I think you can have any wood power washed to remove the stain and then you could stain it a greyish color. Yes, you can paint shingles. My home is a cape cod that someone decided to paint before we bought it. I wouldn't suggest that route though, I think that stain is more appropriate.

From the photo. it looks as though the shingle siding just hasn't weathered yet. The siding was probably new within the last year. Give it some time and and the colour will soften. You can already see that the shingles down toward the bottom of the walls (where they're more exposed to the elements) are beginning to gray. If you like the naturally weathered look, just be patient. It will take 2 or 3 years for them to weather gracefully.

If you're impatient, shingles can be painted or stained, but at this point, you'd probably have to power-wash them first to remove the staining that has started as a natural part of the weathering process. A tinted stain could then be applied to the cleaned shingles. If you choose to paint, a primer should be applied before paint.

Personally, I prefer the look of naturally weathered shingles, so I'd be inclined go that route. Not only does it look better in my opinion, but it requires less maintenance.

We had cedar shake shingles we didn't like,and we had vinyl siding applied right over it. Just another option. Vinyl comes in different widths and many colors. We chose pale dreen with white trim.

Those look like red cedar shingles/shakes. The "cape cod" style is typically a white cedar shingle that naturally greys or can be stained with bleaching oil to enhance/speed up the greying.

If those shingles aren't stained or treated they will probably turn black in a few years.

You could paint them grey, although IMO painting cedar is a waste of both good paint and good cedar shingles, which are naturally protected (other than the color).

You could probably stain them grey, but you probably won't ever get the true greyed white cedar look of a cape cod. It's just a different type of wood.

The cladding appears to be natural (or transparent stained) red cedar shakes that have darkened with age and have a bit of black fungus stains.

If you kill the fungus you can use a semi-transparent or solid stain in any color you want. Paint would probably create an unnecessary maintenance problem.

All I can tell you for sure is that the cladding is not new and the house is not of the Cape Cod tradition. Perhaps you are thinking of Nantucket Island houses that use white cedar shingles that typically age to a pale gray.

Agree with macv. Years ago a neighbor put solid gray stain on her redwood shingled home and when we moved (several years later) it still looked great.

dandaman53.....I'd find another painter! Never met one that didn't prefer spraying over brushing a large exterior surface. If he gets drips he doesn't know how to spray or else doesn't have the right equipment. Did he quote you a flat rate or charge by the hour??

I have a similar issue. The shingles have been weathered and i am thinking of doing a pressure wash and then paint with a brush. What do you recommend for the paint process & the paint to use