Are you considering adding stone to the exterior of your home? Get ideas and answers to your frequently asked questions.
Adding exterior rock siding to the outside of your home can give an older home a more modern design and can make a newer home look more luxurious. It can also help to boost a home’s curb appeal. If you are looking to add stone accents on home exterior, you may be looking for ideas to help you decide where to add the stone and how to add the stone. Here are some of the most gorgeous home exterior rock ideas, including photos, as well as a frequently asked questions section pertaining to stone on homes. Hopefully, this will help provide you with stone on front of house ideas for your home.
1. Add Stone Pillars to the Front Of Your Home
If you are looking to add stone accents on home exterior, one of the best ways to add stone without overdoing it is to add stone pillars to the front of your home. Most people decide to create the pillars around their doorway, as this really helps the entrance of your home to stand out. If you already have pillars in front of your home, you can layer the stone around the existing pillars to create stone pillars. Some people layer the stone only around the bottom of the pillars, while others go all the way up the pillars with stone. If you do not have pillars, you can add pillars to the front of your home or even a natural stone archway, really helping to make your entrance pop.
2. Contrast Light Stone With a Dark House Color
Another stone on front of house ideas is to contrast light stone with a dark house color. As a general rule of thumb, most experts do not recommend that you paint your entire home a dark color, as it can make your home feel dark and dreary. However, if you contrast a light stone with a dark blue, charcoal gray or forest green, your home will look modern and stylish, not dark and broody. If you are coating your entire home in stone, consider adding dark color trim to really make your stone pop. It is important that you select the stone and the paint color at the same time, as not every type of stone pairs with every paint color, and vice versa.
3. Use Stone Siding On Only One Story Of a Two-Story Home
If you have a two-story home and you are looking to complete a stone house exterior makeover, one of the more unique options that you can use is to use only stone siding on the bottom story of your home, while using other materials, such as wood, vinyl or composite siding for the top story of your home. Covering a two-story home completely in stone can be extremely costly and time-consuming. In addition to this, your home can look much too monotone if the entire exterior is covered in stone. Only covering one story in stone, while using other materials for the top story, gives you the opportunity to use different color patterns and different textures. This can help to give your home a grown up, modern feel, rather than making your home feel like it is stuck in the stone age.
4. Mix Stone With Other Siding Options For a Multi-Dimensional Home
Most homes are not completely flat on the front. Yours may have bay windows that protrude from the front of your home, or you may have certain rooms that are more forward than other parts of your home. As you look to add exterior rock for homes, you should consider mixing stone with other siding options. Use stone for the more forward parts of your home, such as bay windows, decks, pillars or your garage area. Use other types of siding, such as stucco or brick, for parts of your home that are more set back. Using this approach helps to add dimension and depth to your home while helping to showcase the architectural style of the home. It can also help your home to look and feel much larger than it really is.
5. Create a Grand Entrance With Stone Veneer
Another way to use natural stone for house exterior is to create a grand entrance using stone veneers or natural stone products. The best way to do this is to use stone around your front entrance or your front door. You can use stone to create an archway around your door or to help emphasize the space around your door. The front door is the entryway into your home, so you want to make sure that it stands out and makes a great first impression on people who are entering your home. Many people pair stone materials with a gorgeous wood door, as the two natural materials play off of each other and really help to create a grand entrance that looks timeless.
6. Mix Stone Colors and Sizes to Create a Patterned Look to Your Home
If you are looking to create a gorgeous and unique exterior to your home utilizing stone, do not be afraid to mix and match. Many people think that they have to stick with the same stone colors and sizes. However, when it comes to stone exteriors, there are no rules. You can mix and match stone colors, stone sizes and/or stone types to create a pattern on your home. This is highly recommended if you intend on covering the entire exterior of your home in stone, as the pattern mix really helps to add color, dimension, depth and versatility. This helps to prevent your home from looking monotonous, and instead adds style, pattern, contrast and definition.
7. Use Stone In Front Of Your Home
When you are looking for a stone house exterior makeover, you may desire to add stone to the exterior walls of your home. Unfortunately though, not every home exterior is suitable for stone accents, especially if your home is older. The stone may be too heavy for your building materials, and it may cost too much to add supports to support the weight of stone accents. However, this does not mean that this has to be the end of your home’s stone exterior journey. Instead, you can use stone pavers to create steps, walkways or even a driveway using stone pavers. This helps to give your home the look of stone when installing stone siding on your home is not such a great idea.
8. Add Exterior Rock For Homes to the Bottom Quarter to Third of Your Home
Adding stone to the front of your home can be expensive. In fact, natural stone and stone veneers are among the most expensive siding options that are currently on the market. Because of this, many homeowners decide to add stone to only the bottom 25 to 33 percent of their homes. This helps to create a luxurious look that pairs well with other types of siding. Adding exterior stone to the bottom quarter to third of your home is a great way to get some natural stone, without busting your budget by covering your entire home in natural stone.
