Restoring Painted Cedar Siding

Over time cedar siding can become discolored and the surface degraded due to weather dirt and various other wear and tear.

Restoring painted cedar siding. You will probably need at least two coats of high quality paint to do the job. Uncoated weathered cedar can often be restored to its original color by applying commercial products called cleaners brighteners or restorers. 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. 6 start painting your cedar siding.

Thus solid color stains let some of the cedar s grain show through but none of the color. Choose a color that resembles fresh cedar or that blends nicely with. What you get is a very uniform opaque color. Cedar shingles can also grow moss and algae or develop iron staining which requires periodic cleaning.

Test results from the forest products testing lab run by the usda for the forest service show that after 12 weeks of exposure to sunlight cedar siding has lost half of its ability to hold a film forming coating system like primer and paint. Once the surface is clean and primed you can start applying the paint. Staining cedar with a solid color stain. Although intended primarily for restoring horizontal wood surfaces they generally work almost as well on vertical surfaces.

Solid color stains have solid particles but not nearly as many as paint. You can start this process by inspecting the condition of your siding. What you do before the finish goes on makes the most differenc. Cover cedar siding with primer to keep any tannic acid or natural red coloring from surfacing and use an exterior latex paint.

Watch this quick tutorial on what you need to do to prepare wood house siding for refinishing. Some products are formulated with thickening agents to help the liquid cling better to vertical surfaces. You can use a regular paintbrush to get the cedar shake siding painted. If you don t properly prep your siding surface before applying finish you may end up dealing with poor adhesion and inconsistent coloration.

The upside is that solid color stains will block most damaging ultraviolet light.