Paint Versus Stain Cedar Siding

Exterior western red cedar surfaces only need to be refinished when the old coating has worn thin and no longer affords the wood protection.

Paint versus stain cedar siding.

Cedar shingles contain extractives that bleed to the surface when the wood becomes wet and then darken as the wood dries. Cedar siding shingles provide beauty for any home but they must be properly coated to ensure a long life. Application over existing coatings is meant only to bond to the previous paint job not soak in or be brushed in to the wood. If you want to safeguard the gorgeousness of natural wood siding the exterior surface of the siding should be painted or stained regularly.

When speaking of paints versus stains it is important to differentiate the types a little more. Not sure if that will be too many colours. Original plan was to paint the pinkish old cedar siding to a new blue grey and paint the new cedar siding to match. For best results fresh siding should be pre primed on all six sides with a stain blocking primer and top coated with 100 percent acrylic latex paint.

Prime the cedar before you paint it. Due to its durable nature stain protects wood better than the normal paint. Solid color stains are almost identical to regular paint since they both form a layer on the surface of the wood rather than penetrating the wood. Those extractives can even bleed through many types of paint.

The new cedar is so pretty now i m debating on staining the siding above the deck but still painting the pink siding to blue grey. In refinishing painted or solid color stained siding and trim removal of the old coating may be required. Paint or stain prevents moisture entry wood rot and pest entry. In fact food traffic results in more abrasion than regular paint is meant to take.

It also keeps your house siding looking its best. Siding that has been primed and coated with two coats of paint can offer up. Both stain and paint protect your siding from moisture and sunlight but they differ in how much protection they offer. Another important reason why stain lasts longer than paint on cedar siding is that they are durable enough to take foot traffic.

Some primers and transparent or semi transparent stains not solid stains or paints are meant to soak in to the substrate. Paint or stain dimensional cedar wood siding having cedar lumber wood siding such as 1 x 6 1 x 8 1 x 12 or two inch thickness can be painted with a solid paint stain not requiring primer but still not recommended painting cedar if you can help it.