9. Limewash Existing Stone Features For a New Look to Old Stone
Lastly, if you have existing stone on your home that has seen better days, or that you simply want to change up the look of, consider limewashing the stone. Limewashing is a technique that is commonly done on brick to help change the look of brick from red to a cream or white color. Limewash can also be used on other materials, including stone. Limewashing existing stone exteriors can take an old, dirty, or worn-out stone exterior and transform it into something that looks newer, cleaner, and more modern. If you are looking for a gorgeous way to transform stone that is bringing your home down, limewash may be the way to go.
Frequently Asked Questions About Exterior Rock Siding
If you are considering adding stone accents on home exterior or completing a stone house exterior makeover, you may have some questions about using stone on the exterior of your home. Getting answers to these questions can help you learn more about stone exteriors and whether adding natural stone veneer is truly the right move for your home. Read on to see some frequently asked questions about exterior rock siding and the answers to these questions.
How Much Does It Cost to Put Stone On the Front Of a House?
According to HomeAdvisor.Com, it typically costs anywhere from $35 to $50, with an average of $42 per square foot to install exterior stone veneer siding. If you are looking to install natural stone, you can expect to pay much more than this. The average cost includes the cost of the stone veneer, or faux stone siding, as well as labor costs to install the stone siding. It is also worth noting that the price can change depending on where the stone is being applied. You will pay more to install stone around the top of your home compared to just installing it around the base of your home.
Is Natural Stone For House Exterior Best or Is Faux Stone Best?
There are pros and cons to using natural stone for house exterior and there are pros and cons to using faux stone, also known as manufactured stone siding, on the exterior of your home. As a general rule of thumb, stone veneer is lighter in weight, which makes it cheaper to install and hang. The product cost is also lower. However, faux stone may not always look realistic and it does not last as long as real stone does. Natural stones are more expensive and heavier than faux stone, but it is better for the environment and can increase the value of your home more than faux stone will. For many people, budget plays a role in whether they use real stone or faux stone.
What Are the Different Types of Stone That Can Be Used on the Exterior Of a Home?
If you have decided to use natural stone on your home’s exterior, you may be wondering what types of natural stone can be used on the outside of a home. There are many different natural stones available, including quartzite, flint, travertine, limestone, granite, marble and sandstone. Each and every type of stone has its own unique pros and cons. If you are trying to determine what stone may be best to use on the exterior of your home, you need to consider your budget, your desired aesthetic, and the weather elements where you live. For example, marble may look great, but it is among the highest priced home exterior materials and it is not great in cold temperatures. Flint, travertine, granite and sandstone are common stones used on the exterior of houses, due to the stone’s versatility, price and how well the stone holds up in various weather conditions.
How Do You Care For Stone Siding?
Caring for stone siding can be complicated. If you are looking to clean a small amount of stone siding, you can fill a bucket with warm water and either liquid dish soap or a stone cleaner you purchase at a home improvement store. You can then use a soft-bristled brush to scrub your stone, removing dirt, algae, moss, bird feces or other unwanted elements from the siding. If you have a lot of stone siding you are looking to clean, you should call in a professional to softwash your stone siding. Pressure washing can damage your stone, so you should always stick to soft washing to ensure your stone gets as clean as possible without becoming damaged.
Are There Any Disadvantages to Stone Siding?
Prior to installing stone siding, you may be curious to learn whether there are any disadvantages associated with stone siding. One of the disadvantages associated with stone siding is the price of the siding. Stone siding can be expensive to install. It can also be expensive to repair. The other major downside associated with stone siding is that it needs to be properly cleaned at least every other year to keep the siding looking its best. If you are looking for a low maintenance siding option, stone is not the right material for your needs.
What Are the Benefits to Stone Siding?
While there are some disadvantages associated with stone siding, there are also many advantages associated with stone siding. Adding even a small amount of stone siding to the exterior of your home can instantly modernize your home, add value, and add curb appeal to your home. Stone siding is also long-lasting. While it may be pricey, when natural stone siding is properly installed, it will likely last your entire lifespan. This means you will not have to worry about ever replacing your stone siding.
Can You Paint Stone Siding?
As your stone siding ages, it can start to look dirty, faded and discolored. When this happens, you may find yourself wondering if you can paint your stone siding. You can lime wash or paint stone siding. However, just like brick siding, once you paint the stone, you will never be able to get the natural color of the stone back. As such, you should carefully consider whether you want to paint the stone siding, or whether there are restorative techniques that can be completed to bring your stone siding back to life.
Does Stone Siding Add to the Value of Your Home?
Stone siding does add value to your home. It is important to note that there are many factors that play a role in whether stone siding or accents can add value to your home or not, including the type of home you have, the area you live in, the age and condition of your home, how well the stone fits in with the style of your home, and the type of stone you use. As a general rule of thumb, adding stone veneer, or artificial stone, can increase your home by up to 80 percent of the amount you spend on the stone and installation process, while you may see up to a 93 percent return on value if you use natural stone. It is also important to note that increasing a home’s curb appeal can boost the value of your home by as much as 20 percent, while poor curb appeal can decrease the value of your home by as much as 10 percent. As such, stone siding can boost the value of your home in a few different ways.