fashioned way . . . printing pictures and cutting and taping it onto a picture of my house). What program did you use to do that? The only stone company I could find online that has a program to do mockups is Owens Corning, but I'm not liking the results when I do it. The cutting and pasting method came out with a clearer picture, but I'm still not too happy with their color selection on my house.
Below are pictures of what I created. I was kind of liking the first one which is Bucks County Country Ledgestone and Dressed Fieldstone combo, but I think it might be too bland. But I think I'm liking the fieldstone you mocked up you did much, much better.
I also posted this message on another forum and I'm getting a lot of votes to keep the brick. What do you think after seeing these mockups?
suero
11 years ago
Annie Deighnaugh
11 years agoWhat part of the country do you live in? We are in New England and chose New England field stone for the front of our house....we thought it would look odd with say Arizona red rock.
But I'm not sure adding rock is necessary...have you considered painting the brick?
If nothing else, you should paint the storm door. The white is really outstanding against the brick and is high contrast with the rest of the dark brown trim.
In any case, this color shingles would work well on your roof.
WhichStonetoPick
11 years agoWhichStonetoPick
11 years agopricklypearcactus
11 years agosumac
11 years agopalimpsest
11 years agoWhichStonetoPick
11 years agoAnnie Deighnaugh
11 years agoI am not anti stone...as I posted above, I put stone on my own house. However, I think the brick is not what you are reacting to, but rather the color. My concern is that you will go through the effort and expense to change the brick and still not be happy. I think the reason why you prefer the stone is because the color goes better with the siding.
Your house is a Tudor wannabe...with the high gable, the dark brown Brick, trim and roof, and the yellow cream siding. However the massing and the trimming aren't right for that style. And IMO the siding color is not good with the brown and the brick....The stucco on tudors tend to be whiter, not so yellow. (Personally, I'm not a fan of brown and yellow.)
So for less money and effort, you can achieve a better result with paint. I would start with a new, fresh color scheme that would lighten up the whole facade. Something in keeping with the lighter beige tones you've chosen for your front steps, and take the house in a whole new direction...
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
11 years agoYou have a pretty house! I would paint the brick and siding the same color. I do like the fieldstone quite a lot, too, but even if you do that, I would want the siding to be darker. We have a brick house that also has siding. It was painted yellow (with baby blue shutters-ouch)before we bought the house, but we made it a sort of taupe color (Woodcut from Duron) and resided with Hardiplank smooth in a matching color. Our brick is not pretty, so this worked best for us. We went with a black rook and painted the new gutters to match the house. We like the way it looks (DH chose the shutter color and I probably would have gone with Charleston Green or dispensed with them altogether, but this is okay). The house color looks a little lighter in the picture than in reality and the weeds are gone-:)
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Arapaho-Rd
11 years agoAnnie Deighnaugh
11 years ago
Oakley
11 years ago
terezosa / terriks
11 years ago
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