solid color stain for exterior home siding

[Todd]

Hi,

We have a house with cedar siding. Unfortunately, the previous owners painted over the original wood finish of the siding. We'd like to return it to a wood(ish) finish again.

I've looked into strippig the paint from the siding, but this looks time consuming, and there's no telling what the wood will be like underneath. So...I've heard that there are certain products that provide a solid color stain, that are perfect for siding thats been painted.

Ok...so help me out here...whats the difference between solid color stain and PAINT? Does it make sense to use a solid color stain over paint?

- Thanks,

Todd

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, So what solid stain would do when you want wood(ish) finish again? Solid stain does not show through anything(like wood grain). Are you sure they painted instead of using solid stain?

[m Ransley]

Are you sure it is not solid stain, when paint peels from rough cedar scraping easily ruins the wood its so soft. Get a pro to confirm what it is, if its shakes, one can be removed, Sherwin Williams or other companies have labs if the store employees cant tell what it is, you are not supposed to stain over paint.

[Todd]

Unfortunately,the siding isn't shakes.

its definitely paint on the wood. The stain I'm refering to is made to stain over paint. Really. Is there any difference between stain that goes over paint and paint itself?

- Todd