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So I have this beautiful flagstone...which normally I would like but, as you can see, it doesnt match with our house whatsoever.

Im thinking we have two options: paint our whole house to match the stone or paint the stone to match our house.

Eventually, we want to paint the exterior but for now, we are looking for a semi-quick fix. Any recommendations? If we do paint the stone, what type of paint should we use, seeing that our walkway and porch will be heavy traffic areas.

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  • Welcome to SE. I've edited your post title to ask a more specific question. Decorating advice is considered off-topic here, so we'll focus on the technical question you've raised. Good luck!
    – isherwood
    Jan 24, 2017 at 15:51
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    Are you really going to paint that brick (making a beautiful, durable, maintenance-free surface into something that's none of those)? I get the impression that you've just moved in. Consider living with it for a while and see what you think then. My wife and I made some rash decisions when we moved into our previous (first) home, and we regretted some of them.
    – isherwood
    Jan 24, 2017 at 15:52
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    Doing that is irreversible, as it will soak into the grout and never look right if stripped. Generally one does it to mask serious defects in the stonework. For that reason it's considered seriously trailer-trash. It will be extra hard to find a paint that will hold up to foot traffic, epoxy won't work, the sun will tear it up. Natural materials are the color they are, and people respect that aesthetically because they respect quality materials. I'd be more concerned with the shutters on one side of a double window, shutters do not work that way... Jan 24, 2017 at 17:06
  • Acid etch stain may work, not sure. it works on concrete but have never used on stone.
    – Ed Beal
    Jul 2, 2018 at 19:30

3 Answers 3

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Painting brick makes a beautiful, durable, maintenance-free surface into something that's none of those. Instead, you could stain the brick. There are masonry stains that will color the brick and keep the aforementioned qualities. Keep in mind once you do this you won't be able to repair a damaged section of brick as easily as you would if you hadn't colored the brick.

As for the flagstone, personally, I think it would work with the brick you have if the mortar lines were darker. You could try an acid stain to darken the mortar. Less contrast would be your friend in this situation.

I've always found vertical applications of irregular flagstone odd looking, I think it would look best if you hid that part behind some landscaping.

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In Dallas TX people are painting perfectly good brick because they think it is a design choice. I personally would never paint perfectly good brick.

In my neighborhood of brick facade homes I have, however, seen one case I personally thought it sorta worked. A house with uniform bright red brick with off-white tooled mortar was painted with a highly diluted white latex paint. The owners described it as a "wash".

It desaturated the red and gave some variation which was interesting. If you tried that on your flagstone, wear patterns would probably develop, but maybe you could periodically "rewash" those areas. And if it didn't work at all, you might be able to remove it with a power washer. If you have an inconspicuous place, you could test this.

Personally, I would try to live with the bold flags, and try to consider them a fact of nature which is too much trouble to change by art.

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Use elastomeric latex paint for better results. The paints are made with particular resins that fill the gaps and cracks in stonework and they are long-lasting.

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  • Per SE policy, please edit include some pertinent details from the linked site. We all know that links can rot in an internet minute, so this is a link only answer. If that link disappears it's utterly useless as it stands. Also, indicate the relationship you have with the host site (even if it's simply "happy user"). As it stands, this answer will likely get deleted shortly.
    – FreeMan
    Jan 24, 2022 at 18:36
  • It would be very helpful to elaborate on the "particular resins" so that people know what to look for, and explain what "elastometric" means so they have a full understanding. Some examples are not out of the question here as well.
    – gnicko
    Jan 27, 2022 at 13:15

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