There are many home renovation projects that allow homeowners to express themselves. From installing a new garage door to remodeling your kitchen, there are countless ways to bring your personality into your home’s design and décor. You can even change the color of the exterior stone!
There are different methods to alter the color of the exterior stone. One method involves staining and sealing the stone in order to change the color. There are plenty of different stain colors to choose from. Another method involves using a limewashing solution to change the color of the exterior stone.
In this article, we’ll guide you through the above two processes. Whether you decide to stain or limewash your exterior stone, you’ll be able to achieve your desired stone color in a few easy steps. Let’s take a look!
Staining and Sealing to Change Exterior Stone Color
When it comes down to changing exterior stone color, one of the most popular methods is staining the exterior stone to alter its appearance. The more porous your home’s exterior stone is, the more successful the staining process will be.
Keep reading as we break down how you can change the color of exterior stone through staining!
5 Steps to Stain Exterior Stone
Step One: Gather the Right Supplies
The first step to staining exterior stone is, of course, to gather the correct supplies for the job. Everything you’ll need to alter the appearance of your exterior stone is listed below!
- Heavy-duty gloves
- Face mask
- Safety goggles
- Scrubbing brush
- Trisodium Phosphate cleaning agent
- Stone staining product
- Stone sealing product
- Paintbrush or paint sprayer
Step Two: Cleaning the Exterior Stone
Once you’ve gathered your supplies, you’ll want to put on your protective gear! You’ll also want to wear old clothes that cover exposed parts of your body. Once you’re geared up, you can begin cleaning the exterior stone to remove any contaminants from the stone’s surface.
To adequately clean your exterior stone, you’ll need to use a scrubbing brush and a Trisodium Phosphate cleaning agent. When using this cleaning product, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Once you’ve cleaned the stone, leave it to dry overnight.
Step Three: Sampling the Staining Product
The next step is pouring your stone stain into a plastic spray bottle. From aqua blue to walnut, there are plenty of colors for you to choose from! However, before you begin staining your exterior stone, you’ll want to sample the product in an inconspicuous area of the stone.
Once you spray your sample section, use a brush to work the staining agent into the stone. You might find one coat is enough to achieve the look you’re going for. Alternatively, you can apply another coat to make the stone even more vibrant. Once you’ve stained a sample section, leave it to dry overnight.
Step Four: Staining the Exterior Stone
If you find that one coat was enough to achieve the color you were going for, you can proceed in giving your exterior stone a single coat of the staining agent. Spray small sections at a time, ensuring that you work the stain into the stone with a brush. Once you’re done, leave it to dry overnight.
If you think you might need more than one coat based on your sample, you’ll need to wait for the first coat to dry before adding another coat. Once you’ve achieved the color, you’re looking for. You can proceed to the final step!
Step Five: Sealing the Exterior Stone
Once you’ve successfully altered the appearance of your exterior stone, you’ll need to seal it to preserve the color. Use a paintbrush to apply the sealer to the exterior stone. For larger surface areas, a paint sprayer might be preferable to a brush.
Once you’ve applied the first coat of the sealer, you should let the sealer dry for twenty-four hours. Once you’ve done this, you can apply the final coat of the sealer. When the final coat of the sealer has dried, you will have successfully changed the color of your exterior stone!
Limewashing to Change Exterior Stone Color
Another great, cost-effective way of changing the color of the exterior stone is to use a limewashing product. This can be a fun DIY home improvement project for you to take on during your spare time. Let’s take a look at how you can alter the appearance of your home’s exterior stone using limewash!
5 Steps to Limewash Exterior Stone
Step One: Gather the Right Supplies
If you want to use a limewashing product to alter the color of the exterior stone, these are the supplies you’ll need!
- Heavy-duty gloves
- Face mask
- Safety goggles
- Limewashing Agent
- Masonry brush
- Trisodium Phosphate cleaning agent
- Spray bottle
- Clean water
- Clean cloth or rag
Step Two: Cleaning the Exterior Stone
With this method, it’s also crucial to clean the exterior stone before using the limewash. To do this, you can use a Trisodium Phosphate heavy-duty cleaner and a scrubbing brush. You can even pressure wash the stone if it’s a large exterior area. Once this has dried, and all cleaning agent residue has been removed, you’re almost ready to apply the limewash.
Step Three: Preparing the Limewash
Once you’ve purchased a limewashing product, you’ll want to prepare it to the manufacturer’s instructions. Generally, the concentrated limewash will need to be diluted with a 50-70% water ratio. Mix the solution until you have a uniform consistency.
We suggest starting with 50% dilution, which will give you a thicker, opaque finish. More water can always be added later! Once you’ve correctly diluted and prepared your limewash, you can proceed to the next step of the process.
Step Four: Applying the Lime-Wash to the Exterior Stone
While applying the limewash, you’ll actually need to ensure the exterior stone remains wet for the application. Once you’ve cleaned the stone, you can use a spray bottle filled with water to wet the stone as you apply the limewash.
Keeping your spray bottle handy to wet the exterior stone, you can begin applying the lime washing solution using a masonry brush. You’ll want to methodically apply this to the exterior stone to ensure you cover all necessary areas.
While the limewash may appear translucent while you’re applying it, it will have an opaque appearance once it has dried. You’ll want to wait an hour before proceeding to the final step of the limewashing process.
Step Five: Wash Off the Exterior Stone
The final step of this process is known as the “wash off” stage. Using your spray bottle and a clean rag, you can distress the limewash and wash it off until you achieve your desired look. Once the exterior stone has been altered to your desired color, you can leave it to dry.
For more detailed cleaning or removing of the limewash on your stone, you can use soap and water. Diluted vinegar is also known to work wonders in removing limewash from exterior stone. That’s the beauty of this product: it provides a margin for error!
Conclusion
In this article, we explained two different approaches to altering the color of the exterior stone. First, we looked at the process of staining and sealing stone in order to achieve this look. We then looked at using limewash to change the color of the exterior stone. Regardless of which method you use, you’ll be able to achieve your desired stone color!
