colors

Hi,

I know choosing colors can be stressful--you want to get it right the first time (which, by the way, I didn't).

Before making suggestions to you, it would be useful to know your interior colors and if you still have any of the original color tones. The reason the interior is important is because interior and exterior meld at the windows and so need to be consistent. Also, while I think you could choose any of the exterior colors you wanted, some obviously work better with the brown tones (brown flecked zolatone cupboards, brown/tan mottled linoleum) than the grey tones.

In my house, the interior were in grey tones and the exterior was black with offwhite beams, and grey-stained overhangs (which then melded with black posts, offwhite beams, and grey-stained ceilings). The cross-beam and front door were a coral (I currently have them painted BJ Moore's "outrageous orange" but will be changing them later this spring). The Outrageous Orange actually belongs to a medium brown color scheme.

There were at least two ceiling stains by cabot with "grey" in the name--one is actually a tan.

So let us know a bit more about your house and I'm sure lots of people can make suggestions. Also, almost all the original exteriors were mid- to dark colors. A lot of people now seem to favor the lighter tones. Still, people typically stick the original idea of earth tones (no blues, pinks, etc.)

Cheers.
Jake

Ok, some more color detail.

I have the grey stained ceilings, they do look pretty grey, the beams I have sanded down, so I am not sure what color I will stain them yet. THe cabinets are an alder medium wood, with slightly reddish tones.
otherwise its a clean slate. I am open to the darker colors for the facade as well.

new aluminium windows.

just went on the cabot website and it seems like they have hundreds of stain colors.. I need to get some more of the grey for the cieling. and am now lost on what to get. Help please

thanks

You're going to have to get some samples and try to match in an inconspicuous spot--nothing is going to be an exact match. With cabot, they have small sample tins that you can ask the paint store for.

Also, there is a place in sunnyvale that has old recipes from trying to match Eichler colors in the early days. I got my grey stain from them--unfortunately, no color name and they don't (won't?) give you the formula to have it mixed elsewhare.

Lastly, you can search the Eichler Network website (see the Search button at the top right side of the page) for terms like "colors" or "exteriors" to find old postings on this subject. Here are a couple:

http://www.eichlernetwork.com/messages/2305.html
http://www.eichlernetwork.com/messages/4407.html
http://www.eichlernetwork.com/messages/6781.html

As well, here is one of my earlier postings about Cabot siding colors:
---------------------Old posting ------------------------------------
Some names (was Re: Exterior paint colors)

Posted by Jake on March 31, 2002 at 16:43:27:

In Reply to: Exterior paint posted by s rosa on March 27, 2002 at 20:29:19:

Hi,

Some time ago, one of the Lucas Valley owners was kind enough to
provide a list of colors used by Lucas Valley. The original stains
were by Cabot. The following colors currently carried by Cabot are
apparently close:

Note: These are semi-solid stains, I believe.

Sagebrush (0151 ?)
Spanish Moss ((0153 ?)
Cape Cod Brey (0143 ?)
Dark Gray (0147 ?)
Sandstone (0197 ?)
Bark (0138 ?)
Redwood (0180 ?)

: Looking for the exterior paint colors for the Eichler homes in Upper Lucas Valley, I understand there is a very strict code on paint colors all which are very appealing. Any names, numbers , brands would be helpful.

On a related question, did Eichler ever use the Cabot 'Barn Red' color ? it is somewhat similar to the 'Redwood' color.

Hi There,

Good luck on painting/staining the house. I have a few comments for you.

1) All the original stains were made by Cabot, and while the formulas have changed, the basic colors have not changed over the years. For example, last week I was able to match the original stain color on my celing EXACTLY using Cabot Semi-solid Dune Gray (on sale at the Walnut Creek Kelly-Moore, as they are discontinuing the pre-mixed colors).

On the exterior, I did the overhang boards that continue out from the ceiling in Benjamin Moore Sandy Hook Gray, it's as close as I could get in a paint, and I wasn't about to sand down to the redwood again.

The chips that are in the Sunnyvale paint store are less than you'd imagine. They basically are just paint matches to the original Cabot Stain. If you want to see the original colors, just get a Cabot stain card. That being said, the folks at the Sunnyvale store (California Paint and Wallpaper) were helpful, and sell Benjamin Moore paint which is quite good quality.

I have a number of quarts of paints that I've used as test colors that you're welcome to have. Most are matches to Cabot stains, some are just colors that I thought were similar and would work well.

Feel free to reply via email to [email protected] if you're interested in them.

John Dark

Thanks, John, for posting the name of the Cabot stain you used--Cabot's Dune Gray. I knew KC Marcinik had mentioned the name in an older post but I couldn't find the message.

That's the one I was thinking of that actually seems geared to the brown-tone color combinations (versus the gray-tone combinations). As confirmed by the solid color you used with it--Benjamin Moore's Sandy Hook Bray (HC-108).

My home is in the gray tones. I tried the cabot stains but they were either too brown (like Dune Gray) or too blue (like Bluestone). I ended us with a stain from the paint store you mentioned. The "matching" solid color for the already painted undereaves was Benjamin Moore's Gray Horse (2140-50).

As a side note, my cupboards were originally light gray/dark gray zolatone. My siding was originally stained black charcoal.

Cheers.
Jake

I forgot to mention that for people going through choosing house (interior or exterior) colors, you might find it useful to buy a color "fan" for your favourite paint brand.

I used to go to the paint stores/departments and pick a handful of color chips then come home and try to match them up. When they didn't match or I decided another color might look better, I'd go back and get another handful. What a waste of time.

I was visiting my painting contractor brother in Canada when we stopped by his paint suppliers' store to pick up some items. He bought me a Benjamin Moore paint fan. I can't believe I didn't realize sooner that I could just buy one. I guess I assumed paint fans were like tile sample books or something and that only people "in the trade" could get them.

You'd be surprised how handy it is to have the full of range of colors at your fingertips. It is *much* easier to match difficult colors when you have hundred of paper swatches at your fingertips instead of the 10 or so you might have picked up. With your handy color fan, you can also use spare moments to identify the color of your key design pieces (rug or upholstered piece or even a painting) so that you can more easily shop for not just paint, but other accessories.

Anyway, I've really found the $20 or so dollars I invested to get the fan worth many times more that in saved time and mistakes.

To purchase a paint fan, just ask at the paint store that handles your paint brand.

Cheers.
Jake

Cabot makes its stains in semi-transparent, semi-solid and solid color varieties. According to Joe Nickerson from Cabot's Technical Services and Support at their headquarters in MA, the two "semi's" can only be placed over bare wood. Once your wood has been painted, you will need to remove the paint and bring it back to bare wood prior to staining. If you prefer not to do that, or want a completely opaque look, you should use Cabot's Solid Color Stain.

If I were brave enough to have all of our siding replaced (not sure that I am, due to the potential for damage of all the wires and stuff running through and behind the siding), I would probably use the semi-solid stain.

Check out the new issue of the newsletter, which should be out in the next couple of weeks. It features an article on this very subject.

Cathye