DIY Network

Creating A Stone Look

Q: We’re refinishing our basement and I’d like to put stone on the walls. Real stone is way out of the budget. Can you show me how to do paint stones on the wall?

A: (Ask DIY expert painter Gary Lord) You can paint stones on the wall and it’ll certainly be a lot less expensive than hiring a stone mason. To create a stone look, you need to add dimensional texture to the walls and then use paint to shade the stones to the look you want. It’s really not that hard once you have the step-by-step instructions.

Here's how to do it:

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Creating a Stone Wall Look

Materials:

Aquabond
Snap string
Aquastone
Squirrel mixer
Masking tape
Paint
Sandpaper

• Base coat the walls (use Aquabond, it’s used under faux finishes).

• Lay out your pattern. You can use any size of stone blocks. Work from a photo or book that shows real stone mason layups in different patterns. Measure and mark the walls then use a pencil or snap string to draw the pattern on the wall. For large sections where you need a snap string, mix blue chalk with an equal amount of baby powder...it’ll be easier to remove the chalk lines later. On smaller walls, use a level and pencil to connect the dots, use a #4 pencil so the lines are light and easy to cover up later.

• Apply two-inch masking tape over the lines. This will make the grout lines. You need to tear the tape at the top and the bottom edge so that you have ragged edges, just like a natural stone would.

• Mix Aquastone with 10-20 percent water. Apply the mixture over 100 percent of the area using a drywall blade. Go right over the tape...make sure to expose an edge of the tape every now and then so that you can remove it. You want the Aquastone to be in varying thicknesses, no less than 1/16-inch thick and no more than 1/2-inch thick. Push and move the Aquastone as you’re putting it on to create varying textures.

• 30-60 minutes after finishing putting on the material, remove the tape. The Aquastone will have started to dry on the top (it’ll be shiny) but underneath will still be soft and pliable.

• Tint your paint using dark brown, black and white so that you have three different values. Apply the colors one at a time onto each block using a four-inch chip brush.

• Apply the darkest color first, then the medium value color and then the brightest color. Put each new value onto the unpainted areas and blend wet into wet. Rub off the glaze with a cotton rag. Check your color balance. You want some blocks to be darker and others to be lighter, your goal is to have a good balance.

• Create shadow around blocks. Dilute your darkest value color with 30-percent water. Then take an artist's brush and drag the color onto the bottom of each stone block and onto one side. Allow the color to go onto the stone and into your grout. Soften the edges with a rag.

• Using the same color on a two-inch brush, drag the color up onto the bottom of the stone so that the color runs downward. You can even do this with the mid-value color. When the stone is dry use a 120-grit sandpaper to sand across the raised area to help create highlights and add dimension to the project.

Tip: You can also give the stone a polished look by varying the colors and by making the stones more uniform in size. Before you get started practice on a scrap board. To be successful with this project, remember to carefully apply the stone compound and to mix your paint colors to create the look you want.