Do You Use Paint Or Stain On Cedar Siding

According to paul mackie at the western red cedar lumber association wrcla red cedar siding that has been finished on all six sides with a stain blocking primer and top coated with 100 percent exterior acrylic latex paint has the longest expected service life of any coating system.

Do you use paint or stain on cedar siding.

Acrylic stain is far superior in all categories. Apply stain before wood begins to weather. Mold mildew algae etc prefer to grow on the surface of an oil based coating over a latex one. Two topcoats are always better over bare wood that has been primed.

However in few cases for example on cedar siding there are many instances that you will always use stain instead of paint. Staining cedar with a solid color stain solid color stains have solid particles but not nearly as many as paint. Oil based coatings also will yellow and fade faster. Second biggest factor is moisture.

After the primer has dried apply one or two topcoats of paint or solid color stain. These may be applied to western red cedar by brush roller or pad. Both stain and paint protect your siding from moisture and sunlight but they differ in how much protection they offer. Cedar shingles contain extractives that bleed to the surface when the wood becomes wet and then darken as the wood dries.

If you have intense sun on cedar wood siding you d be best served using a semi transparent stain not a paint. Apply stain to cedar siding before hanging. 8 tips for staining new cedar siding. What you get is a very uniform opaque color.

Work in the shade. Therefore you need to apply perfect finishing coats on cedar siding. Thus solid color stains let some of the cedar s grain show through but none of the color. When putting up brand new cedar siding it is recommended that your first stain be oil based alklyd.

The best way to prevent extractive bleed is to select a paint or stain that forms a seal over the cedar. Siding that has been primed and coated with two coats of paint can offer up. Factory applied finishes of this type are available in most market areas where cedar siding is sold. Use an oil based stain instead of latex.

Those extractives can even bleed through many types of paint. Anyway this doesn t matter much no painter would recommend using an oil based solid stain for cedar siding these days unless he was a total idiot. There are two common types of finishing wood siding. Allow the washed surface to dry before recoating and apply primer paint to areas of bare wood.