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Exterior Building a Home

Exterior stone too dark

last year

Currently building a new house. We chose our exterior stone based on another house we saw. Our stone started to go up a few days ago, and it seems much darker than what we anticipated. Builder and mason both said that it will eventually get lighter over time as it dries and UV light hits it over the summer. What are your thoughts? I’ve attached pics of the inspiration house, and of our stone so far. Note the color difference in our stone as the mason tried to dry a portion, and acid washed it.

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Comments (11)

PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
last year
The snow on the ground may be adversely effecting your perception of the color. Also mentally compensate for it being real stone and colors do have a tendency to vary especially when photographs are involved.
palimpsest
last year
Honestly to me it does not look darker than the other house.
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Actually, I like the dark mortar on the left. It complements the beautiful stone. What Renovator8 is saying is that real stone work (i.e. a real masonry wall, not cladding) would need substantial support for the weight of the stone. To provide the realism, the cladding should include the look of a stone lintel or, if it would be angle iron, the door trim would be set in more. Since it's too late for that, painting it a similar color as the door would give the impression of an angle iron support since such thin wood could not support real stone. Stone lintel over a garage door: Angle iron support over a garage door You might have this issue with other windows and doors as well. Note that it's not a structural problem. It's an architectural detail which provides realism for a stick built home attempting to achieve a solid masonry look. Stone lintel over windows: This post was edited by DreamingoftheUP on Fri, Mar 21, 14 at 8:14
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Thanks for the feedback olivesmom! That's what we're wondering about- how it will translate to our design. It's so hard to picture it without seeing the whole thing together. Such is building a custom house from paper to end, right? :) I think we'll definitely go with a creamier trim, which I think we'll still be able to pull off with the windows. I agree that white would be too stark. We're heading to the stone guys later today to see what options we could come up with for the whole face of the garage, front entry and columns. The roof as of now would be like the shingle photo I have at the bottom right of my mood board- gray with black/charcoal accents. I am worried with how that will play off of such a dark house and contrasting trim. Lots to think about...
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Comments (30)
I like your mix of stones color wise much more than what you were hoping for in the samples because i feel like yours is more versatile and frankly because I don’t love gray. I like the mixture of warm colors with gray. I would probably try to live with what you have and frankly I think your fireplaces look pretty good except for one area...those four stones circled in red really bother me. I would probably insist that those four be popped off and redone with a better mix. I know it can be done because we have several exterior stone walls that I had a few stones taken off and redone. I have to say I’m not crazy about the color of your mantle. Is that the color you chose? Or is it off too?
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N S
Original Author
last year
The snow/perception may very well be a factor. We are seeing the stone as having more brown tones as opposed to gray tones that we wanted. We’re hoping as it dries that it will seem closer in color to the inspiration house
cpartist
last year
It definitely has more brown tones. However, I'd bet what is going up on your house will withstand the test of time better than all that gray.
Little Bird
last year
I think what looks most different from your neighbor’s stone is that theirs has many different sizes from tiny to extra large bricks, and they seem to be placed more artistically. Your bricks are mostly medium sized, and they kind of line up in a grid pattern
David Cary
last year
Yours also seems to have a bit wider mortar lines. And your mortar looks lighter in color - and will certainly get lighter.
PRO
Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor
last year
Your stone is spectacular, IMHO better than the inspiration. Unless you get natural stone from the same general spot in the same quarry, its always different.
Allison0704
last year
Another vote for your stone over your inspiration photo. Here is a house we previously built. Mortar is still wet, and you can see how much lighter it and the stone became once dried.
sheepla
last year
Your stone is prettier!
Donna Sluder
last year
It’s beautiful!! Our brick looked too dark when it was going up. I panicked! But after it dried and the bricklayer cleaned it up, it was perfect! It really is gorgeous. Don’t worry about it! Trust you initial instinct, you made a great choice! I’m a little jelly…lol!
Donna Sluder
last year
Trends😑 sometimes equate regrets. Lol I love painted brick but leave that gorgeous stone alone! 🫣

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