Cedar Siding - Best Finish?

I'm in the process of belt sanding my exterior of my home. It's all cedar siding. I've owned the home for 8 years and never touched it. It previously had Sikkens Cetol 1 on it.

What is the best finish?

Terry snipped-for-privacy@bosstech.bizDELETE

Reply to
T Boss
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What are you trying to accomplish? Cedar doesn't need a finish.

Steve

Reply to
Steve Peterson

I am in the process of doing a western red cedar project on my house. I have been doing a lot of studying and have decided that Cetol 1 finished with 2 coats of Cetol 23 is the best way for me to go. It can be hard to get in the northeast because of some new pollution laws and it is damned expensive ($45-$50/gal). I don't have too much to finish so I can deal with the price.

Somwhere in my studies, I read that cedar must be finished and that it shouldn't be left to weather. It may have been on the Cedar website, I'm not sure (then again it may have been on a paint manufacturer's site).

Click on this link

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to see what they say about preparing and finishing new or existing cedar.

Chuck

Reply to
Chuck

I am in the process of doing a western red cedar project on my house. I have been doing a lot of studying and have decided that Cetol 1 finished with 2 coats of Cetol 23 is the best way for me to go. It can be hard to get in the northeast because of some new pollution laws and it is damned expensive ($45-$50/gal). I don't have too much to finish so I can deal with the price.

Somwhere in my studies, I read that cedar must be finished and that it shouldn't be left to weather. It may have been on the Cedar website, I'm not sure (then again it may have been on a paint manufacturer's site).

Click on this link

formatting link
to see what they say about preparing and finishing new or existing cedar.

Chuck

Reply to
Chuck

By the way, when I posted about my cedar project, I got lots of warnings about not breathing in cedar dust. I looked it up and they are right - it is nasty stuff. You should probably use a respirator when you are sanding this stuff.

Chuck

Reply to
Chuck

Before you get into Sikkens, or any other product, have a look at this = site:

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13 -- Biodeterioration of Wood (PDF 599 KB) Chapter 14 -- Wood Preservation (PDF 1.2 MB) and Chapter 15 -- Finishing of Wood (PDF 2.2 MB)

I put Sikkens on my deck, it looked real good when I finished and it = lasted about 2 years. At that point it began to peel and crack so I = reapplied the overcoat as per instructions. That lasted about another = year or two before it again cracked and peeled.=20

Given the expense of the product and the short duration I decided to go = completely natural. I now have a beautiful silver deck which requires = only occasional cleaning.

The upshot of all this is, according to Sikkens, ALL 6 SIDES must be = properly covered with their product for it to have any lasting = capability. In this I must whole heartedly agree. I also did a well = casing cover in cedar and I totally covered the wood (6 sides) with 2 = coats of Sikkens before construction and it has lasted some 6 years and = still looks great.

If you cannot get all 6 sides, be prepared for regular peeling and = cracking.

--=20 PDQ

Reply to
PDQ

Thanks for the health risk. I did start using a paper filter today. I'll read more about what you said.

All the reputable cedar guys in town sell / recommend the Sikkens product. Sikkens recommended Cetol 1 + 23 after I remove the old Cetol 1. Maintenance would be Cetal 23 every 2/3 years. I just did my deck and fence with Cetol SRD (Siding, Railing, Deck). I sanded the deck as well. SRD goes on in one coat and is recommended for anything lower than 2 feet from the ground and where you can't get all six sides done. I'll know in two years how it holds up. I was thinking of a second coat in the spring next year to ensure that it's covered well.

I've read on the net about Rhinoguard, Panofin, .... the list goes on on the net. Wanted to hear from those in the trenches who work with this stuff. Anything to save time (maintenance) and have it look good.

Terry

Reply to
T Boss

That sounds like a criminal punishment. Did you consider pressure washing it? Sam

Reply to
Sam

Yes, I practised on my fence and deck first. Pressure washer destroys the smooth finish and leaves it fuzzy like a peach. Sanding is slow but I'm going to be happy with the results. Sped it up today by using 50 grit vs

  1. Finished the front of attached garage today. It took about 4 hours sanding. I'm going to finish it tomorrow with Cetol 1 and then 23 since the weather in Winnipeg is sunny for the next 3 days.

Terry

Reply to
T Boss

Pressure washer works better (and faster) than beltsanding. My cedar siding was dingy gray before (low) pressure washing the cedar looked almost new and smelled like fresh cedar when it was done. Pump sprayed (like for spraying pesticides, etc.) a tinted stain with a UV screen mixed in to discourage the gray discoloration from the sun for a while since I live in sunny Florida. Its been holding up for about 8 years now but it is starting to fade to gray again where the sun bakes it the most. Robert

T Boss wrote:

Reply to
Knotbob

I have used messmer's on my whole house after cleaning with cleaning solution and pressure washer. Worked very well. Applied with pump sprayer.

Reply to
gadgetman

Where are you located? My local Cetol dealer (Bardell's) is in Woodstock Ct. He said he was grandfathered and can sell some of the oil based stuff that others cannot. He did say it was sometimes difficult to get it from the factory though.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

RE: Subject

Trying to maintain a finish on cedar siding is like trying to maintain teak brightwork on a boat.

A never ending task you only wish on somebody for which you have no pity.

I had a cedar shake sided house for 25 years. Kept it white.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

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