Painting stone buildings, good or bad

[Ludwig]

As around I can't help noticing stone buildings that have been painted or coated and cant help thinking that it is totally illogical to paint stone which is a very attractive natural matarial that weathers well. Once you have painted a building it eventually wears of with the rain and wind and you get unsightly patches that have come away causing dampness and dirty algae discolouration. Then there is pebble dash which I have seen on lovely old stone houses and wonder why anyone with any sense would cover up a lovely old stone building with such a bland covering.
People must think by coating or painting a stone or brick building that they are protecting the surface from frost and rain but you can see stone buildings that have lasted thousands of years in terrible weather. You look at dry stone walls, stone henge, castles and catherdrals for instance in some cases it probably causes more damage by covering the surface. Yes these builings have to be renovated but can you imagine having to paint Hadrians wall every few years. In my town I see umpteed people painting the outside of their buildings which they wouldn't have to do is they left it in the natural material. Leave your builings natural because your just making a load of work by painting or coating it.

 

[screenman]

What sort of stone?

 

[Archie_tect]

Never paint stone.... ever.

 

[TissoT]

Shot blast and re point ...... if had to buy a dwelling in stone

 

[screenman]

Never paint stone.... ever.

Agreed, I was wondering if the OP meant concrete or brick as well.

 

[Archie_tect]

Never paint facing brick either, or fair face concrete or fair face blockwork. Any other masonry isn't meant to be exposed....

 

[Accy cyclist]

Our house is made of stone and painted on the front. It was like that when we bought it so i have to repaint it every 5 or 6 years,or pay to have it sandblasted. The paint costs around 30 pounds and it takes me a day to do it,so it's a lot cheaper than having it blasted then re-pointed!

 

[raleighnut]

In some areas of the country stone houses were traditionally limewashed. This is a permeable coating which allows the stone to breath but needs to be redone most years. Paint is not as breathable and can lead to damp problems as can central heating and UPVC windows in this type of house.

 

[surfdude]

i have a pebble dash house and it was painted when we brought it . it looked very untidy so i thought i would give it another coat of paint . that was 6 years ago and the paint alone cost me £450 as i was getting 1lt per m2 coverage . got to do it again soon so hoping it will be cheaper as some of the voids will have been filled . it also takes a very long time to do so no i would not paint a stone house

 

[Cuchilo]

Paint is usually used to hide a problem . My own house is pebble dash and the rear is painted as changing windows and adding an extension had left the pebble dash in a very patchy state .

 

[raleighnut]

My own house is Tyroleaned and as such was built to have a painted finish but it was last painted over 15yrs ago and won't need doing for a few years yet. I would suggest that using the incorrect paint can lead to it needing to be re-done a lot sooner as most external wall coatings have a 10yr guarantee, which coupled with the makers "safety factor" means they last a lot longer.
Another reason to use the right product in the right place.

 

[Over The Hill]

Our house is made of stone and painted on the front. It was like that when we bought it so i have to repaint it every 5 or 6 years,or pay to have it sandblasted. The paint costs around 30 pounds and it takes me a day to do it,so it's a lot cheaper than having it blasted then re-pointed!

A good case for a cheap solution. I think the OP is more concerned with the look of the house.
I blame the Americans -

 

[MikeG]

I blame the Americans -

That second-rate neo-classical/ Georgian bastardisation of a country house would have looked so much better in a natural stone finish.

 

[Ganymede]

Depends on the stone - some are soft and need protecting from eg acid rain, pollution. I mean, look at the House of Commons. Stone taken from the wrong part of the quarry and laid the wrong way up, in parts. Not painted but wearing away at a rate of knots. Actually quite fascinating for the amateur geologist... There's a wall like it somewhere in Leith as well, you can read prehistoric tides on it.

 

[Doseone]

Stone is generally best left to breath - I can only speak for the local sandstone that we have round here, maybe its different for other types. Limewash looks great and is breathable but weathers quickly and needs redoing often. This local church has been limewashed and it does look really nice.