I have seen it done in the town where we live, but it is not as nice of a look as painted brick.

Leave it alone. Taking stone from a low maintenance covering to a high maintenance one is a terrible idea.

Could we see the rest of the building to provide a better informed suggestion?

Don't have another picture. I know a lot of people say don't touch it, but we really hate the color, and want to change it, more modern. The house is going to be grey and white. So please give suggestions best way to do it?

I would not recommend painting but you could sandblast the stone to clean it up and make it look new.

Painted stone looks tacky.

The stone can still be fine with a modern look do not paint it it will look tacky as mentioned . The modern feel will come more from the style of house it is and the colors you choose for paint. I would choose darker colors f the stone and I don’t think white is going to give you amore modern feel how about some other color from the stone that way the stone will look like it belongs and will actually be less in your face. I think I see a sagey green in the stone I would do that for the main body of the house including the garage and maybe dark gray for trim if there is a gray in the stone if not then the darkest color from the stone.

I don't have experience with painting or white washing stone but your instincts are right. Good luck!

While the house examples are lovely, they look like natural limestone to me. The links don't say the stone is painted. But don't take my word for it, google "painted stone" or "whitewashed stone" and see if you like the results.

Yes, there are online photos of painted and whitewashed exteriors with poor results.

HI -- Yes, you can spray paint the stone with no worries of constant maintenance . There is great quality paint for masonry and stucco and brick now .

Curious, did you ever paint it?

I am not an expert, but why couldn't you do an over grout technique like in some of the stone examples above? Would it be possible to add more mortar into the joints and slather a bit of mortar on the edges of the stone? This is done all the time with new installs. Experts can chime in here.

I don't see any of the examples above being similar to what is pictured in the question actually being asked. Those stones are all smaller and more evenly shaped. I think you're talking about German Smear which I have researched a bit for my brick fireplaces but I don't know that it would really work well with the misshapen big stones on the front of my home? I have a friend who has more experience with German Smear, I can ask her too.

As far as I understand, on stone it's not German smear...it's an over grout technique, and the look changes as you add more mortar. Try searching the web for the over grout technique and there should be pictures.

Here is an over grout technique on a new install (large and irregular stones as well).

You can paint it and what a wonderful difference!

Nope. Still tacky as all get out.

Masonry paint is a beautiful thing! I can’t wait to get started.

Did you paint your house? I would love to see how it turned out!

I'm wondering the same thing. What did you decide to do? How'd it turn out? My parents have similar rocks with a lot of orange.

My brother painted his house a medium gray. When he did, the rocks started to show more of the gray. It doesn't bother me as much now. He will be getting a roof with black shingles, which will also bring out more of the gray.

I stained bricks on my house once. There were some that were too orange, I ordered a gray stain that was from Europe. I stained some of them only once, others I stained twice to get the color just right. I'm sure they have products to do the same here, but that was 15 years ago.

I have the same stone on the front of my house and disliked it from the start. i would like to subdue the look somehow. Have you painted stone or mortar? It would be easier to do something with the stone rather than repaint the house. Thanks!

We have the same! Old yellow ish rock and just got a grey tile roof. We need to paint or get rid of the rock to make it more modern and match the roof. Let me know if you were able to do i!

You’d never see painted stone in nature so it never looks right. Painted brick works because it’s a man made product.

There is this product called ROMABIO and you can make the stone look beautiful. The reason people dont paint rock cause it looks tacky, but with this new product you can bring the rock back to life and get the update you want while still having the rock out lines vs paint that just covers over detailed rock. Look them up and you wont be disappointed...

Painting mine in the spring and can’t wait!

If you want the best opinions, you have to send more pictures. You'll get loads of ideas about trim paint, landscaping, and more if you show the entire house and setting. Do you have a lot of roof showing? Is that a double garage or single? What's the landscaping like? Good design decisions take all this into account.

If you haven't bought this house, then move on to house that's already what you want. Let someone buy it who appreciates natural stone and doesn't want to deface or devalue it with paint. On the other hand, if this stone is faux or something cheap slap-on surface, then maybe paint will help. But really, there's not enough visual information here to make a proper recommendation. Do note, though, that some of Houzz's top design professionals (I'm not one of them) who see a whole lot of houses are advising you against this.

Oops. The post is from 2015.

Did you ever do this? We are thinking about doing the same thing. I'd love to see yours if you did! Thanks, Jen

I realize this is an old post, but we covered our stone this past spring. Wanted to use the limewash from Italy but the virus had stopped the production. A painter friend suggested using a mortar wash. Used Portland cement and actual mortar mix plus a little dye to darken it. It was messy, but easy! Make it very wet and just apply with a large brush. You can even do a small area at a time. We are in our seventies and did not find it complicated or difficult. Love the look and so does everyone else. Just glad to get rid of the ugly orange stone on our downsized house.

jmarco, how about a photo or two?

Yes please @jmarco! Our stone is orangy also and it either needs a limewash, paint or change of shutter color! It's such a dilemna as most pros are against it. Would love to see yours!

randirosen123...have you finished your house? We Houzzers would like to see the results after participating in discussions and offering suggestions.

Never seem to get photos to load. It pretty much looks like a medium gray natural rock. The texture is somewhat rough as the mortar has sand in it. The materials are very cheap and we made several mixes to get the look we wanted. But we also experimented with the Romabio limewash. It is so easy too, but lots more expensive. Goes on so easy, but only comes in lighter colors. Also any of these can be covered over with a different color if you want it lighter or darker. We played with several flat concrete patio blocks to test the colors. Again very forgiving on stone. It also allows the stone to breathe unlike paint. Dries very hard.
Hope this helps.

My nephew painted the truly ugly stone on a vacation house with exterior latex. He just wanted it to blend with the body color; it was that or demo it. Nothing fancy but it’s holding up great and look much better.

Yikes! This thread is from 2015😂

Looking at our exterior orange to grey tones, stone applied to our exterior. I want the less orange and more charcoal - I don’t want to make it a solid colour, but natural with some orange still showing up. Looking @jmarco post, sounds like something I could do. Photos would be lovely !

We are in the same boat. Bought a house with a limestone exterior on the front ( brick around back and sides)and we really dislike it. Love the house but not the stone. Looking into various ways to calm it down. Masonry stain, lime wash, paint? Who knows. I keep hearing that painting stone is not a good idea. Love to see what others have done.