Paint Versus Stain Cedar Siding

Applying paint and solid color stains.

Paint versus stain cedar siding.

Alkyd oil primers are recommended but one may choose a high quality latex primer as long as it contains stain blockers. Paint or stain prevents moisture entry wood rot and pest entry. 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. Application over existing coatings is meant only to bond to the previous paint job not soak in or be brushed in to the wood.

When speaking of paints versus stains it is important to differentiate the types a little more. In refinishing painted or solid color stained siding and trim removal of the old coating may be required. Prime the cedar before you paint it. Siding that has been primed and coated with two coats of paint can offer up.

Exterior western red cedar surfaces only need to be refinished when the old coating has worn thin and no longer affords the wood protection. If you want to safeguard the gorgeousness of natural wood siding the exterior surface of the siding should be painted or stained regularly. 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. 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.

It also keeps your house siding looking its best. Some primers and transparent or semi transparent stains not solid stains or paints are meant to soak in to the substrate. Original plan was to paint the pinkish old cedar siding to a new blue grey and paint the new cedar siding to match. Another important reason why stain lasts longer than paint on cedar siding is that they are durable enough to take foot traffic.

The best way to prevent extractive bleed is to select a paint or stain that forms a seal over the cedar. Cedar shingles contain extractives that bleed to the surface when the wood becomes wet and then darken as the wood dries. Both stain and paint protect your siding from moisture and sunlight but they differ in how much protection they offer. Cedar siding shingles provide beauty for any home but they must be properly coated to ensure a long life.

Due to its durable nature stain protects wood better than the normal 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.