Top row, right. Top row middle might work also but it could get too bright in a large area. None of the others are worth considering IMO.

Before you do this, though, do yourself a favor and get rid of all the weeds growing in the cracks Not only will it make your painting job easier, it'll go a long way towards making the entire area look better.

I'd probably go with one that best matches the grout. From pic, looks like the darkest cream color.

I answered in the other thread but I think all of these options may be too bright over a large area.

The blocks at the bottom are actual brick and grout pulled down onto the stucco. You can see how much duller those are than the colors you've tested (and they are "stretched" a bit which lightens them up somewhat)

This post was edited by palimpsest on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 15:05

I'd do it in a grey/brown taupe.

BM Iron gate

How about this one?

Here is a link that might be useful: BM -- Coffeehouse chocolate CW-16

I, too, think the swatches you've tried are too bright and too pale.

Do you have a picture of the front? Can you see the stucco there as well?

A taupe color to match the grout...but perhaps a few shades darker.

A taupe color to match the grout...but perhaps a few shades darker.

Thanks for the suggestions. Thorocoat has a limited number of options for colors. There seems to be two philosophies when painting under brick. One is to try to match the brick or the grout so as not to have too much contrast. This is why most people seem to prefer the top colors. There is also an argument to go with a lighter color to brighten the lower section of the house. I keep going back and fourth. The upper middle color seems to be fairly acceptable but the lower far right color with it's orange reminds me of Italy. Of course I don't have an Italian pallazo here but a Brooklyn brick home built by my grandfather in the 1950s. It's a hard decision.

The brick is very handsome! This might sound silly, but what color is your roof? Are those copper or painted gutters? Without knowing all the colors involved and seeing the style of your house, it's hard to make a determination for me. Is there much stucco in the front?

This is SW sand dune to go with the grout.

SW yearling, a little darker

Thorocoat appears to have some fairly dark brown colors in their palette that would coordinate with the brick.

That was my impulse, too, palimpsest. I was thinking something in the vein of BM deep caviar (maybe not as dark if that's too much for OP's taste, but those color values), but hard to say without having the whole picture.

I would say that two of the biggest problems that people have with color matching to stone, brick, and brownstone is underestimating how Dark or Saturated the color is and how much Gray is in the color.

I live in a neighborhood of brick, stucco and brownstone, and particularly with some of the building that are rental, someone will go out and get a generic "brick" or "brownstone" or "stone" sort of color to touch something up or cover graffiti and then there will be this very Bright patch of color that is nowhere near dark enough. One of the brownstones had a band of color that was almost pink looking. It was brown in the can or next to white. but not next to the brownstone itself.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I have to decide in about a week. I will get some more samples of the sand/grout match colors. Complicating matters is that Thorocoat does not have samples and they have to be color matched to ordinary paint which is already inaccurate. I am disinclined to go towards very dark colors. My neighbor has a similar house (my grandfather and his brother built two of the same) and he did it very dark and it turns me off. I will post a photo of that later today. I grew up with that beautiful stucco which if you look close has all this nice diversity of color and sand and it's a pity altogether to have to give it a uniform paint job.

The base stucco of the backs of the buildings I used to live in was a very light warm white and it looked nice. But the trim on the buildings was white and the front basement areas were white marble or limestone:

I've linked a PDF doc below that shows their '48 standard colors'.

I see that they have 270 tint-able colors, but they may cost more. The link below should help people see your choices.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thorocoat std. colors

I'm thinking stonewash of the ready-mix, or maybe sandy beach.

Here is a picture of the whole house. Needs work. I would love to use the same color Thorocoat on the concrete porch as well but am told that it is not for high traffic areas. My contractor insists on using Thorocoat on the stucco so I guess I have to use something else for the concrete porch. Any recommendations - Rust-Oleaum deck and concrete restore has been recommended. By the way I will be leaving all the brick - including the brick retaining wall for the porch unpainted except for some pointing. Thanks again for everyones help!

