Repaint Or Restain Old Shignle Siding

Stained wood siding offers your home a natural or rustic look.

Repaint or restain old shignle siding.

Cedar siding though durable and able to maintain a good finish for a long period of time does sometimes get damaged and it is certainly not completely immune to rot no matter how well it has been treated and maintained. Restain old wood siding to give a house a fresh new appearance. No matter you are staining or painting weathered cedar siding if you do the following steps in the proper order you will maximize your results. The paint will begin to peel and the shingles may become stained and they will need to be repainted.

Some sections of old unpainted shingles and siding may look darker than others. Years ago my brother a life long painting contractor had his house resided with beautiful horizontal cedar clapboards. Cedar shake siding isn t hard to maintain if you are well planned. This discoloration is most likely caused by a combination of excessive tannins leeching from the wood and mildew growth.

Cedar shakes are cedar shingles that naturally weather and are resistant to decay. Even unpainted cedar will last for years. Any exposed wood is susceptible to the elements that cause mildew swelling splitting and cracking. Cedar siding is very durable against the elements but still requires regular maintenance and depending on the climate should be restained every few years.

Department of agriculture s forest services laboratory recommends cleaning cedar shingles with an oxidizing bleach as opposed to a household bleach to avoid damaging the wood while you can use household bleach to kill mold and algae it tends to make the cedar shingle s surface. Like most wooden shingles however especially when painted they require care and maintenance over the course of time. If new shingle siding no need to strip or try removing old paint not that you could do this 100 anyway priming painting is one of a solid type coating apt to blister bubble chip or peel. Trying to keep ahead of the greying of the wood several repeat applications of stain were applied over the years until it had the appearance of solid hide stain.

Cedar shingles can also grow moss and algae or develop iron staining which requires periodic cleaning. He used a national brand transparent oil stain. Semi transparent stains would never do this protecting much longer. Over time cedar siding can become discolored and the surface degraded due to weather dirt and various other wear and tear.

Remember to start on a day when no precipitation is predicted over the next several days if possible. Painting cedar however calls for some preparation. The most damaging element to cedar siding is moisture.