need some quick info

[Nat]

Does anyone have Cedar siding on their house? Vickie and I are using Cedar board and baton siding. I want a natural look, but also don't want it to look bad. I know I can use a water seal product, ie: Thomsons, Olympic, ect. I need to know if it will be needed yearly, or just let the Cedar age naturally. I would like a silver gray colour, but don't want to stain it silvery if I can help it. The rafter ends are southern yellow pine and the sheating is spruce pine and I know I am going to stain it the same colour as the new cedar. Anyone have any imput or suggestions?

[wingnut]

My farm in Alberta (which I sold when they transferred me to Michigan) had cedar siding. Unfortunately, the guys who built it (local cedar home construction outfit) used that ugly orangy cedar stain.
After that wore off enough (12 years), I let it sit to see what the weathering would be like .... but it was quite uneven ... so I cheated. I went with a cedar grey stain.
The only problem with letting it age naturally is what you mentioned ... only the siding is cedar, the rafters and the window sills and door jambs will likely not be ... so you'll have some that MUST be stained or painted. (that's the reason I opted to re-stain).
Fortunately, the garage was constructed at the same time as the house and with the same siding, so it was easy to see whether I would like the results, [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
pete

[Pat]

You can wish for just about anything but the choices come down to about these three: 1. natural aging, often uneven and not everyone appreciates the "look" , 2. very high maint trying to keep that "pretty wood" look, and 3. an opague stain that gives a nice uniform appearance but pretty much hides the look of the wood, except for the texture which shows through.

Choose wisely, grasshopper.


[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Several years ago, my brother took me around town showing my some cedar sided homes in Anchorage; most beautiful ones I ever saw. The cedar generally looked bright, natural, and new, but with some definite differences that he said were determined by whether they had one, two, or three coats of "Behr Rawhide". I don't know whether the stuff still exists or not, but he did say something about refinishing every 2 or 3 years.

[RaT]

I have tried several products on the clear 8" cedar siding on our cabin at Lake Tahoe. The south exposure takes a beating from the hot sun that nails it in the summer. The high altitude really seems to dry the stuff quickly and oxidize the stain. I have been pretty happy with Penofin products, I now use a less pigmented choice since the wood is pretty well coated. I need to restain it every 4 years or so but at this point in my life, I still enjoy doing it. The north exposure has been done twice and looks good as new.

[egon]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
"Behr Rawhide".

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Bird:

I can remember that product too. Looked really nice but was high maintenance and if not kept up became shabby looking. The wood seemed to glow when it was applied.

Our previous house had cedar siding. We stained it a very dark red which seemed to last well.

Now that I'm much older I think of metal or vinil siding from the maintenance aspect

Egon

[Bird]

Yep, Egon, I'm at an age where about the first thing I consider when I buy anything is how much maintenance it will require. Vinyl siding may not be as pretty, but I'd go with it every time before cedar, or anything else that had to be painted. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Nat]

The house we live in now has vinyl siding, and I swore I'd never have it again. The sun has lightened the south and west side and the lawnmower has thrown something thru it at different places. I know others who have vinyl and love it, I guess that is why there is different material made. The biggest reason for the Cedar is this little woman I have lived with for 32 years, what she wants at this point in my life is the most important consideration. Staining every 4-5 years till I can't and then paying someone to do it isn't a deal breaker.
Someone at her job suggested Behr brand, they have had good luck with it. I guess I will stain all of it, but it sure would have been nice not to have had to. Advice from you folks was why I asked afterall, and I'd be a fool not to take some after I asked. I'll have to agree that the uneven look of the natural process was a big concern as I've seen several that were not to attractive with the blotchy look of the aging process. As I have 3 different species of wood that would all weather at different degrees, I believe I'll take the advice to bite the bullet and stain all.
You know the computer age sure does make it easier to get advice from a bunch of different sources, these forums are a gold mine of knowledge. I appreciate the help folks and will always try to give any help to others, when possible,Later, Nat

[Bird]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
The sun has lightened the south and west side

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Nat, vinyl siding does fade some in the Texas heat, but most of what I see is light colored and seems to stay relatively evenly faded, at least. But when I was doing gas leakage surveys in Pennsylvania, I noticed a number of otherwise nice looking homes with darker colors, such as blue, that were drastically different; new looking on the east sides and drastically faded on the west side, so I can certainly understand your position.

I also understand about what the little woman wants, since I'm about 2 months shy of 40 years of being married to mine, so whatever she wants us to live in or with suits me. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[RaT]

Nat, please, please never let me get to that point in my life where vinyl siding is a consideration. [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] I built a home back in Maine and some folks were going with it. At any point where folks could come in contact with it like under the front door threshold, it was always shattered, I assume from the cold. I am currently looking into cement based products for my home. There are lots of nice products out there but the look and feel of vinyl just does not do it for me.