This post was edited by Fritzlang on Mon, Aug 11, 14 at 14:30

Here is what my neighbor did. I don't think his choice of a dark color works. I think I should go in a different direction - either the sand color some are recommending or a brick looking color. I took note that often when you try to match brick it comes out lighter anyhow and just looks wrong so perhaps simply taking a chance on a sand color and embracing the inevitability of contrast is the way to go. Big decision since I won't be able to afford changes for a very long time

I would pick the light color of the Thorocoat first since that seems to be the most limited, and then do concrete paint and trim paint (where you have more options) to match the the stucco. I like the dark on your neighbor's house as well, but I can understand wanting something different.

Seeing the current color in the pic you posted at 14:19, it looks very good in that light, as it blends in so well with the brick portion.

Are you able to get a Thorocoat color chart that you can hold up to your brick and foundation?

This is just a blog of another stucco color I picked from another image. I kind of like the contrast. Perhaps a bit more brown tint as well.

Following some suggestions on this thread I got a few lighter colors to try out. Here is a photo...

I now think the top middle three are the best choices..

Here is another photo with all the possibilities

I don't want to complicate your decision making process any more than I have to but the three stucco companies I recently had quote our stucco bungalow stated that Thorocoat could be matched to any color I wanted.

One company suggested that I head over to the local Benjamin Moore and ask for the large size color chips, then tape them to the exterior of the house and move them around at different times of the day.

You might want to question your contractor a bit on the color match, just in case he is not aware of potential for other options.

The first decision is whether to go dark or light. Should I match the brick if I can or go for a lighter color and contrast???

Your three favorites

And in the longview

The light color from the middle three

And the most brick like color you liked

Wow! Thanks Palimpsest. Can I ask you to do a long view also of the final favorite on the far right?

Thanks. In this display the whitish color certainly does not work. The pinkish one is close to the actual color of the stucco but seems a little too like a pepto bismol tone. The brick color seems the least offensive. Do you agree?

I like the brick-tone one in the mockup. But I would try a larger swatch of the lower left hand light color in person.

I will do it on here, too.

This is the lower left hand one. I am partial to this as a light choice

Is that the one on the far bottom left? Not bad. I'm worried about it showing lots of dirt after a few months. Also if I freshen up the lower part of the house then the fact that the brick above has not been repointed or cleaned might be highlighted. Kind of like wearing nice tan pants with a dirty red shirt

Maybe you can try a large swatch of the finalists and see what happens after a couple weeks. It depends on what color your "dirt" is. Your side yard is all paved so I don't really know that you would pick up much from the ground. The light stucco on my building bases did not seem to get too dirty. Some of the darker colors were darker than the actual dirt or airborne "soot" or whatever it is, and showed dirt more. Kind of like a dark car (or black pants to use your analogy)...So it depends on your local environment.

Personally, I prefer dark...perhaps it visually grounds the house for me. I think I would custom match the paint to the darkest color of in the brick. For our stucco, I took the paint formula for the window trim x 2.5 to get a tone on tone look. Maybe you will have to do something like that to counter what you describe as a lightening effect.

I agree with Ranton. I think the bottom half of a home typically should be darker if given the choice not lighter. It definitely grounds the home.

In general I would agree but sometimes with masonry, especially of the lower part has an appearance of solidity, lighter can work, too

Here's one that shows just on the raised basement level:

Very confusing. Many of the houses in my neighborhood use a light yellow or a pale pink to offset the brick. Their houses however are different then mine in that they may have trim or exterior window areas that they can accent with the same color. My house is in rather poor condition which is why I now am thinking to go towards a darker more brick like color. I don't want to stand out also. Still, the beige and cream colors are enticing.

I like the dark bottom, the cream color for steps and porch and trim and a black or red door.

what color did you end up using? i am looking at thorocoat for a brownstone and am thinking Blush, Mocha or Brick Stone. I am afraid that the Mocha might look like poop in real life and that the Brick Stone might be too orangey. Is Blush the color on top in the middle?